Flat Escardos

Flat Escardos (フラット・エスカルドス) is the Master of Berserker in the False Holy Grail War of Fate/strange fake.

Background
Flat was born into the Escardos family, a line of magi living on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, as the eldest son. It was originally hoped that he would be a magus of rare quality in terms of Magic Circuits and the talent to control them. He was thought to be a true prodigy as he was growing up, but his true nature was shown after studying under a number of professors at the Clock Tower. They began to complain about him, and he was assigned to the only professor left, Lord El-Melloi II. Though he quickly developed his magical talents over the next few years and surpassed all of his peers, the problems with his personality caused him to be unable to graduate and become one of El-Melloi's eldest students at close to the age of twenty. While his teacher does not like to let unprepared magi into the world, he came to regret keeping Flat around.

Personality
"I mean, it’d be so super-cool! It’s the Holy Grail! and wanted it for the Third Reich! And  and Nobunaga and  all looked for it too! If it really exists, I’ve just gotta see what it looks like!"

- Flat Escardos

Flat is a prodigy in terms of of his ability in magecraft, but he lacks the intelligence and commonsense to properly utilize it. He is whimsical in nature, and his overall temperament is unlike that of a magus. The only trait he actually displays is a magus' intuition that differs from that of ordinary people, described as a "superabundance of curiosity" if phrased in a kind manner, though it does not follow through to his regular deductions. He has a very loose grasp on topics like history, planning, basic logic, and strategy, and only the word imbecile can truly sum up his character in one word.

He is extremely frank with his comments, lacking any sort of decorum with his words. He does not react to insults in any manner, instead even taking them as a compliment or not even realizing their implication. He rashly jumps to conclusions, and lacks the foresight to even question the validity of his catalyst despite all obvious clues of it being fake, such as its make and having Jack the Ripper's autograph, simply because he believes it to be a gift from his teacher. He has no problem with Jack the Ripper despite his legend as a murderer, instead soley focusing on the "coolness" of the mystery behind his identity.

He lacks a practical reason to participate, and he only seeks out the Holy Grail only for the reason of seeing it. He has little knowledge about the battles, and he is naive enough to think about a peaceful resolution through chess matches or befriending the other Servants. He lacks any sense of strategy, showing no caution towards summoning his Servant in public during the day and then simply enjoying the weather instead of moving onto a battle strategy. He cares little about any potential chance of magecraft becoming public knowledge, and does nothing to hide his status as a Master.

Despite his naive nature, Flat seems to take a level of consideration for human life. This was shown when El-Melloi II asked if his student was prepared to kill other enemy magi, this made Flat nervously replied in how he was hoping to win without killing anyone. Another case was shown when the Berserker, he summoned, informed Flat that, had he had been summoned in a different class, the Master would have likely been possessed and go in a maddened rampage to kill everyone around him; this made Flat momentarily panicked as he was worried about the innocent bystanders that were around when he just summoned his Servant.

Fate/strange fake
Flat is present at the secret meeting dealing with the False Holy Grail War, having sneaked in through the many Bounded Fields out of pure curiosity. He is immediately enthralled by the idea, and he seeks out El-Melloi II immediately to get permission to take part in it. He speaks of it publicly without any decorum, causing his teacher to berate him for almost leaking secret information. He explains that he "hacked", a new age term used by young magi, the Bounded Fields obtain the idea from there, shocking his teacher into silence. El-Melloi II tries to talk him out of the idea after the situation has moved him past anger, but Flat's excitement is undaunted.

He asks Flat for his reason in wishing to participate, and Flat's answers that he wishes to see it, citing various historical figures that searched for the Grail as motivation. His teacher calmly corrects him that was not named Gobbles, and that it makes no sense for Asian figures, let alone a fictional monster like, to have sought it out. His teacher tries to get him to realize the reality of a life and death battle, but that only excites him more and causes him to propose befriending all of the Servants. He begins to forget his original train of thought and imagines getting together with the heroes to conquer the world.

He is eventually completely rejected, and begins to sulk down a hallway in an undignified manner. Upon meeting a member of the administration in charge of mail, she asks him to deliver packages to his teacher. In his curiosity, he examines them with clairvoyance, and he is shocked to find what he believes is a catalyst for Jack the Ripper that El-Melloi prepared for him. Though it is obviously a cheap product based on a video game, he is unable to make such a connection, and hastily goes to his bewildered teacher. El-Melloi, not remembering having entered a contest for the toy and not bothering to open the package, gives it to him amidst his unintelligible, thankful rambling. He plans to set off for America and arrives a few days later.

Only obtaining the basic details of the Holy Grail War, knowledge of the Command Spells and Servant classes, he is very unprepared for the upcoming events. He is granted Command Spells by the False Grail, and he pledges not to use even one of them due to the fact that they are "cool" and will disappear after they are utilized. Without regard for hiding his status as a Master, he goes to a public park in broad daylight, and through random means, he summons Berserker. He is very surprised, but quickly becomes very interested in his Servant's identity due to him being unlike his perceived notion of a Heroic Spirit.

Berserker, surprised at his Master's ability in summoning him without a ritual, decides to show himself as a police officer to show his abilities. Flat is unaware of this transformation, and as Berserker initially pretends to be real, he is shocked by the officer's accusation of being suspicious. Berserker reveals himself, returning to his non-physical form, and explains his nature and class. Flat knows at least that Berserkers should be mad warriors, but simply believes Berserker is calm due to following a strange explanation which any ordinary person would doubt, that two negatives, a symbol of madness and a mad class, form to make a calm positive.

Berserker then questions his competence for letting the police disguise fluster him without responding appropriately with magecraft, but he claims that he wished to make the officer informed of the situation beforehand. Learning of Berserker's motivation and more of his nature, he shocks Berserker with his lack of decorum in stating that there is no "real Jack the Ripper." Berserker is left silent by his further reasoning in summoning a supposed mad killer, and he further shocks Berserker by deciding to enjoy the weather instead of formulating a battle plan. They later evade the Police Chief's undercover agent, leading to a classification of "quite capable."

Fate/Apocrypha
Flat makes a brief appearance while Lord El-Melloi and Reines El-Melloi Archisorte discuss the events of the Great Holy Grail War. Eavesdropping on the conversation, he excitedly thinks about going to witness it. He also asks El-Melloi's Maid Golem on a date to watch a movie.

Lord El-Melloi II Case Files
After the events of Adra Castle Case, Flat was seen searching for Gray.

Other Appearances
He was briefly mentioned in the seventh volume of Fate/school life.

In Type-Moon's April Fools' Day 2015, his Tmitter user account is @tmtt15_flat.

Abilities
Flat's ability as a magus is extremely high with "boundless potential and talent", surpassing all of his peers, but his overall ineptitude greatly squanders his potential. He is able to bypass at least a dozen Bounded Fields on a whim in order to eavesdrop on a secret Association meeting, and he was not even sure if it would succeed. He lacks critical thinking to put his abilities to use, such as being flustered by the presence of Berserker as a police officer, not even attempting to use hypnotism or another form of magical suggestion to ward him away.

Without even knowing the exact process, he summons Berserker without establishing a Magic Circle or even beginning a chant, and he himself is surprised at his Servant's sudden appearance. The only action he performed was "fiddle" with the magical energy about in the area, and the connection was spontaneously established. Such a feat would have shocked any other Master, and his teacher would have been proud of him upon witnessing it. While it is unknown if it was a miracle, luck, or an achievement of his own latent potential, he manages to deliver a powerful slight against the Holy Grail War.

Reception

 * In the Type-Moon's 10th Anniversary Character Poll, Flat was ranked 209th.