Sieg

Sieg (ジーク) is the main protagonist of Fate/Apocrypha series, who acts as the second Master of Rider of Black during the Great Holy Grail War. He appears in Fate/Grand Order's Apocrypha/Inheritance of Glory event as a Caster-class Servant able to be summoned by Ritsuka Fujimaru.

Background
Sieg was created by Yggdmillennia as one of their many homunculi suited to various purposes. Initially kept in a magical energy supply tank devised by Gordes Musik Yggdmillennia to grant energy for Servants and was originally known as Homunculus (ホムンクルス), he was one of many allowed to be used by Caster of Black for usage as harvesting materials for his golems. Due to his unexpectedly high quality Magic Circuits, he was thought to be a good choice for Caster's Golem Keter Malkuth.

Appearance
A standard characteristic of Einzbern Homunculi, Sieg's eyes are the same deep, dark red of polished, perfect rubies. His hair is brown, though it appears to darken ever so slightly as he 'ages'. At the outset, Sieg's physique is quite slender and frail, like a newborn infant, and equally as weak. His standard clothing consists of a black waistcoat, white shirt, black slacks, and a pair of black leather penny loafers.

After obtaining the heart of Saber of Black, his physical appearance changes slightly to mimic that of Saber. While his hair only darkens (and shortens) slightly, he grows far taller than he originally was, and the frailty of the past was replaced with a slender-but-hardy build much more suitable for fighting in a Holy Grail War. He also swaps out the loafers for a pair of half-boots.

Personality
"Perhaps we don't deserve such a thing as free will. I don't really know if what I've done till now is right or not. But, even if there's no rest beyond this... Even if there's only despair beyond this... At the very least I want to walk my own path! We don't ask for salvation either! But I want at least the freedom to choose!"

- Sieg Sieg comes into consciousness without anything to form a personality. He is scared of everything but himself, believing to be nothing. He calls himself transparent and colorless because he possesses nothing and had received nothing from his birth.

After escaping and receiving the hero Siegfried's heart, he becomes notably more selfless and brave as he gradually continues to develop as a person. Of his own volition, he decides to forsake a life of happiness and instead aims to fulfill the desperate wishes of his brother and sister homunculi who would die if nothing was done to save them. Eventually, he willingly becomes a participant of the Holy Grail War for their sakes as well as the sake of Astolfo who had previously saved him and Jeanne, as he felt indebted towards her. Due to his young age, he is still very naive and clueless about manners and how the world works though overall he is usually very calm and logical, being is able to pass as an eccentric but otherwise normal human being in a very short amount of time. He can even at times display a somewhat blunt attitude, particularly towards Gordes, though he does still express a reluctant gratitude towards the man for creating him and his brethren. He also greatly values freedom of choice, whether it's for better or worse.

Sieg is surprisingly vengeful and completely drops his more stoic demeanor when those he cherishes have been harmed as because he has nothing else in life but the people he cares for he values them more than anything else. After their final encounter with Assassin of Black and witnessing her, along with the children of Scotland Yard's horrific pasts, Sieg's innocent belief of humans being inherently good creatures crumbles, leading him to began to question humanity's nature. While he takes Ruler's advice on not giving up on humans to heart, and thinks over the opinions of several others on the matter, Sieg ultimately seeks his own answer to how he views humans and life as a whole. Similar to Siegfried, he places little value on his own life and comes to view himself as something that can be used to save and help those around him, causing him to make absurd, unreasonable and reckless choices simply for the sake of what he believes 'he should do'. While he claims to have no interest in the normal, peaceful life Astolfo spoke of before, deep in his heart he does have a longing for it but willingly overlooks this fact for what he feels is a higher purpse that can grant true meaning to his life. Thankfully, both Ruler and Laeticia eventually encourage him to start considering his own value more as he realizes that just worrying about those without looking into himself would leave him truly empty in the end no matter what he did.

The reason Sieg acted for the sake of humanity at the end naturally wasn’t solely for humanity’s sake in and of itself. In the first place, Sieg hadn’t experienced enough to completely believe in humanity. However, Jeanne d’Arc wagered her life to win the future. It is because he saw that and wished to “become her strength” that he acted, a greatly personal desire.

Relationships

 * Jeanne d'Arc
 * Sieg feels a deep admiration for Jeanne and also wants to support her by becoming her strength, having found her ideals and the manner in which she lived very sad but at the same time unspeakably beautiful. It's thanks to her words that he doesn't fall into despair during the aftermath of the confrontation with Assassin of Black and is willing to learn more about humanity instead of simply giving up on them. Many, many years after the war, Sieg and Jeanne meet once again in the Reverse Side of the World and Jeanne confesses her love to Sieg, saying unto him, "I am in love with you." Upon hearing those words, finally Sieg realizes just why he had been waiting in the other world for her for so long.


 * Astolfo
 * Astolfo, more than just a Servant, is Sieg's best friend as well as the savior of his life. He greatly respects Rider and cherishes him deeply, stating he would go as far as to die for Rider if need be. While Rider thinks of himself as weak, and curses his weakness for being the reason Sieg threw away his chance at a normal life, Sieg wholeheartedly believes in Astolfo's strength. To him, Astolfo is truly an amazing person and a brave hero through and through. Though Rider's wild antics, tendency to let extremely important details slip, and miraculous talent for finding outrageous trouble do cause the Sieg to bury his face in his hands and sigh in frustration from time to time.


 * Chiron
 * Siegfried
 * Mordred
 * Frankenstein
 * Jack The Ripper
 * Karna
 * Amakusa Shirou Tokisada

Fate/Apocrypha
Sieg, originally just an unnamed homunculus, first begins to gain sentience around the time the Black Faction has summoned all of its Servants. Originally, he is conscious without the ability to form thoughts, only a weak "instinct" protesting about a great pain. Without the ability to form thoughts or have recognition of anything, he cannot assert himself or clearly be called "alive." Simply by existing, he is able to receive "information", leading to "time" to process the information that eventually creates "knowledge" within him. He becomes conscious, and he is able to realize the simple fact that he is a living creature. The cycle of learning begins to repeat at a great speed, bolstered by his Magic Circuits. He recognizes many beings, including humans, homunculi, and Servants. The humans ignore him, the homunculi, his comrades, view him with faint emotions, and the Servants, monsters, display a wide variety of expressions.

There is no great change in his situation with the acquisition of knowledge, but he slowly begins to organize it within himself and begins to feel strange with the more information he obtains. Without realizing it to be fear in wanting to turn away from that which is in front of him, he cannot even understand it being an act of cowardice because he has yet to understand the idea of courage. After the scouting of Kairi Sisigou and Saber of Red leads to battle with several of Caster's golems, Caster and Roche Frain Yggdmillennia appear before Sieg, discussing the process of inserting Magic Circuits into the golems. Identifying them by their "codes", names, Sieg is able to recognize that they have appeared before him numerous times, and using his information, he is able to determine the insertion of Magic Circuits equates to the destruction of that which is consumed to supply them. Having not previously understood death, he becomes scared upon drawing the conclusion that destruction equals death.

As he is selected along with two others for Caster's usage, the part of him that had been scared clearly notes that he will soon die. Though he initially believes that there is no recourse, he decides to act due to being able to do what the other homunculi cannot, obtain information, think, and fear the conclusion. With the coincidence of obtaining an identity along with the coincidence of being chosen to die, his fate begins to move as he moves his arm for the first time in his life. Affirming his situation as he attempts to move, he makes both his hands move to beat against the reinforced glass. Realizing the futility in trying to break it physically, he scans his Magic Circuits to work a spell that weakens the glass enough for him to escape, breaking it and allowing him into the world from which he had been isolated. Injured from the glass, he removes his breathing apparatus and takes his first breath.

He quickly reminds himself that escape from the glass was only his initial goal, quickly seeking to escape. The ability to stand was not imbedded into his functions, so he can only fall and feebly craw along the floor. Slowly managing to stand, he is filled with great pain as he begins his first steps. He does not know his path, only knowing that he will die if he stays, and he can only walk forward with great trepidation of further pain as he ignores the "whispers" of the homunculi behind him. With skin as soft as that of a newborn, simply walking is enough to bloody his feet as he searches for a destination. Thinking himself to be a meaningless existence as his weak body struggles along, he can only believe that he will die without meaning in the same way he was born without meaning.

He pauses in confusion as he realizes Rider of Black has come before him, unable to move out of fear. Soothed by Rider's concern, he recognizes Rider and unconsciously mutters for Rider to help him before fainting. Before fading out, he only wishes that he will continue to be alive. Rider decides to help him, bringing him Archer of Black's room to hide him from Caster's pursuit. Archer realizes the situation, letting them in and preparing to look him over due to his expertise on medicine. He states that Sieg overused his circuits and tore through his veins in destroying the glass and further collapsed from exhaustion. He tells Rider of Sieg's physical condition and short lifespan, and Rider affirms that he will keep helping him until the end, as he would not be able to survive on his own.

Sieg awakens during their conversation, so he gets up at Rider's prodding. Extremely nervous, he is unable to understand Rider's meaning as he asks about helping to grant Sieg's wish. As he thinks about it, he believes a powerless being with no history has no right to have a wish in the first place, having given up such a right in the first place. Although he believes he does not deserve such a thing or that it will be granted, he asks Rider to save him. He is shocked when Rider agrees immediately, but becomes moved enough by Rider's innocence to have no doubt in his words.

He clashes with Saber of Red during a large battle. She calls him a fake Heroic Spirit, and he acknowledges that he cannot match up to a proper Heroic Spirit. In order to save his comrades who were left behind, he decides to utilize his Saber's Noble Phantasm, Balmung, clashing with her Clarent. He does not care about winning or losing, only that it is a necessary action. He who does not have a life in the first place cannot be said to be risking his life. Red Saber comes out victorious, but only due to the special properties of the weapons and the distance from which they attacked. It is possible utilizing Balmung even a few steps closer may have changed the outcome. She is infuriated because he still lives, and moves to finish him.

Fate/Apocrypha: Inheritance of Glory
The event takes place after the Great Holy Grail War, but before Sieg and Jeanne reunite. Sieg, still in the form of Fafnir, is having difficulties keeping control of the Greater Grail, summoning a spiritual body replica of Ritsuka Fujimaru's consciousness from the Shadow Border to aid in the task. As Fafnir he created a terminal of Sieg to properly interact with Ritsuka.

Fate/Labyrinth
Manaka Sajyou in her dimensional travel saw a detached and kind dragon (孤高なりし優しき竜), waiting for another for a very long time in the Reverse Side of the World. Manaka finds the dragon's appearance to be beautiful, but the dragon does not respond to Manaka, as both of them saw the end of the world.

Abilities
He possesses first-class Magic Circuits. Sieg is a being whose purpose was to have Magic Circuits as the foundation of his body, so his ability to comprehend information is great. He is able to go from being less aware than a baby to gaining knowledge at an abnormal speed in a span of days. He is made to take in mana from the atmosphere and provide it to Servants, and he is able to manually cut the link upon gaining intelligence. Instinctively knowing magecraft, he is able to use the spell "/" to wish for a result of "destruction" on the glass holding him, causing his magical energy to transform it in a way for the least "destruction" required. Able to understand the mineral the glass is constructed from, it becomes as brittle as a weak piece of wood. When Sieg tries to protect himself from Gordes, he uses this technique to defend himself. His palm became the barrel of a gun - the sheath of a sword - and what it fired was a bullet or perhaps blade that would not only destroy Gordes' arm, but mercilessly devour his heart. it is also said that Sieg can use basic magecraft, such as suggestion and healing magic.

Unlike regular homunculi built to be functional, perfect lifeforms, he possesses many physical defects, and while his circuits are first-class, his body is not able to utilize them without failing. Meant only to supply magical energy and not act as a fighter, he is physically weak and will only live three years at most.

After gaining Saber of Black's heart, his appearance physically changes and he gains a stronger constitution which leads Rider of Black to claim he can live for more than 100 years. He has special black Command Seals which appeared on the back of Sieg's left hand known as Dead Count Shapeshifter: Dragon Revelation Command Spells which allows him to take the form of the Heroic Spirit Siegfried for 180 seconds (3 minutes). He can only take form using the Command Spell for a limit of three uses. However they can be used as normal Command Seals, but does not use them that way towards Rider.

His parameters, experience, technique, personal skills, Noble Phantasms all are replicated perfectly but he cannot match a true Heroic Spirit. His usage of Balmung does not appear impeded by this. He requires adequate magical energy stored in his body and the use of a Command Spell to take on Saber's form.

Using Balmung is enough to deplete his reserves completely, causing him to lose Saber's form even as his magic circuits desperately cling to "remain as Saber." His armor and Noble Phantasm disappear, causing Saber of Black to vanish from the world. The process brings extreme pain to his flesh, bones, and nerves, and he loses any ability to move or retaliate. It is possible to transform again, but his body cannot endure to do so consecutively.

However, after getting revived by Frankenstein's lightning imbued by her will a piece of her is reborn inside him it ceased to hinder him. Later granting him the perpetual motion machine ability of Bridal Chest, he used it, during his battle with Karna and later Shirou, Sieg managed to use Balmung so many times consecutively only because he continued to instantaneously pull out the sword’s power while replenishing his mana with “Galvanism”. The Servant version of Siegfried cannot instantly replenish the mana he expends, so his sword’s accumulation of prana is overwhelmingly faster than that of an average Anti-Army Noble Phantasm, though still not as fast as Sieg When Sieg battles Lancer of Red, he is able to use Balmung together with Galvanism to great effect and is able to activate Balmung consecutively. After witnessing two back-to-back attacks on the level of Brahmastra Kundala, Lancer decides that there is only one way to win and uses Vasavi Shakti. Balmung would have been penetrated in only two seconds, but Sieg uses a command spell to boost it, allowing it to reach an equal footing with Vasavi Shakti. It becomes a battle of will from this point on, but since Sieg's opponent was Karna who was famous for his indomitable will, Vasavi Shakti was able to break through Balmung.

Before the killing blow he was saved by Astolfo with Achilles' shield Akhilleus Kosmos. He was closer to the real form of Siegfried than even the heroic spirit copy. The living Siegfried, on the other hand, had his inborn disposition combined with the transformation of his heart into a Magic Core due to being bathed in and drinking a dragon's blood, so he could draw forth magical energy and fire the slash wave even faster than Sieg. Unfortunately, the moment he was summoned as the Servant Saber, that special characteristic of his was highly degraded. . Later he used a weakened version of Blasted Tree against Shirou in their final fight as his trump card.

Also displaying the ability to transform into the dragon Fafnir due to him having Siegfried's heart giving him dragon blood as he used this to carry the Greater Grail to the Reverse side of the world where phantasmal beasts go where no human can venture so the wish for humanity does not occur as phantasmal beasts are invalid targets. As a result of the transformation he lost his physical form and his final state is that of his soul.

Creation and Conception
The idea for Sieg came from Kinoko Nasu and Takashi Takeuchi. Nasu wanted to introduce a male homunculus to Fate.

Yuuichirou Higashide said that everything started from Sieg. When he was discussing wild ideas with Nasu, Higashide said "his Chest will glitter brightly, three full times!", to which he found it too stupid so he removed it when he was writing the story.