Saber (Fate/Grand Order - Musashi)

Saber (セイバー) is a Saber-class Servant able to be summoned by the Protagonist in the Grand Orders of Fate/Grand Order.

Identity
Saber's True Name is, Musashi's formal name is Shinmen Musashi no Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu. A swordsman from the early, Musashi was renowned as the strongest swordsman in the history of Japan. He founded the school of swordsmanship; a martial art that involved the dual-wielding of a  and. However her circumstances are somehow different from the Musashi that left his name in history.

History
In the proper history, Musashi was born in Oohara, Sakushu (modern day, in the ), at 1584. His father was a practitioner of martial arts named, who served as an instructor of martial arts to the of lords of the Takayama Castle, and who received the name of Shinmen from his employer’s family. Shinmen Munisai built a dojo of techniques in the Miyamoto village of the Yoshino district, and Musashi would later call himself “Miyamoto” due having this land as his hometown. He left behind many anecdotes and went through numerous battles against martial artists upon reaching adulthood - especially during the ten years of his 20s. Those famous bouts are even now seen as a staple of the entertainment industry. However, the truth behind the episodes of these ten years of battle is mostly wrapped in mystery and there are strong suspicions about them being mere fiction.

Life
Whereas the Musashi of the established timeline was in fact historically a man, the Miyamoto Musashi that appears in Fate/Grand Order is a young woman -- a personage that originated of a timeline long-extinguished by the fall of the Quantum Time-Locks. Since the elimination of her world, she has perpetually shifted from timeline to timeline at random, traversing all varieties of locales and time-periods.

In her original world, 'Miyamoto Musashi' is a nameless swordsman that lives care freely day to day. had abandoned Musashi because she was a girl. Though she was disowned, she built a hut in front of her father's house and lived there just to spite him. Once, she went to Sagami for martial training, she saw a strange old man while taking shelter from the rain.

Personality
"My formal name? Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu. Still, it’s easier if you just call me Musashi."

- Musashi

As you see, the person herself has a relaxed, open attitude that never gets worked up. Having no particular interest in victory or prestige, yet sloven with alcohol, a sucker for money and weak against free food. However, all those who confronted and were beaten by her in battle said this in the end:

───a vibrant flower of tengen. Her sword reaches the heights of nothingness.

Cheerful and openhearted, a female swordsman that is lively yet dignified. Constantly full of pride, acting complacently, but that does not mean she is looking down on her opponent. She is merely enjoying life. Her way of expressing emotions is somewhat great. She greatly laughs and gets greatly surprised. While she has a broad-minded personality that laughs off at most things, due being “someone who masters the way of the sword” at her roots, she is very dry and severe in regards to the taking of lives.

That being said, she falls in love easily and likes to be depended on very much. She also likes to be praised very much. Weak to flattery. A disposition that loves a brawl. Although she has a sense of justice, she never preaches to be righteous herself. Fundamentally a carefree wandering vagabond, but she becomes ruthless when coming across scenes such as:

"A one-sided massacre.” “Trampling on people’s dignity, convictions for fun” “Stealing my food when I’m hungry."

- Musashi

She is happy about the other world's Musashi became a really famous figure.

"Eh? The Musashi in this world is a man?” “And also extremely famous? What a surprise!"

- Musashi

Fate/Grand Order
She went on a pilgrimage to become stronger and there is no particular purpose besides that. But if she is to think of a specific goal, it would be to return to her original world, and to take her mastery of the sword to the extremes. However her world has long since vanished. She was flung out from her disappearing world, a vagabond that can only wander through the worlds of others.

In her previous journey, she ended up in the American West where she had to put her skills against pistols. At that time, the priestess that took care of her said to Musashi; "You are a Stranger".

Musashi Trial Quest
During Musashi's travels through alternate worlds, she duels the elderly Yagyu swordsman. As they fight, Musashi believes she is fighting a battle that she couldn't win because there's a large gap in their abilities and her taunts aren't working on him. She decided to run away but as she enters through the portal to the next world, he lands a strike that hits her heads and knocks her out.

She is found by Ritsuka Fujimaru on the beach of Onigashima Island. She awoke with an amnesia, but she calls herself lucky to have a cute with a gentle and pure personality to wake her up. They encountered two Onis who harasses them. After Musashi defeats them, one of the Oni recognizes the swordsmanship. However the Oni was surprise to find the girl to be the framed Miyamoto Musashi, thus Musashi knows her name. Musashi spares the Oni's life, she joins Ritsuka to a teahouse.

In the teahouse, Musashi converse with Ritsuka and they exchange details of their journey. One of the Oni returned and introduces himself as Sukeroku. He took an interest in the self-proclaimed Musashi and followed her to the teahouse. He informs the two about the island's situation and how three devils has preoccupied the gates. He believes that it is the best interest for Ritsuka and Musashi to reach the top of the island and return to their world through divine territory.

When the trio reached Kazakoshimaru's gate, Cleopatra has taken over the gate. Cleopatra plans to build the gate into a high-class exclusive spa and invites them. Musashi thought Cleopatra to be very generous as she is invited stay for free. In response of the heavy labour work, Musashi calls it corrupt commercial law, and suggest to defeat her quickly and advance. Cleopatra was defeated when Musashi has cut her down lightly. As Cleopatra fades away, Musashi is pleased to know that she returned safely to Chaldea.

The trio encounters Tamamo Cat at the second gate. Musashi was impressed that Ritsuka has a lot of different types of friends. Musashi informs Ritsuka the Japanese traditions of cooking in New Year's Day. It turns out that there are three Tamamo Cat and they all desire Ritsuka. They all joined in and fought against the trio.

After dealing with the Cats, they moveed on to the next and last Gate. Things, however, seem stranger than usual as there is no gate to be seen. Instead, they found empty plains with a rocket sticking out. Musashi sense the enemy's attack and deflects some projectiles out of the air. Mysterious Heroine X appears and declares that a true Saber only holds one beloved sword in hand and that the twin sword style is the ultimate way of evil. Musashi acknowledges X's is a first-rate swordsman, and it's from a school that I'm unfamiliar with. Musashi finds X to be really interesting, it's the first time she've gotten the feeling of "I really wanna slash her!". X calls out a challenge to Musashi. Musashi lands a hit on X, X finds Musashi to be a difficult opponents, whereas Musashi easily found her weakspot through her Mystic Eyes. Musashi slashes at X's W.F.D. Bracelet, and the Reality Marble's world breaks away. The plains and X's rocket disappear, only to be replaced by the sight of the third gate. X vanishes in golden light. Musashi finds her a strange opponent, and asks Ritsuka if all of the Servants are like that. Musashi feels their wavelengths matched and finds a sort of kinship with her, as they are both strayed from their world. After passing the last gate. There is only a short distance till you get to the peak.

As the trio went up the mountain, Ritsuka explain to Musashi about the Human Order Incineration Protocol. She is impressed by the tremendous battles Ritsuka has gone through to reclaim human history and its future, and offers Ritsuka a formal praise. She then wishes Ritsuka a Happy New Year, thanking Ritsuka for saving the world so that she could have continued to travel like this. As they reach to the top of the island, a Rayshift activated. Although Ritsuka can't see it, but Musashi tells Ritsuka that she can feel a hole has opened up. Sukeroku tells Musashi that she is going to die and he changed form to a shadow Servant. As Musashi cuts down Sukerou, Musashi realised that he is Arima Kihei. Before Sukeroku dies, he cryptically foretell Musashi's dream to return to her own world is doom and her journey with her sword is futile. She request Ritsuka to write a diary to remember her, she was pleased to know that the feeling was mutual. Musashi says her farewell to Ritsuka.

The Tournament of the Seven Heroic Spirit Blade-Master
After her duel with Munenori, Musashi encounters the Nameless Saber, Sasaki Kojiro, and the two warriors would enter their fated duel. Their blades clash, and their power and skill are equal. Both their swords transcended time and space, yet their existence and concept are the exact opposite. The clash of the existences and concepts between Musashi's Zero and Kojiro's Infinity creates an infinite place, or perhaps, an empty place, where there is no time, space, karma, good or evil. A situation only those two who put their very souls into their blades can reach. Simultaneously, both of them surpass Infinity. Both of them would continue to try to kill each other over and over again for all of eternity. It is not the real world, and this moment will never be recorded or stopped for anyone. This place lies between the real world and the world of dreams. An impossible place where Infinity and Zero can intersect. A miraculous sword fight that is supposed to go on forever, never reaching its conclusion. But due to the Protagonist's presence and deciding his/her winner, Musashi was able to win the duel against Kojiro, the sword of Zero having destroyed the sword of Infinity.

Abilities
Musashi has become akin to a Heroic Spirit. She has the same type of presence as the murderous 「Shiki Ryougi」.

Six Realms Five Planes - The Divine Figure of Kurikara is her Noble Phantasm.

Musashi possesses a distinct Mystic Eye ability known as the Empyrean Eye (天眼) which permits the resolution of a desired result as "inevitable," by way of committing the entirety of the user's existence to the act of achieving the outcome. In practice, Musashi's application of the Empyrean Eye generally defines that “cutting a certain place”. For example, once she has decided to “cut the opponent’s right arm”, she will server said right arm by taking all and every measures. As a result, her attack becomes the optimal answer for a slash - “a sword stroke without anything pointless, which makes even time and space yield”. A power to take all the “measures for the sake of achieving an objective” and “narrowing them down to one”. You might as well say that this is an extremely unique set of mystic eyes, which confines the naturally infinite futures into “just a single” result.

Nothingness (無空) is the highest order a swordsman can attain. The ultimate mental state. It corresponds to the concept of Suigetsu of the. One is nothing, thus invincible. Only a swordsman who has reached the infinite mental state can perceive this.

Her father, Munisai's sword has reached the "One", the One where nothing lies beyond, where nothing can be considered higher. She wanted to surpass Munisai's sword no matter what, so she aims to for a sword that exceeds the One. Until her life ends, she'll always be aiming to grasp the seat of emptiness to reach Zero. According to Sukeroku, her aim is meaningless as the greatest enemy for a swordsman is the one who takes the opposite path to her Origin to its extremes. The path that opposes it, is in other words, Infinity. There are no swordsmen who can reach Infinity. It is surely a path that no one can ever walk.

Ten of thousands, hundreds of millions of "possibilities" exist. Verify them all, crush them all, stop them all. A "finite" sword that strives to reach a single "correct answer". Until there is nothing left, cut everything until only "something" remains. That is Musashi's "Zero". A sword that establishes a "conclusion" that not even the gods can escape from.

Right before death, Musashi compiled the mental state he attained during his lifetime, his cultivated techniques, into one book, Go Rin no Sho (五輪書). Divided into the five volumes of Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Void, this book was the culmination of the human being called “Musashi”. The Book of Five Rings gives an outline of the Niten Ichi-ryu and explains its ideology as an art of war in the Book of Earth, explains concrete techniques on the Book of Water, talks about the art of war in the dimensions of tactics and strategy, and - just like the above-mentioned - explains the fundamental understanding of the Niten Ichi-ryu by means of a repudiation of other schools. Finally, it has been said that Musashi’s own understanding about “emptiness”, as well as the above-mentioned technique of “confrontation”, has been written down on the Book of Void. She has yet reach the sword of the fifth book.

Development
Hirokazu Koyama is the character designer for Musashi.

In Fate/school life, Eiichirou Mashin held a contest for which he asked his readers to submit designs for the strongest Servant. Amalgamation of four similar swordsmen of the same period as whose similar talents and exploits were consolidated and added to his legend, "In other words, this Musashi is a 'colony' composed of multiple people." Noble Phantasm: Mu Sashi Miya Moto (宮本武蔵)