Playable Caster (Fate/Extra)

Caster (キャスター) is the Caster-class Servant available to be chosen by Hakuno Kishinami in the Moon Cell Holy Grail War in Fate/Extra and Fate/Extra CCC. She is one of the Servants of the Protagonist of the Grand Order conflicts of Fate/Grand Order.

Identity
Caster's True Name is, a woman of astonishing beauty that served as a courtesan for toward the end of the  (794-1185). She is publicly known as a (狐), and is credited for catalyzing the downfall of the, among other powerful regimes. In the, she is associated with , a tantric deity whose Japanese interpretation rode upon a fox; her power is invoked in one of 's schemes for political influence.

In the Nasuverse, Tamamo no Mae is a soul originating directly from the sun goddess Amaterasu and therefore a higher order of being than the Earth Spirit of myth. Her manifested form is actually a, who suffers the fate of baring cursory resemblance to a. She is also frequently mistaken for an, or one of the many fox spirit messengers under the employ of.

In her background, she became curious about the lives of her worshipers, whose seemingly inconsequential lives were a source of fascination. Most perplexing was their devotion toward a deity with no name or shape. At first, she wanted to scold these creatures for their weakness, and enact divine retribution upon evil-doers, as was wont of the kin of a goddess. However, as she continued observing the human condition, she also learned of their great capacity for perseverance.

Able to smile in happiness despite the dark acts of their brethren or their frail stature, one generation could easily shrug off the regrets of the last, and continue to love. Tamamo no Mae soon desired to become a human, so that she could experience these emotions. She then relinquished her divinity and memories to reincarnate, as a young human girl, in the old province of. Her childhood name while alive was Misukume (藻女).

As a child, she was said to be the human form of a white-faced, gold-furred nine-tailed fox. At the age of eighteen, she started serving the court of Emperor Toba, who had fallen in love with her at first sight. She became a court lady and called herself Tamamo-no-Mae. She would be his lady-in-waiting under her current name. She was the favorite of Emperor Toba, possessing great beauty and knowledge. However, her divine origins would eventually be her undoing.

One morning, her head had sprouted fox ears; she managed to conceal them for a month. From there, the exact accounts vary, but what is clear is that she was exposed as a fox by an Onmyouji. By her accounts, it was (安倍晴明), a handsome man with shifty eyes and a soul black as the underworld, who had been investigating the cause of Toba's mysterious illness. Whether Mizukume led the emperor or their love was real is uncertain, and countless tales of the matter had differing answers.

She fled from the inner sanctum of the Imperial Court. They sent hounds after her and it was the first time in Japan's ecosystem that a fox had been hunted by Hounds. She fled and cried in the fields of (那須) because she was hunted by those who claimed to love her. Foxes gathered around her. "You have come a long way." "What a rough journey you had." She wished the foxes to understand her feelings and hoped they would encourage her instead. It was then she realized who she truly was when the fox comforted her. "Aah, what a fool I was." She was betrayed and hunted by human who feared her. She did nothing wrong, she only tried to help them prosper. She was forced to flee the village simply because she was not human. Her infamy grew at the plains of Nasu after fleeing from the court, and eighty thousand man army was dispatched at the order of the retired emperor to kill her. The soldier came screaming "kill the fox demon!", she tried to apologize to them but nobody listened. She fought back "All right, let's do this!" and killed everyone.

The second encounter against the force, she regretted her actions and tried to reason with them. It rained arrows for three straight days and night and nothing seemed to register with them. Standing in a hail of arrows covered in blood, "I was not trying to fool anyone. I'll leave now so please just forget all about me." The assault continued from the human filled with hatred, she realized humans were fragile and their lives were precious. They were narrow minded, filled with hatred and self-righteous. She was wrong from the beginning, much like the humans and religion. Her perspective influenced her belief. Even though a goddess, she was a fool and she didn't realize her mistake until her final moments. No matter how much humans respected god and through priesthood try to understand and be one of them, their efforts are wasted. "There is no way for a human to become a god.", Tamano no Mae died screaming when shot by an enchanted arrow. She was hunted and killed as an enemy of mankind. She doesn't want revenge because there are things that even a goddess can't do. She was killed trying to defend herself against an army of 80,000 soldiers sent by the emperor.

Her corpse was said to have become the Killing Stone (殺生石), which released a problematic cursed poison that killed approaching people and animals until it was shattered by the monk Gennou Shinshou and its fragments dispersed to three places in Japan named. Furthermore, the remnants that were scattered at that occasion became Osaki Kitsunes and Inukamis and said to have been turned into familiars by many Magus from various places.

She cannot be called a human-spawned Heroic Spirit as the facet of a goddess, but she willingly embraces the role in order to "become a good wife." Accepting the limits inherent in the role of a Servant, many of her original powers have been sealed away. Even before becoming a servant, she killed untold numbers of people, possibly holding the world record for murder.

Appearance
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Personality
Caster is sometimes comic relief, being a goofy, silly, and cheerful young fox girl. Her cheerful personality at times is a brave face she puts on to hide her loneliness. Occasionally, she takes the battle and the situation each week of the game seriously. She doesn't think too much about the consequences of killing.

She becomes infatuated easily and she can't help liking the person she serves. She devoted herself to Hakuno and stood with Hakuno until the very end. To stand by her master until their spirit transcends reincarnation is all she wishes for. She falls in love with Hakuno, placing herself in the role of their wife regardless of their gender. She doesn't need the Holy Grail as her wish is to be a devoted wife of Hakuno. She expresses that the most important thing over anything else is love. Her affection towards love came from observing humans, stating it was strange that that they were so happy in worshiping her personification of Amaterasu. Seeing so many people fawn over her, she wanted to do the same for someone else. Drawing from her own fate and the actions she took, she believes the intent of person is always important. She will only serve those whose intentions and actions are ultimately good. While stating she would be fine with serving anyone in general, Caster states the person would ultimately need to be good or have good intentions to obtain her service. It doesn't matter if they are male or female, child or adult, or even a saint or sinner, only their intentions matter. That's is one principle she will never betray. Regardless of her notoriety, she wanted to serve someone with content. She likes to cook but not the actual food itself, she enjoys providing meals for her partner and watching them eat it. She also likes to receive presents from her partner but frowns upon cheap gifts.

Caster is easily jealous, citing frustration over Hakuno's relationship with Rin/Rani and refusing to lose to them. She is often quite suggestive to Hakuno and can make some crude remarks. When angered or insulted, she can become quite harsh, throwing vile insults and threats to enemies who insult her and Hakuno. She was quite surprised with Rani's level of astrology that surpassed her and wished to meet her professor.

It is said that Caster would get along with Arcueid Brunestud because they share the same basic origins. When Assassin calls Caster as Daji, Caster was offended by his statement, she calls Daji an "evil, sadistic mongrel". There is a moment where Caster felt relatable to Lancer, as someone who is also misconception as a monster "how you love too much, nobody can understand you anymore. And what people don't understand, they fear".

She likes trips to hot spring resorts (but not hot spring baths), and love-filled cooking (at least while doing the cooking), and giving presents to herself. She hates dogs, only somewhat handsome guys, and people who disrupt her time alone with her Master. She’s not too fond of loveable 100% airhead characters. She seems to have well learned the lesson that her half-baked airhead act never seems to come out ahead of the real deal.

Fate/Extra
Caster is one of the selectable Servants in Fate/Extra along with Saber and Archer. She is described as a magical fox girl. She responded to Hakuno summon because she heard Hakuno's calling. She claims it was like an arranged marriage since there was no spiritual connection between the two.

It is revealed that she was once the servant of the game's final antagonist Twice H. Pieceman before he gained Saver. Twice keeps losing and respawning in the war, eventually he lost Caster.

Caster sympathizes with Dan Blackmore because he prays for his wife's soul in the church. Caster mocks Archer for being a hero hiding in the shadows and speaks bluntly how Archer is becoming more like Dan Blackmore. Archer was flustered from Caster's response and almost unleashed his Noble Phantasm.

When Caster faces Gawain, she doesn't get along with Gawain as they both have the sun domains. She claims that Leo is a cool prince but that that is not necessary for a great king. She compares him to Toba and believes Hakuno will win over Leo.

After re-encountering her former master, Twice asked Caster her opinion about his plans. She claims that the Twice she once knew is gone and she refused to change sides.

Though she is not the chosen Servant of Hakuno Kishinami in the manga version, she does appear in the omake chapters. She does however make an appearance in Twice H. Pieceman's flashback when he tells Hakuno, Saber and Rin of his backstory.

Fate/Extra CCC
Caster is again selectable as one of the servants for Hakuno Kishinami.

In the prologue, Hakuno hears Caster's voice begging Hakuno to wake up and remember her, but Hakuno has no memory on who the voice belongs to. Once Hakuno is devoured by BB's shadows, Hakuno once again hears Caster's voice and reaches out to her. Caster breaks the barrier to save Hakuno and took Hakuno to the new school. When she reached to the Far Side of Moon Cell, she wore her new costume.

In Chapter bad end, BB separates Hakuno from Caster. Hakuno travels to the World of Logo to search for her. Hakuno eventually regains Caster, unseals her noble phantasm and they both face BB's shadow Requiem.

She develops a rivalry relationship with Elizabeth. In chapter 7 Hakuno enters inside Caster's Innercore Harmonics. Hakuno temporary formed a contract with Elizabeth, they fought against the Zero Model of Caster.

In Caster's ending, Hakuno returns to the Moon Cell Holy Grail War as seen in Fate/Extra.

The past versions of Twice H. Pieceman and Caster appear as a bonus boss fight. Twice's Caster attempts to act more seriously and has different hairstyle.

Fate/Extra CCC Fox Tail
In Fate/Extra CCC Fox Tail, Caster is the main heroine and Servant of the male Hakuno.

Fate/Extella
Caster returns as a selectable playable character. This time, she will be facing other parties in an upcoming war and her main party consists of herself, her adjutant Karna, Elizabeth, Medusa, and Lu Bu Fengxian.

London: Death World in the City of Demonic Fog
She was summoned along with Sakata Kintoki.

Chaldea Summer Memories ~White Beach of Solace~
She appears in her swimsuit as a Lancer, due to Scáthach deed.

Abilities
All of Caster's parameters are at a low E rank due to her Master's lackluster ability. Her strength and endurance have a slow growth rate, her agility has a medium growth rate, her luck has a fast growth rate, and her mana has a very fast growth rate. The Alteration of the Soul boosts her magic power like crazy.

Reflecting on her past misdeeds, she cut loose her own tails and fell into a one-tailed condition. By twisting her sacrum bone and once again undergoing thousands, ten thousands years of ascetic practices, she may turn back to a nine-tailed but the cut down tails are also endowed with the same spiritual power and spiritual core as herself. Even after reaching the limits of Ascension in Grand Order, she will only return to a three-tails form. The eight other tails of her original form have also been granted Servant bodies. With her Origin Form, she becomes capable of feats like moving faster than light and the reversal of time. She can reduce the distance from the Horsehead Nebula back to the original galaxy to zero to instantly cross the distance. Compared to an A rank Servant, she has nine percent of its power with a single tail. If she were to increase in tails, each one would increase her power exponentially by nine. She is weak as a Heroic Spirit but in the case that she is revived as an evil spirit (悪霊), she will undergo a transformation into a large monster that can defeat even 100 heroes. It is not just for show that she is called one of the Japan's Three Great Monsters. She is able to fool Moon Cell's surveillance and jam Twice's observation signal to avoid revealing Servant's data.

"This time there is only one due to the constrains of the Moon Cell, but originally I could produce a million troops from my multiple tails!"

- According to Caster's own words

She fights with her Noble Phantasm mirror called Eightfold Blessings of Amaterasu on the Weight Stone under the Sunlit Watery Heavens (水天日光天照八野鎮石). She is capable of fighting close range combat with her mirror. The mirror levitates around Caster in battle, and she uses it to hit enemies in close combat. The Mirror is a symbol for sun and water, for life and death. It is a blessing of energy or blessed energy. There are other forms of this Noble Phantasm but this particular form fits her best. It doesn't have value as a single strike but is excellent in a long engagement.

Her class skill Territory Creation (陣地作成) is the skill to build a special terrain that is advantageous to oneself as a magus. Because it seems that her personality is not suited for it, Tamamo no Mae has difficulty in manufacturing even a Workshop allowing her to create minor amulets and other types of low-level talismans.

Wedding of a Fox (狐の嫁入り) is the Skill・Item Construction that received various of her own peculiar tamperings. By one-sidedly declaring a wedding, a sun shower of blessings is shed and souvenirs are pushed on ally-like individuals in congratulations; truly a Cheat-Skill that can only be described as miko-fox.

Witchcraft
The Witchcraft (呪術) that Caster uses is all physical phenomena performed with her own body. While common Magecraft is a program that "recomposes what exists around", Witchcraft is a program that "recomposes the raw materials in one's own body." It is related to heavenly methods (ダキニ天法), and includes methods to discern one's time of death, secret arts to obtain influence, methods to attain status and fortune (for men) and methods to gain the favor of influential individuals (for women). Due to a number of very harsh lessons impressed upon her in the past, Tamano no Mae no longer makes use of her still formidable skills in these areas. There are secret arts to obtain power - such as methods to acquire social status and fortunes (for men), or methods to acquire the favor of influential individuals (for women) - and methods to sense the time of death. However, maybe due having severely learned from experience in the past, she does not feel like using this very much.

Form change
Caster's Form Change in Fate/Extella.

Swimsuit
"Yes? A beauty AND a swimsuit; is there any problem?"

- Tamamo-no-Mae

Even while wearing a swimsuit, as expected, she still the usual Tamamo-no-Mae. However, thanks to being in a vacation this time around, she has completely exhausted her magic energy and turned into a beast of summer. That is the reason behind her abnormally high physical ability. Maybe due to an overflowing complacency, she seems more refined and high-society than the usual Tamamo. She herself seems to under the assumption of an elegant mannequin. But a true lady wouldn't be cheerfully carrying a swim ring, with the full intention of playing around.

When talking about summer, it is the beach. When talking about beach, it is the parasol. When talking about parasol, it is yours dependable miko-fox. This is, surely, the common sense of the ...! A solar explosion. Making a wet T-shirt and a swim ring as her weapons, Lancer Tamamo-chan, sunshining on the southern countries!

Tamamo-no-Mae is a good-wife-aspirant, extravagant miko shaman. In the deathbed of the Heian Period, this peerless beauty served the retired emperor Toba. It has been said that she is the disguised appearance of the nine-tailed fox Hakumen Kinmou, and also said to be a of Amaterasu Oomikami. Since she has that much of a career, it should be fine to come about a life of fully enjoying a vacation in the southern countries... so thought Tamamo-chan.

Truly, the incarnation of a sunflower. A goddess of summer has descended here.
 * Beach Flower (ビーチフラワー)

"No no, I am in fact a deity."

While the Tamamo of summer appeals her beauty as a woman, this is not the attitude of making love-traps whenever she has a chance. When it comes to summer・beach・parasol, it is about a chance to appeal her refinement. A strategy of putting up more charms than usual in the summer beach, so that the other party is already madly in love by the time they return to their ordinary days.

"Instead of a lady, isn't that a hunter already?" "Indeed, that's exactly right master. Despite being the original, she is a Tamamo-no-Mae who stuck one foot into the Tamamo-Nine... the hunter of the sea, also known as Tamamo-Shark".

Development
In the planning stages of the Fate/Extra CCC game, Caster was planned to have Saber as her own personal rival until they decided all Hakuno's Servants would have Elizabeth as the rival. However, with the release of Fate/Extra CCC Fox Tail, it will explain the background between Tamamo no Mae and Amaterasu, and the plot includes planned elements for CCC that were cut from the game.

Creation and Conception
Nasu Kinoko claims that Caster was the last character to be picked out of the three playable characters, at that time Nasu already decided to have Red Saber and Archer for Fate/Extra. It was thanks to Kazuya Niinō who helped Nasu design the character, he said to Nasu "I hope Caster is a very cute girl with Japanese style furry ears". Nasu thought it would be a good occasion to debut a character with cute animal ears for the male players. Nasu further explains that if he wrote Caster, she'd become a character with a lot of neurotic attributes, so he decided to pass it along to other writers to write. However Nasu gave Caster the top priority to start scripting because Archer already has a high popularity in "Fate" but his role was weak.

Takeuchi Takashi was the character designer for Caster and it was Arco Wada who refined the final design. Arco Wada didn’t expect a character with fox ears to come to life like she did, so Arco was very surprised about that and personally thinks Caster is an adorable character.

Nasu wrote her scenario in Fate/Grand Order.

Reception

 * In the Type-Moon's 10th Anniversary Character Poll, Caster was ranked 18th.