Excalibur


 * This page is about the Fate/stay night Noble Phantasm. For the Fate/Prototype Noble Phantasm, see Excalibur.

Excalibur: Sword of Promised Victory is the strongest and most majestic holy sword that symbolizes King Arthur and can be called the physical actualization of her ideals. It is her greatest and most powerful Noble Phantasm, which is a divine construction, the pinnacle of holy swords, forged by the planet as the crystallization of the wishes of mankind stored and tempered within the planet. While there are many other Noble Phantasms crafted more splendidly and with better skill, Excalibur is an illusion far superior to them. It cannot be called beautiful because of its appearance for the description of "beautiful" will only dirty it. It is instead sacred, made from people's conception, legends weaved only out of hope.

It is not a myth or inhuman work, but a crystal trained by the heart alone, making it reign as the strongest fantasy. It is the crystallization of the prayer named "glory" and everything etched in the hearts of those who are scattered at the sword's radiance; the nostalgic, sorrowful, and hallowed dream of those who were placed on the bloody hell called a battlefield, of all warriors past, present, and future fully exposed to the fear of death and despair, and who still cling to a desire: "to be exalted." Looking upon its light makes Gilgamesh fondly remember Enkidu, and it is able to make even Gilles de Rais, having fallen into brutality and smeared with corruption, remember the light and glory of his past that has been etched into his heart before it destroys him.

It and Caliburn, her first sword, are often confused due to their close nature in the legend. Both the sword from the stone, later broken, and the new sword received from Vivian are called "Excalibur", but that was because they were originally two separate stories. They were later combined into a single narrative, the former becoming known as Caliburn and the latter becoming known as Excalibur. There is also some debate about whether or not Excalibur was reforged from Caliburn, or if they were two completely different swords from the start. The swords are similar in nature and appearance, though Exacalibur is more suited to be used as a weapon. Excalibur has good performance as a sword, almost completely devoid of ostentatious ornamentation, and Caliburn is extravagantly adorned as a symbol of the king’s authority, making its rank as a weapon lower. They have similar abilities based in using light to attack the enemy, which Shirou sees as an obvious conclusion from the similar appearance.

It is one of the ultimate god-forged weapons, a Last Phantasm, which was guarded by extensions of the planet, Fairies, before briefly being passed on to Arturia by the Lady of the Lake and later returned to the lake before her death. It replaced the destroyed Caliburn, and its sheath, Avalon, provided partial immortality for its wielder. She eventually lost Avalon, and replaced it with Invisible Air, which she uses during the Holy Grail Wars to hide the sword and her identity. While it takes time to figure out the Noble Phantasms and identities of other Servants, Lancer is able to deduce her identity as King Arthur from a mere glance at the sword, claiming that any Heroic Spirit that has traversed time and space to join the Holy Grail War would never mistake her golden sword for any other. It is a typical Western sword with a length of ninety centimeters and a width of twelve centimeters, and it has Fairy Letters inscribed on it to show that it is not the work of mankind.

Excalibur is a weapon of directive energy that converts the prana of the wielder into light by accelerating it with her factor of the dragon, intensifying the kinetic energy by convergence and acceleration, allowing for the use of Divine Spirit-level thaumaturgy. It is an "ultimate killing technique" that releases light holding energy equaling Arturia's total amount of prana from the tip of the blade once the sword is swung. While the result is what looks like a large beam of light, only the tip of the attack, which is a wave of light that can mow through the surface of the Earth, is capable of doing damage, as the beam is the result of the "dislocation" of everything the attack destroys in its path. Even if it is dodged, those in close proximity can still be temporarily distracted by its intensity.

Its speed and power are among the greatest compared to other Noble Phantasms, and only Ea matches it. However, its prana consumption is extremely high, and it cannot be fired consecutively. When used while weakened by her connection with Shirou, she can only fire it once before she is almost out of energy, and when she tries to use it again even after restoring some energy in Night Without Dawn bad ending, she fails to even scratch Berserker due to the lack of prana and instantly fades away. Once Avalon is returned to her in Fate, she is able to use it a number of times in succession before fading away.

It ranks as an anti-fortress Noble Phantasm due to its magnitude and destructive power. Its concentric area of impact is broad enough to incinerate an entire military cohort, turn the ground into scorched earth and leave a great disorder in land that would never fade, cut into the clouds, and completely destroy the large creature summoned by Caster, capable of regenerating instantly after receiving mountain shattering attacks, by annihilating every single atom of its flesh. Both hands are needed to use the attack, so losing access to her hands means being unable to use the ability. After the tendon in her left hand is severed by Gae Buidhe, making it impossible to move her thumb or exert enough strength to grip the sword hilt, it is reflected upon changing Excalibur's status to an Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm with a range of 2-3 and a maximum target of one person.

Its destructive power can also be a negative trait that limits its usage, as it can easily damage the surrounding area and kill a large number of people if used under the wrong conditions. This trait makes it impossible for her to use it against Archer during Fate/hollow ataraxia due to the great risk of destroying the Center Building and numerous buildings around it to reach him. She can somewhat control the output with precise calibration, but it is still easily capable of completely destroying Fuyuki's church while holding back energy to minimize collateral damage. The distance between her and the enemy increases its effectiveness, so it is possible to limit its destructive power if they focus on close-range combat. It also cannot be used against opponents who fight at extremely close range, such as Assassin, who could cut off her head with Tsubame Gaeshi the instant she began to gather energy into her sword.

Black Excalibur
Black Excalibur (黒エクスカリバー), or Excalibur Morgan: Sword of Promised Victory as it is called in Fate/unlimited codes, is the form Excalibur takes after being corrupted by evil. Excalibur works by converting its user’s magical energy into offensive power, and just as the fairies of the Lake, and Morgana, can coexist as polar opposites embodying good and evil, Excalibur can also hold a dual existence of good and evil. Due its nature as a "sword that amplifies", it is blackened when Saber is blackened by Angra Mainyu, reflecting her inner feelings and corrupted nature as "Saber Alter."

Becoming the "Black Sword of Ultimate Light", it is no longer sheathed in Invisible Air and takes on a different appearance. Rather than creating an almighty slash at the tip of the sword, Excalibur gathers a large amount of prana to cover the sword in a black light with the same shape. It matters not if it is filled with good or stained by evil, as the fact that it is the strongest holy sword does not change. It can either be used to attack as a blazing black flame in a similar fashion to the regular Excalibur or, as shown in Fate/unlimited codes, swung like a sword in an upward arc multiple times as a technique named Vortigern: Hammer of the Vile King. Due to the corruption and the enormous amount of prana received from Sakura, Saber can fire this version of Excalibur without limit.

Excalibur Image
"May this light reach the king who never can be reached. Can you withstand this fragment of a true holy sword?"

- Archer

Excalibur Image: Forever Distant Golden Sword is a degraded version of Excalibur utilized by Archer that can only be utilized within Unlimited Blade Works. In the world of Extra, the conditions for where wrought iron is possible are boosted so projection of holy-sword class weaponry is possible, though their performance is inferior.