Rider (Fate/stay night)

Rider (ライダー) is the Rider-class Servant of Sakura Matou in the Fifth Holy Grail War of Fate/stay night. Due to Sakura's unwillingness to participate as a Master, Shinji Matou is instead given control over Rider. She only truly acts as Sakura's Servant when their connection is revealed in the Heaven's Feel scenario. She is one of the Servants of Ritsuka Fujimaru of the Grand Orders conflicts of Fate/Grand Order.

Identity
Rider's True Name is Medusa, the Gorgon from Greek mythology. Rather than being a regular Heroic Spirit, she is an existence closer to a Divine Spirit, but her actions have made it better to categorize her as an "anti-hero closer to a monster." With her older sisters Stheno and Euryale, they made up the three Gorgon Sisters who inhabited the Shapeless Isle. She was known as the "woman who dominates", an anti-hero who became as such due to the dark thoughts of humans. Differing from someone like Hassan-i-Sabbah who was a hero who actually existed, she is said to be one of legends born by the gathering of belief.

The legend of Medusa is different than her actual life. She was said to be a half-human, half-god female beast often portrayed with the form of a snake. Originally she was an Earth Goddess (大地の女神). While all originally beautiful women, she and her sisters were hated by Poseidon's wife because of his love for them. Athena, jealous of their beautiful hair, transformed them into demons. Secluding themselves in a lightless temple on the Shapeless Isle, they only attacked humans with a reason. Eventually, as a victim of the gods' unreasonable actions, she was to have her head cut off on their whim. Defeated by Perseus by reflecting her petrification back at her with his mirror-like shield, Pegasus, the son of Poseidon, was said to have sprung from the blood of her headless neck.

Life
Medusa and her sisters were born from the wishes of mankind for ideal idols, the embodiment of the yearning hearts of men. As "perfect goddesses", their "divine essence" was to remain the same from the moment of their creation to their destruction. Medusa was an exception who was a failure from birth, growing older over time. Though they should have all been copies, or even as close as clones, resulting from the deification of the same phenomenon, a mistake in her birth or something of deeper significance caused her to be copied imperfectly. While she did not embody "forever young and immortal", she gained abilities in compensation compared to her sisters' inability to even care for themselves. With divine powers, her Mystic Eyes, indispensable in protecting her sisters who could not live in the world on their own, this caused the previously united sisters to become three separate individuals. Although Medusa was different from the start, even the other two showed irregularities, their sadistic nature, from interacting with her.

She was originally considered to be a princess loved by humans, but Athena, jealous of their beauty, cursed Medusa alone, taking away her "faith from each and every person" and exiling her to the Shapeless Isle. Their love for her turned to hatred, and she was banished by those who had adored her. The island had nothing to offer compared to her days of luxury, and she prayed that none of the humans that now frightened her with their unwarranted resentment would tread on the island. Weeping in loneliness, she had no idea as to her sin that forced her to be exiled. Although her sisters were not affected and still greatly loved, they too accompanied her there out of caring for their younger sister. She was happy even on the barren island due to their company, and only had to fear the coming humans.

While they became rumored as monsters, her sisters were still revered by nearby men, while she was feared as a monster. Humans sought to kill that which had been branded as a monster and take away the goddesses, and after they began to also target her sisters, she decided to protect them while taking her revenge on the humans. Although littered with statues that had been warriors, they were harmonious for a time on the island, at one point receiving her Pegasus from Poseidon. Though bullied by her sisters daily, she simply moved about the island on days humans did not appear, hoping for the peace to continue. Repaying them in the same manner as they treated her, she killed many humans, simply hoping to be left alone on the only place she could exist with the company of her sisters.

Though she was protecting them from the foolish humans who sought their own deaths, her sisters warned her not to take pleasure in killing them. Using her eyes that were only a deterrent to sow terror in humans, she began to experiment in ways of killing them more quickly. Deciding to become a trap against those who would take her sisters, even they who had always been full of joy began to fear her after she started drinking their blood instead of simply petrifying them. The humans continued to journey the island no matter the infamy surrounding her, and she eventually became too ashamed of her slowly disfiguring self to appear before her sisters. Leaving them, she once again found herself alone, hungering for new sacrifices to replace her sadness and loneliness.

She grew into the Gorgon each day as her body, heart, and very being decayed, all backed by the thought of becoming stronger for the sake of protecting her sisters. Even that reached a point where her sisters instead became nuisances who were intruding upon her lair. They appeared before her after her full descent into a monster, lamenting that they had not asked for her protection and were just letting her enjoy what had seemed fun to her. Saddened by her state, they sacrificed themselves to the Gorgon because the sister who protected them was no longer there. Consumed by countless snakes without any trace of joy or sadness, they were ground into pulp and absorbed into the beast while still alive. Without leaving a trace, they became its flesh and blood, and it continued to thrive as the Gorgon sisters became monsters of nightmares and legends.

The Gorgon's notoriety continued until Perseus decided to bring back its head for his own fame. Granted five Noble Phantasms, he boldly traveled to the Shapeless Isle without any hesitation, only realizing his folly upon seeing the state of the island. He despaired upon encountering it, having decided that there is no victory to be found against the demon god, with his Noble Phantasms only acting as lifesaving equipment in the best scenario. Avoiding her gaze by focusing on his Mirror shield, he desperately fought to survive. Tired of toying with him, it used Breaker Gorgon, and he used the only possible method of defeating it, using Kibisis to have it encage itself.

Reversing the nightmare of the Bounded Field upon it, it suffered as Medusa as the nightmare reflected upon it instead of Perseus. While it was a "nightmare beyond nightmares", it was not an evil vision that caused excruciating pain, but a pleasant dream of her sisters, paralyzing her with the joy of seeing those she thought she would never again meet. Despairing upon the reflection of itself from when it was still self-aware, this allowed Perseus to have his single counterattack, severing its head with Harpe. The monster, out of its own will, became Medusa again and let itself be struck down. Perseus used Kibisis to hold its head, later going on to become a successful hero.

Appearance
}}

Personality
Rider is silent, sultry, loyal, calm, collected, protective and vigilant, never hesitating to shield her Master from harm. She is always faithful to her Master, even with Shinji acting in that role most of the time. Showing that she is one of the most loyal servants in Fate/Stay Night. She is not openly talkative, and she prefers to analyze people and their actions. She is very overprotective of Sakura and willing to sacrifice herself for Sakura's happiness. She is very logical and she does not act out of anger or instinct.

Despite her self possessed nature she is insecure about her looks not believing that she is beautiful because she isn't cute. When majority others would regard Rider as being the epitome of alluring gorgeousness. This is largely due to the years of constant bullying by her older sisters. Rider, like her master Sakura, is prone to bouts of envy and jealousy but to a much lesser degree and also less frequently.

An aspect of the sultry side of her personality, Rider behaves in a very sedutive manner and is exceptionally flirtatious. She even uses her flirting as a weapon of sorts at times when she wishes to subdue a male or female target and has been described as being "like a snake staring down it's prey." Rider is especially aggressive when she flirts with someone she has feelings for often overbearingly so. This is especially true in the cases of Shirou and Ayako Mitsuzuri.

Rider is very studious in nature and gravitates towards interests that are of that sort. As her favorite hobby is reading which she says she does not do for the sheer enjoyment of it but rather it merely being her favorite activity. Having amassed a tremendous collection of books that occupy large spaces of her bedroom. Thus Rider can be described as a bibliophile. Another interest that displays this is in her favorite thing to watch on television, the news. Rider in Fate/Hollow Ataraxia whenever it is her turn to watch TV in the household she only chooses to watch the news. Rider too like the rest of the Emiya household will fight over the TV for her turn to use it, to simply watch the news.

According to Caster from Fate/hollow Ataraxia, Rider is a witty person. Something that can be attested to by the way Rider interacts with others.

Relationships
Sakura is Rider's master. Sakura is the most important person to Rider since she was summoned as a heroic spirit. It can be said that Sakura along with her sisters are the most important people ever to Rider. Rider dotes on Sakura immensely and she loves and cares for Sakura unconditionally. Rider's and Sakura's relationship can be described as that of a older and younger sister relationship. Rider is the most devout person to Sakura and is ready to protect Sakura at all cost. She obeys Sakura with great loyalty even if it is something she does not like such as when Sakura made her Shinji's servant. Unless she does not think it is in Sakura's best interest or if it will cost Sakura her life. To Rider, Sakura is her first priority not regretting or hesitating to kill anyone for her. Rider even teaches Sakura magic to subjugate Shinji and Zouken because of this.
 * Sakura Matou

Rider is the most supportive person to Sakura often reassuring Sakura that she is beautiful despite her insecurities about her looks. Rider is always there to cheer Sakura up and try to boost her self esteem. Rider desires very much so for Sakura to be Shirou's girlfriend and will do anything in this pursuit in spite of her own feelings for Shirou. Because of this Rider is harsh to Rin every now and then. Constantly helping Sakura to show up both Saber and especially Rin.

Rider's unconditional love for Sakura is because of they are kindred spirits being that they are very similar to each other both in personality and life. This was stated by Rider in that Sakura had a very weak catalyst that could've summoned any random servant and it was due to them being similar to each other that Rider was the one that was summoned. Rider is kindred to Sakura because like Sakura, Rider was abused all her life by everyone around her. She lived a life of mistreatment due to unfortunate circumstances that like Sakura she couldn't control being treated like a monster to the point it drove her to become one, her love for Sakura stems from this in that they both became monsters in spite of their true natures. They were forced to be monsters because of the suffering and abuse in their lives and it is for that harsh reality that Rider cares for Sakura with all her heart.

Shirou is the first man to ever treat Rider with kindness and respect. In turn she had developed feelings for him which she will never pursue because of Sakura. Rider cares deeply for Shirou. A recurring gag in Fate is that Rider when not in the presence of Sakura regularly tries to seduce Shirou often offering him sex, something they have done with each other before. Rider enjoys teasing him. Rider tries very hard to support Shirou and the household by getting a job. Rider although she never openly says it she enjoys when Shirou comes to hang out with her in her room and they read books together.
 * Shirou Emiya

Although Shirou does find it bothersome every now and then when Rider persistently tries to use his bike "Number one bike." She hatches various schemes to try to use it when he's not around. Another thing that irritates him, is that Rider has a hard time controlling her Riding skill and powers that she ends up accelerating both hers and his bikes so hard that it break which in turn Shirou has to fix constantly.

Saber is Rider's main rival and their relationship is filled with constant conflict and hostility, but despite this they are good friends. Rider had a very rough relationship with her sisters during her life often being the target of their bullying. It is due to that, that she is insecure of her looks and her height. Her sisters would often take advantage of her. Thus Rider often has very comically traumatic flashbacks of them. Yet, in reality her sisters loved her very much and she loved them just as much back. Stheno and Euryale saw her as the thing they cherished most in this world. When Rider was cursed by Athena and exiled to the shapeless isle, despite not being cursed themselves they moved there due to their love for her. In return, for that Rider protected them. Rider puts up with their bullying out of their fear that they would abandon her and leave her to be alone in the world. Something she doesn't realisethey could never or would ever do because of their love for her.
 * Saber
 * Stheno and Euryale
 * Stheno and Euryale

When Medusa fully transformed into the demon gorgon her sisters visted her in her lair. Finally admitting to her they truly loved her and were envious of her for being strong. Seeing that Rider had forever been lost to her demonic self, Stheno and Euryale sacrificed themselves to her. From then on they became a part of Rider's body and the three of them lived on as a demon even though essentially both Stheno and Euryale are dead becoming nothing more than Rider's body parts. To this day their deaths is the thing that haunts her the most and fills her with the most regret.

Despite not possessing any true dislike or hatred for Rin, Rider is somewhat hostile towards Rin every now and then due to her love for Sakura and knowing of Sakura's inferiority complex towards Rin.
 * Rin Tohsaka

Rider has a very adversarial relationship with Caster despite their limited interaction. During an encounter with Caster when she was a customer at the store Rider worked at. They were openly hostile to each other and insulted each other repeatedly. They only found common ground when Caster spoke of her relationship with her "sister in law" which is what she describes Issei as. In the flashbacks Issei is shown to relentlessly and horribly mistreat and bully Caster. Being overly demanding of her because he doesn't approve of her as Kuzuki's wife. Rider having had a similar relathionship with her older sisters empathise with her.
 * Medea - Caster

They found common ground a second time when Saber preached to them they should be more patient with those who bully them and to be the bigger person. They proceeded to gang up on Saber and lash out at her in anger and chastise her for being a freeloader in the Emiya Household desiring to do nothing besides eating. Or as Shirou said "These two are pissed and showing no mercy." Seeing Saber's opinion as not "worth anything." Because "she doesn't do anything."

Rider hates Shinji. Shinji is the most hated person along with Perseus by Rider. Seeing him as a disgusting and cowardly person unworthy of being her master. She especially loathes him because he sexually abuses Sakura. When she was released from being his servant she showed great hostility towards him to the point that she openly stated her desire to murder him.
 * Shinji Matou

Rider hates Zouken greatly although to a slightly lesser degree than Shinji. She wishes very much to make Zouken suffer for abusing Sakura.
 * Zouken Matou


 * Perseus
 * Rider greatly detests Perseus. She loathes him as much as Shinji if not more. Saying that "If he comes I'll kill him."  She especially hates him for using her head as a weapon for many years after killing her. She describes Perseus as "a successful Shinji." Something that when she said out loud, caused her to become enraged.

Fate/stay night
Rider's initial Master was Sakura Matou; however, she became the Servant of Shinji when Sakura, pressured by Shinji, yielded her Master's right to him. Rider holds no love for Shinji, seeing him as vile and predatory, but obeys his commands as a dutiful Servant. Because of their similar backgrounds, she is empathetic of Sakura, and seeks to protect her whenever possible. Like many of the Servants who participated in the 5th Holy Grail War, Rider has no motivation for seeking the Holy Grail.

Although regarded as one of the more powerful Servants of the 5th Holy Grail War, Rider is eliminated in almost every scenario. She is obliterated by Saber's Excalibur in Fate, and killed early on in Unlimited Blade Works by Caster's master, Souichirou Kuzuki who also nearly killed Saber.

Heaven's Feel
In the Heaven's Feel route Rider's role is greatly expanded, having become the servant protagonist. A wider range of her personality and abilities are shown in the route. During Heaven's Feel, Rider is liberated from her indentured servitude to Shinji, and assists Shirou Emiya in his battle against Saber Alter and Angra Mainyu.

During Rider's first appearance she and her master Shinji Matou engage in battle with Saber and Shirou and is both easily and quickly defeated by her. When Rider was greatly injured Shinji not willing to accept the defeat tries to force her to continue fighting by electrocuting her with a magic spell book further hurting her. Saber despite being Rider's enemy finds Shinji's action to be repugnant believing he is depriving Rider the honour of a hero's defeat and seeing Rider's effort as valiant despite losing the battle. After Shinji does that, the spell book burns and Rider fades away leaving Shirou and Saber to believe Rider has died.

Later in an interlude sequence it is shown that Rider had not perished. Shinji in a fit of rage is heard berating an unseen character demanding that he be given another spell book created from the unseen character's command seal. He successfully coerces the unseen character into doing so through blackmail. Rider then appears before Shinji asing if he is merely "using" her, to which Shinji confirms not even trying to hide that fact. Revealing that Shinji is in fact not her true master.

During Shirou's battle with True Assassin, as True Assassin was about to kill Shirou, Rider intercepts and deflects True Assassin's daggers. She did it at such blinding speed that Shirou didn't even notice her enter the compound. Rider begins to battle with True Assassin. Shirou believing Rider to be a weak servant is stunned when Rider demonstrates strength and skill that she didn't exhibit in her earlier fight with Saber. Rider monstrous strength, the amount of mana she possesses and especially her exceptional speed leaves Shirou in awe. Rider dodges True Assassin's daggers without any difficulty something that was deemed impossible to do, as it was believed that his daggers were to be too fast for any servant to dodge. She easily gains the upper hand against True Assassin by attacking him consecutively with brute force and blinding speed, throwing him around like a mere toy. This allows her to gain an opening to stab him with her daggers. Now within point blank range of him, Rider continues to dodge his daggers with ease. She then proceeds to swing True Assassin around the room like a flail having him crash into all the walls severely injuring him and she finishes the battle by throwing him through the building with tremendous force and he slams onto the outside pavement with such impact that it almost kills him forcing him to retreat.

After the battle Shirou engages Rider. He is on the defensive believing her to be his enemy. Rider assures Shirou that she was there not to kill him, but rather protect him. Stating that she was merely following her master's orders. She tells him she'll escort him home as it would be dangerous for him to do so alone. Shirou asks if this is also an order and Rider replies that it is not, but a personal whim of her own. Shirou rejects this offer since they are still enemies despite her saving him, this is confirmed when he questions her. She begins to depart, but before doing so Shirou thanks Rider for saving him, something that catches her off guard.

Rider reappears this time for a confrontation between Shinji and Shirou that was instigated by Shinji kidnapping Sakura and holding her hostage. Rider on Shinji's orders fights Shirou. During the fight, Shirou notices something strange. He notices Rider is weaker than from when she fought True Assassin, but rather at the same strength she was when she fought Saber. Rider relentlessly beats Shirou, but she does so with minimal use of her strength allowing Shirou to continue to move and continuously avoids important parts of Shirou's body such as his head. She fights in a way that allows Shirou to advance closer to Shinji and Sakura, even telling Shirou "There are about five more meters" referring to the remaining distance between him and those two. It appears that Rider did this of her own free will. As she was trying to give Shirou an opening to attack Shinji, which he takes advantage of allowing him to free Sakura.

After this Archer and Rin arrive and Archer cuts Rider's stomach. Rider, now injured and bleeding, lies on the floor helpless. Rin tells Shinji heal her, but as he is not a Mage he does not possess the ability to do so, instead simply using his command spell book to force her to fight despite the fact Rider would die as a result. Luckily the book burns and Rider is freed from Shinji's control.

Rider then regains her strength and heals quickly. Shinji orders her to fight, but Rider doesn't obey. She now displays great hostility towards Shinji. During this it is revealed that Sakura is Rider's true master and that Rider's newly gained power is due to Sakura supplying her with mana as Sakura has been reaffirmed as her master. Rider intercepts and grabs Shinji when he begins to attack Sakura and she coldly states if he continues to try and hurt her she would be forced to kill him.

Shinji cowardly flees but not before activating both a poison that causes Sakura great pain and agony to the point that she convulses on the ground and Rider's noble phantasm Blood Fort Andromeda.

Rider, now with Sakura as her master, proceeds to defend her from Archer who intends to kill her. They both engage in battle and Rider proves to be a formidable opponent, easily matching him blow for blow. This is partially due to Archer being weakened by the stronger version of Blood Fort Andromeda. Yet, despite that, it still comes off as odd to both Shirou and Rin that Rider could still match Archer especially in close range combat, something that would normally put Rider at a disadvantage. Rider proceeds to overwhelm Archer, something that immensely frustrates him. Rider asserts that Archer would not be able to defeat her, having deduced that he won't use his noble phantasm and could not defeat her without doing so.

Sakura calls out to Rider and, hearing her master's call, she declares to Sakura that she will save her life despite Sakura's protest against Rider's actions. Rider decides to end the battle and takes off Breaker Gorgon to reveal her mystic eyes of petrification, Cybele. Her identity is revealed as the gorgon from Greek legend, Medusa. She uses it to defeat Archer and it not only petrifies him, but Rin and Shirou as well. As Archer isn't able to fight back against Rider anymore due to longer being able to use his powers, she is the victor of their match. Rider's eyes start to petrify Rin and Shirou at a rapid rate both nearly on the verge of death. Sakura stops Rider by having lashing out and using her magic to drain Shirou's mana accidentally. Shirou having convinced Sakura to team up with him after stopping her from committing suicide and Rin ending her alliance because he chose to protect Sakura. Rider becomes the sole servant and protector of the Emiya household. Throughout her time as the servant of the Emiya household Rider displayed many quirks of her personality. She was stated by Shriou to be very similar to Sakura in personality in that she like Sakura has insecurities about her appearance and being prone to envy and jealousy. An example of her envious tendencies was when Sakura was interrogating Shirou about who he thought was more beautiful, both her and Sakura became very forceful in trying to get Shirou to answer. Rider is particularly insecure about her height believing that she isn't beautiful for being a tall woman.

When Shirou planned to go and try to recruit Illya to become a part of their team. Sakura and Rider was told to stay behind to protect the household because Shirou believes Sakura is too ill to engage in combat. Rider appears to Shirou before he departs, Rider questions Shirou if he is on Sakura's side showing her protective nature when it comes to Sakura.

Later, Sakura feeling worried about Shirou having sensed that he was in danger, orders Rider to go and fight to protect him. Rider rushes off as fast as she can to the forest where Illya's castle presides. Rider arrives too late and only sees the scene of aftermath of the battle. Shirou having lost an arm and Archer on the verge of death asked Rider to take his arm  and use it as Shirou's replacement. Rider agrees and grafts Archer's arm onto Shirou

Sometime in the game Shirou wanting to know of Rider's feelings towards Sakura goes to look for her, asking if she likes Sakura or not. Rider without doubt or hesitation said that she likes Sakura. She says that despite their limited communication she shares a special bond with Sakura. Rider says that Sakura is important to her and declares that she is dedicated to her above all else.

The next major event for Rider was when Shirou presiding over Sakura while she was in bed holding a knife deciding if he should kill her or not. Had Shirou chosen to kill her, Rider who was in hiding would come forth and quickly kill him. When Shirou decides not to kill Sakura, Rider appears when Sakura called her to come out of hiding. She tells Shirou had he tried to kill Sakura, Rider without hesitation would kill him instantly. Sakura knowing about her own deteriorating state uses her last command seal to order Rider to protect Shirou and become his surrogate servant. Leaving both Shirou and Rider in a state of shock.

Before departing for underground cave below the Ryuudou temple to face Dark Sakura and to destroy the Holy Grail. Shirou goes to look for Rider to try to convince her to help him. He goes to the shed to look for her and Rider appears before him intending to kill him. Shirou says he is fine with that, but wanted Rider to hear him out beforehand. Rider during their conversation tells him that during his confrontation with Berserker Alter she told him due to her loyalty to Sakura she decided not to help them in their fight resisting the order from Sakura's command seal through sheer will. This implies that had Rider decided to help Shirou, Berserker would've been defeated more easily.

Shirou finally manages to convince Rider when she asked him once again if he was on Sakura's side. He reassures her with all his conviction that he is and will  be on Sakura's side to the very end and that he desires to save her. Rider overjoyed with his answer happily agrees to join Shirou in his fight, giving a smile of satisfaction.

In the cavern Saber Alter appears before the team saying that she was ordered to not let Shirou and Rider pass letting only Rin pass. Rider knowing of Shirou's heroic behaviour would not retreat so, in order to protect him Rider engages Saber Alter in battle. This battle would be Rider's pivotal battle in Heaven's Feel. Rider removes Breaker Gorgon and activate her Mystic Eyes, Cybele to pressure Saber Alter and decrease her stats and fighting skills. She tells Shirou that she is no match for Saber Alter, but she can pressure her and at best she would only last two minutes in battle. She places her faith in Shirou telling him to wait for her to create an opening and from there she entrusts him to do his part.

When we return to the battle Rider is fighting valiantly. Using her only advantage against Saber Alter her speed to try and land sneak attacks on her blind spot to little result as Saber Alter blocks all her attacks. Rider's fighting style of attack and retreat, is the only thing that keeps her from being majorly injured. The only way that Rider had been defending against Saber's attacks is by continuously attacking her knowing that if Saber went on the offensive both she and Shirou would be killed. Rider continues to run at superhuman speed despite knowing that she would burn out from exhaustion and the strain on her legs would worsen. As well as the longer the battle goes on she'll lose her mana. This occurs all the while Saber shows no sign of fatigue. It is revealed that despite Rider saying she would only last 2 minutes before reaching her limit, the battle has gone on 10 minutes longer. Rider still keeps fighting despite both having passed her limit long ago. Forcing herself to push pass her weak endurance.

Rider finally finds her opening. She tricks Saber into thinking it was a straight forward attack, but in reality it was a looping attack to restrain Saber's legs leaving Saber to attack nothing. Saber fell for the trick believing Rider to continue to fight the way she did the whole battle. Saber left her weak spot unguarded, her knees. She then drags Saber and she falls to the ground and keeps her there by planting her dagger into the ground. Rider using as much of her speed as possible retreats back as far as she can putting a distance of 50 meters before them. Saber then break through the chains. Taking advantage of the distance and the 2 seconds of Saber's restraint, Rider activates her noble phantasm, Bellerophon. Saber retaliates by opposing Rider's noble phantasm with her own. Their noble phantasms begin to vie for supremacy and Rider knowing her noble phantasm was weaker puts her faith in Shirou. It turns out that earlier they had devised a plan, knowing this fact and Shirou activates Archer's arm and projects Rho Aius, Archer's main defensive ability. Rho Aius successfully shields Rider from Exalibur, allowing for Bellerophon to attack Saber. Rider having successfully attacked Saber, the force of the blast from both attacks throws Rider at the superhuman speed she charged at into the cave's wall with great force and she crashes to the ground. Rider now greatly injured and drained of most of her mana can no longer move.

After killing Saber, Shirou rushes to Rider worried about her. Knowing she can't move due to having been drained of her mana he tells her to rest until she has recovered and to follow him after. Rider jokingly reply that he treats people more roughly than she expected. Shirou apologises for that and tells her he's counting on her once she's more healed. She assures him she will.

Rider appears after the battle between Rin and Dark Sakura and Shirou having saved Sakura by removing her contract with Avenger with his projected Rule Breaker. He asks her to take Rin and Sakura to safety. Rider shows concern for Shirou after he says this, but convinces her to go saying that Sakura could be affected by Avenger if she stays saying he might force Sakura to be his master again. Understanding this Rider takes the sisters to safety. With the cavern collapsing, but knowing of her speed Shirou knows that would be no problem for her. Yet, he still mentions to her the falling rocks out of concern. Rider says that after she has gotten the sisters to a safe place, promises to come back for Shirou because she wants Shirou to be in Sakura's life to support her and make her happy.

In the epilogue of the true ending, it is shown that Rider is now living at the Emiya residence. She is kept in the world with Sakura's vast amount of mana. Rider now wears casual clothes and glasses to restrain her Mystic Eyes. From then on she. Sakura, Shirou and Rin live happily ever after.

Fate/hollow ataraxia
During Fate/hollow ataraxia, Rider is often found in the Emiya Houshold, always engaging in her passion for reading. She has a tentative relationship with Shirou (actually Avenger in disguise) in which they spend time reading together in her room. She has a part-time job in the marketplace, and tends to go out on her own for entertainment, revealing her fondness of the pool in Shinto. Despite having become more open with people, it is obvious that her actions are mostly done with Sakura in mind, going as far as to stop doing things she likes to appease her Master.

When Avenger realizes the truth and decides to end the ongoing temporal loop, Rider aids the other Servants in holding back the invasion of Shadow Wolf Beasts during the Fuyuki eclipse. In part due to her aid, Avenger reaches the Grail and sends himself into oblivion.

In Hollow/Ataraxia Rider's past is revealed and expanded upon in greater detail. Her life having been cursed by Athena, being an incomplete ideal goddess, being gifted her pegasus by Poseidon, being banished to the shapeless isle, her defeat by Persesus, her mistreatment by humanity, her life with her sisters and especially her eventual transformation into the demonic gorgon and that it was her in her gorgon form that killed her sisters.

In her Eclipse scenario The backside of Kibisis Rider together with Sakura appear both naked in front of Shirou and seduce him with their gorgeous big breasted bodies into threesome. However eventually it turns out that whole scenery is just Rider's illusion cast by her Breaker Gorgon as she was trying to get Shirou to pursue Sakura more aggressively. Yet in the middle Shirou realizes the truth and reverses her spell on her, in the end revealing that Rider herself has deep feelings for Shirou. Apparently embarrassed by the whole situation, Rider erased the whole dream from Shirou's mind and upon finally waking up Shirou has no recollection of the event, although Rider obviously does. She contemplates acting on the feelings she came to terms with in the dream, but stands aside for Sakura's sake once more.

Fate/Unlimited Codes
In Fate/Unlimited Codes, she is known as the Bewitching Black Serpent (妖艶なる黒き蛇).

Her arcade story follow closely to the Heaven's Feel route. As Sakura removed her Command Spells, the connection between the two has been disconnected and Rider is free. Sakura requested Rider to protect Shirou and to form a contract with him. Rider decided to fulfill her final request before Sakura consumed by the Grail. As she is still strong with the mana Sakura provided, she was prepared to fade from this world. However Rider decided to fulfill her duty as Sakura's Servant.

Rider encounters Caster in her mid-fight in Ryuudou Temple. Caster greets her intruder and asks her reason to fight as she considers Rider, a stray Servant who has been thrown out by her Master like yesterday's trash. Rider states she wants the Holy Grail and questions Caster if there is any difference in whether a human or a Servant wants to get their hands on the Holy Grail. Caster replies that as long as the wish is sincere and she can tell that Rider is willing to do whatever it takes to get a hold of it. But Caster considers this is not enough reason to fight, therefore, there must have other reason why Rider desires the Grail. Caster reasoned that Rider might be devoted to the ritual itself. Rider decided to defeat Caster, as she would be able to use both white or black Grail too well and they never did get along.

In her final fight, Rider meets the corrupted Dark Sakura and has defeated all the other Servants. Sakura would thank her but her body has not absorb the souls of the defeated Servants and she see Rider's eyes as if they are housing a great deal of power. Rider confirms that she has stored the souls of the Servants in order to use the most powerful versions of Breaker Gorgon and Blood Fort Andromeda. Sakura asked Rider to hurry up and present them to her so she can finish the ritual, she wanted to hold on to Rider's head. Rider doesn't deny that she has already exceeded her limits. Her body will not last much longer than a few more minutes. She believe it to be acceptable compensation to cancel the ritual before Sakura completely turn into the Grail. Sakura ask Rider to stop speaking, she will even forgive Rider if she stops and even heal her body. Sakura was madden when Rider wants to stop her and questions why everybody turned their back on her.

After Sakura was defeated, the Holy Grail becomes complete when the souls of the Servants are offered to it. So if all of the souls are used for something else, and not offered to the Grail. The ritual will end without the Holy Grail Vessel being damaged. It was not the most elegant of strategies, but it was the only way Rider could do it which she got the idea from Caster. As Sakura wakes up. Rider greets her with a Good morning. Rider comforted Sakura saying she won't be having any more nightmares from now on as the Holy Grail, or the Matou will ever threaten her again. Rider's body starts to disappear, as the Holy Grail War is over. Rider says everything will return to normal and she wants Sakura to live her life. Sakura apologizes and begs Rider not to leave. Rider is the one who is sorry, she bids her farewell and was so glad that she was able to save Sakura.

Fate/tiger colosseum series
Rider's route in the game depicts her excited to start off her day with the hopes of trying on new pair of suspiciously tiger stripped glasses that promises to increase the wearer's power. However, she quickly finds the glasses have been stolen and the window in the living room busted open. Quickly concluding that it was a thief, Rider begins her rampage throughout the city, along the way recruiting a reluctant Archer, and failing to obtaining Caster's help.

Ultimately, it was discovered that Rin was the culprit behind the theft of the glasses and while Rider soundly defeats her after gloating Rin into a fight, she discovers that Rin's own shenanigans ruined all of the magical properties of the glasses. As Rider sat in shame of her failure, it is revealed that the glasses weren't power enhances, but breast size minimizes, a fact Caster teases Rider on.

GUDAGUDA Honnouji
Medusa appears in the singularity under name Sanada Medusa, where she acts as translator for her lord, Takeda Darius due him speaking only in roars. When she and Takeda encounter Ritsuka, Mash, Okita, and Nobunaga, Medusa translates her lord's intentions to the group. After the group defeats them, she translates Takeda's last words, and she feels relieved that the entire ordeal is over before disappearing herself.

Interlude
In her first interlude Gorgon Bride (ゴルゴンの花嫁), Medusa tells Ritsuka Fujimaru that her sisters have decided to arrange a marriage for her to tease her. However, she can only get out of the arranged marriage on the condition that she is already in a couple. So, she and Ritsuka pretend to be a couple while Romani records them for video evidence. However, their "date" is interrupted when a man tries to flirt with Medusa, but the man attacks with his friends when she rejects him. After defeating them, she thanks Ritsuka for treating her like a normal person.

Fate/Extella
She makes her first appearance in the Fate/EX universe, but this time as a selectable playable character for Hakuno Kishinami. She's in Tamamo no Mae's party along with Tamamo-no-Mae, Karna, Lu Bu, and Elizabeth.

Carnival Phantasm
She has several appearance in Carnival Phantasm, her major role is in a segment called Type-Moon Serial TV Novel Sakura, a parody of a soap opera.

Capsule Servant
There are two Rider in the Capsaba Servants, one is known as the regular Rider while the other is known as Pegasus Rider (ペガサスライダー).

In Shirou's ending in G-Sakura route, Rider is an anti-SAKURA giant humanoid weapon called MEDO-SA (めどーさ) built by the Dimensional Empire MATO (時空帝国マト). G-Sakura commented that both her and Rider have trouble with their family.

Other appearances
Violet is composed of several goddesses including Medusa in Fate/Extra CCC.

In Type-Moon's April Fools' Day 2008, she is a super heavyweight wrestler known as the Masked Gorgon (マスク・ゴルゴン) in the T Moon Fighting Spirit (Tムーン 闘魂). A mysterious masked wrestler who hides her face behind a mask. Tall and silent, she has a powerful and skillful fighting style. She is polite to her opponents, and her modest character has gradually caused her fanbase to swell over time. She works in a tag team with Knight the Saber, and the pair is called the Golden Age of Fate Wrestling Federation. However, she had a different manager two years ago and her fighting style has radically changed since then. She is one of FWF's outstanding heels. At times she will propose unusual deathmatches in the style of a Gorgon, but not many in the FWF understand this idea.

In April Fools' Day 2009, moon.cinemas.jp is a fake movie theater site listing a number of parody films:
 * She was featured in Female prisoner Sakura ~Newly authentic backroom hell Great War~ (女囚さくら〜新本格密室地獄大戦争〜).
 * She was featured in Kill Ciel (キル・チエル), a parody film of . Rider plays as the role of The Eyes (ザ・ガマン), a target for the Cat.
 * She was featured in the animated film Papillon Shin-chan ~I call for sleepiness! Spicy shaggy Kingdom~ (パピヨンしんちゃん〜眠気を呼ぶ！激辛モジャモジャ王国〜), a parody film of.

Rider has a minor role in the TYPE-MOON 10th Anniversary Phantasm comic of Chariot Man: A True Tank Man, a parody film of. She appears when Iskander punches Kariya Matou to save Waver in the book store, Rider was forced to work overtime and complains to Waver and Iskander for the damages.

In Type-Moon's April Fools' Day 2013, she appears in Back Alley Satsuki, a parody of. Rider is a gold heroine of ox to protect the second temple and she is known as the Armed Gorgon (アームド・ゴルゴーン).

In Type-Moon's April Fools' Day 2015, Rider is in the Imperial Roma talent agency and part of the female group called Momoiro Hassan Z (ももいろハサンZ), her class is Stealth idol (ステルスアイドル).

Abilities
Rider fights with a low-risk and high-return type of warfare that is not fixated on the methods used to win. She fights mainly with a Nameless Dagger (無銘·短剣) in close combat that is more likely to be called a "nail" rather than a "dagger." It is attached to a long chain that can restrain and immobilize targets that she pierces. It is not suited to short-range battles, instead best utilized as a thrown weapon from a distance. It is not a Noble Phantasm, and while its origin is unknown, it is thought to be a weapon that reflects her inner character. It's displayed in Fate/Extella that one of Rider's natural and best styles of fighting with her daggers is by using them to pierce and or catch her enemies and use the enemies themselves as flail like weapons to attack other enemies. Either by throwing them at other enemies or by slamming into them into each other. Another way she fights with her daggers is by after piercing her enemies with them she swings them around having them smash into various structures greatly injuring them. This is best with structues that are very solid and hard such as walls, stone and metal buildings, trees and more. Then she releases them usually in the form of a hammer throw inflicting even greater damage. She did this in the Heaven's Feel route when she fought True Assassin which she used in tandem with her speed and Monstorous Strength to great effect, shattering every bone in his body in the process.

She boasts exceptional speed, moving like a bullet and racing around the battlefield. She is faster than Lancer in terms of average speed, but he will surpass her in immediate maximum output, despite this of the servants in the entirety of the 5th Holy Grail War only Lancer can out do Rider's speed if he were to run as fast as he possibly could. Thus making her overall the fastest servant in the war. Due to her nature as a Gorgon, she has a monster alignment that may make fighting battles against monster exterminators, such as against an expert like Lancer, tough for her. Although it is not impossible for her to defeat Lancer despite his advantage. Something implied by Lancer himself in Fate/Hollow Ataraxia when he openly stated that he feared her because of Bellerophon and that Rider as Lancer himself said was "One dangerous lass she is. Not an ounce of mercy for her enemies." Lancer even said after that being attackd by Bellerophon is like being shot at by "a missle" with Child Gilgamesh adding "With a nuclear warhead at that..."

While she is normally blindfolded, she perceives the world through hearing, touch, smell, and magic detection to have an even more precise outlook than with sight.

She is a unique Heroic Spirit who displays a great variety of skills and Noble Phantasms that are particularly high numbered even amongst other Servants, all of which are traces left from her time as a goddess. Due to her status as a former earth goddess, she has a strong connection to the earth, sensitive enough to its state to be able to sense disturbances in Fuyuki's leyline.

Due to her contract being passed to Shinji, her abilities are lowered, and she must seek out alternative means of magical energy. While she takes blood for the most part, she is not a Dead Apostle, but rather a bloodsucker whose most efficient manner of gaining energy is through drinking blood.

In terms of pure raw physical strength in large part due to her skill Monstourous Strength, Rider is the second strongest servant only behind Berserker. Having demonstrated this when she lifted a bulldozer in Fate/Hollow Ataraxia. Rider is so physically strong then when she was fighting a horde of monsters she was able to punch through their bodies and crush their heads with her bare hands. With monstourous strength alone Rider was able to slay hundreds within minutes.

Although it should be noted that Rider isn't a good close range fighter. This might not be completely true though given that in Heaven's Feel, Rider fought both True Assassin and Archer at close range and came out victourious surprising both Rin and Shirou, in the case of Shirou she has surprised him on more than one occassion in this regard. Implying that Rider is a very capable close range fighter when she is at full power. The other major weakness of hers is her weak endurance, but she has proven that she can overcome this as well when she is truly forced to do so. The most notable example of this is when Rider fought Saber Alter, she explicitly stated that she would only be able to last 2 minutes fighting against Saber Alter, but was able to exceed that limit by 10 minutes despite the tremendous strain it placed on her body especially her legs. Relying heavily on her willpower to do so, refusing to give up all for the sake of protecting Shirou and saving Sakura.

Noble Phantasms
Rider possesses many noble phantasms, all with a wide variety of uses and capabilities.

She has use of Blood Fort Andromeda, a Bounded Field designed to collect life energy from whoever is inside. Once it is set and activated, it can instantly liquify any normal humans inside and convert them into energy. Mages are able to resist the Blood Fort for a short amount of time before succumbing to it themselves. It was shown in the Heaven's Feel route that Blood Fort Andromeda can affect servants as it began to drain mana from Archer in her battle with him. This however mainly ocurred because of his weakened state having begun to be petrified by Rider's eyes. This shows that Blood Fort Andromeda can drain the mana of servants but it's best when they're under a weakened state even though they have the ability to resist the Blood Fort with their own mana stores. Leaving mainly servants such as Caster or Berserker who both have large stores of mana to be able to resist Blood Fort Andromeda the longest, but eventually servants like them too will succumb to the Blood Fort. Although it will be after a long duration of time which by then they could've already finished a battle with Rider herself.

Breaker Gorgon is another Bounded Field that seals the target inside the user's mind. Once activated in this manner it will deactivate the invocations of abilities such as magic, Skills, or Noble Phantasms, they possessed in the outside world once inside. Despite posessing this ability Rider never used it offensively in the entirety of the 5th Holy Grail War. She mainly uses it on herself in the form of a visor to seal her Mystic Eyes.

Her main offensive Noble Phantasm is Bellerophon, which allows the Pegasus to use an extremely powerful charge that resembles an arrow of light. It was said by Takeuchi, if she had encountered and fought Berserker she would've rammed him twice with Bellerophon taking two of his lives before she was killed. Showing that Rider is one of the servants in the 5th Holy Grail war that's able to take at least one of Berseker's lives alongside Archer, Saber and Gilgamesh.

Cybele
Cybele (キュベレイ), the Mystic Eyes of Petrification (石化の魔眼), are Rider's Mystic Eyes, said to be a "curse of the gods sealed by the powers of shrines." Though petrification sorcery is no strange thing for modern Thaumaturgy, even if its users are rare and few in numbers, Mystic Eyes capable of petrifying others are something that nobody, human or not, possesses in the present era. They are designated as Jewel under the Noble Colors system, which surpasses the Gold-ranked Eyes of the Dead Apostles and are exclusively possessed by Holy Spirits and Magical Beasts from the Age of Gods. Their nature is strong enough a mystery that Shirou mistakes the identity of Breaker Gorgon as the eyes themselves.

The eyes, almost too abnormal to be called eyeballs, are gray with an appearance similar to crystals. Despite their abnormality, Shirou believes that they are too beautiful for any human to possess, and could either be art the gods admired or a nature they cursed. The corneas do not take in light, and the pupils see the world through a square. The irises are solidified, not allowing the eyes to close, and the millions of cells that make up the retinas are composed of the Sixth Imaginary Element. It affects all targets within the owner’s field of vision, regardless of whether said targets are looking at the Eyes physically, or if they have their eyes closed but continue to view her with their mind's eye, as it is a curse to look upon her in any way. The only way Perseus was able to avoid her gaze was by utilizing his mirror shield to find her location without looking upon her at all.

Those who possess Rank C or lower in Mana will be immediately petrified, while those with Rank B may or may not be affected depending of the conditions. Those with Rank A or higher won’t be petrified, but will sustain "pressure" from the Eyes and receive a one rank-down to all parameters. The entire body of the target will be affected, including clothing and weaponry, "killing them while alive" as they are turned to stone. The ability is viable in petrifying a group of enemies, but it would not be useful against an infinite number like the horde of shades spawned by Avenger. The amount of energy it uses is comparable to also fighting them off with her Noble Phantasms, so it would quickly drain her faster than simply fighting them off in melee combat.

When Archer, with Rank B Mana, is affected at close range, he instantly feels the effects. He is immediately is frozen in place, unable to close his eyes or cover them with his arms even if he wanted to do so due to being unable to move either in the slightest. He tries to charge at her afterward, but his legs are already petrified up to his knees at that point. He is petrified up to his waist only a moment later before the effect is canceled. Shirou and Rin feel the effects instantly when targeted further away, barely or unable to move as their blood starts thickening. It immediately starts solidifying the flow of Shirou's body and ceasing his senses. If he tries to run at her, his body is instantly turned to stone, and his mind swiftly follows. He is only saved when Sakura acting up causes Rider to cease her activity.

She is unable to control them in any manner on her own, requiring the use of Mystic Eye Killers like Breaker Gorgon or the glasses and contacts she later replaces it with after the Holy Grail War ends. Knowledge of the eyes render further attacks less potent, but it is not enough to allow Rider to go without Breaker Gorgon in their presence. Repeating the initial surprise effect would be impossible, making it possible to act without going completely numb and causing the effect of the petrification to go at a slower rate. The effect will be magnified again should the person's guard be let down. It is possible to cancel the effect if it has not reached a certain point by closing her eyes. In the case of a lessened effect like when Shirou accidentally walks on her bathing, it starts to spread up his legs and is too far gone to simply close her eyes, but she is able to cancel the effect by sealing them with Breaker Gorgon. It takes some time for the petrification to recede, and she mentions that it would have been bad had it affected his heart.

Riding
With her Riding skills, she can ride on animals and vehicles, allowing her to mount creatures on the level of Phantasmal Beasts and Divine Beasts. She uses an unlisted, innate ability to bring forth the Pegasus given to her by Poseidon, initially thought by Shirou to be her main Noble Phantasm. It actually lacks any sort of name, and it is treated much in the same manner as her dagger. Having remained since the Age of Gods, its abilities are far beyond those of a normal Pegasus that would only be limited to the strength of a several hundred years old Monstrous Beast had it been one of the few remaining Phantasmal Species from the current age. Increasing in strength as it has lived, it has the strength of a Phantasmal Beast far beyond something like Invisible Air that could defeat a normal Pegasus. If left without the ability to readily use a strong Noble Phantasm, it easily overwhelms Saber and leaves her in a position to only bide her time and wait for a mistake on Rider's handling.

Its strength is nearing that of the level of dragons, the strongest of the Phantasmal Species, and its defense has already reached that level. It is made of enough energy to have come from several hundred magi, and constantly emits it while it flies. It is a divine mystery with magical protection even greater than that of Saber, who displays the strongest resistance of the Holy Grail War, allowing it to easily brush past all thaumaturgy without issue. Not needing to halt its charge against anything, it is much like a giant castle wall crashing down on the opponent and leaving them no method of dodging or defending. Too powerful to defend against, even the trail of its charge is enough to damage a Servant. It destroys its surroundings just by moving, scorching the area around it. The buffets from its wings are capable of generating massive shock waves, which raze infrastructures and lacerate the bodies of living beings.

Despite displaying this overwhelming ability, it is a docile being unfit for combat. For it to truly attack, she must use Bellerophon to compel it. It is brought forth by with her dagger, allowing the blood to spray out and stop in the air to form a magic circle. The circle, which displays a creature-like figure, swells with a large amount of magical energy that makes up the Pegasus, far surpassing Blood Fort Andromeda. Pegasus then emerges from a giant eye bound by blood, and she can either immediately mount it to use Bellerophon right out of the summoning circle or have it fight for a time before strategically using it. Once in the air, she can constantly attack the enemy and move from their range without coming close to the ground to leave them bereft of any method of counterattack or form of pursuit, but its speed would make it impossible to catch even with a method to follow it. Preparing her final strike, she can use Bellerophon at any time to cut all of the its limiters.

Rider likes the recreational use of bicycles, but suffers from the fact that she endlessly accelerates to the point of breaking them. Even for a "granny bike" like the one used for shopping at the Emiya household, she could easily ride it at 100 km/h when it is only meant to peak at 20 km/h. She yearns for a racing bike like that belonging to Shirou that can allow her to reach even higher speeds with its gear system, wishing she could use Mana Burst to help with its control. If utilizing a motorcycle, she can match up against Grand Prix motorcycle former champion,.

Development
Hirokazu Koyama felt a lot of intense motivation to make the art work when Saber was chasing Rider up the side of a building. There were a lot of fine details in the drawing and it was a lot of work to get the scene right for him. They ended up with some drawings of Rider rising up into the air and falling and Saber descending. However, recently Koyama image has changed. He drew the image of the building as if it was crashing to bits, and in front of it he drew Saber using her Excalibur Noble Phantasm as it rose from the building. Saber used a beam to intercept the charging attack by Pegasus, but it was a close shave. If Saber had tried to use a melee attack, she would have been struck down. That's why he wanted to focus attention on the beam as it blasted off of the rooftop.

Creation and Conception
In the original plot of Fate, Rider was a male character.

In Rider's earlier design, Takashi Takeuchi initial drawing shows her appearance similar to Ayako Mitsuduri.

Kinoko Nasu really wanted to have a scene in the Sakura route where she and Saber bickered with each other as they fought toward a common goal, but unfortunately the story didn't develop in that direction and Nasu had to discard the idea.

Reception
(Voice actress of Sakura Matou) said her first impression of Rider based on her first recording, to be scary and cold-blooded. In reality Rider turned out to be Sakura's most stalwart and dedicated supporter. Now Shitaya thinks of her as an elder sister. Rider didn't have anyone to rely on; instead she desperately tried to protect her own world. Rider has a big presence. Shitaya joked about she was not jealous that she didn't get an awesome Servant of the opposite sex the way that Emiya and Rin did.


 * In the first Popularity polls of Fate/stay night in 2004, Rider was ranked 4th.
 * In the second Popularity polls of Fate/stay night in 2006, Rider was ranked 4th.
 * In the Type-Moon's 10th Anniversary Character Poll, Rider was ranked 23rd.