Berserker (Fate/stay night)

Berserker is a Servant from Fate/stay night.

The Servant of Illya, he is a swarthy giant with adamantine skin and gross brawn. He is considered the strongest servant in the fifth holy grail war. He wields a colossal stone Axe-Club, and is capable of causing massive destruction with the mere backlash of his swings. As a Berserker, he was stripped of his sanity and reason, acting feral and animalistic in combat. Berserkers are difficult to control. Illya, however, appears to have little trouble managing Berserker.

Identity
Ilya introduces Berserker as , the demigod from Greek mythology also known as Hercules to the Romans. He was born of a coupling between Zeus and a mortal woman, Alcmene. Although named in honor of Hera, the goddess was jealous of her husband's affair and outraged by Heracles' birth. As a boy, Heracles had a volatile temper, but he pacified his anger by living peacefully as a shepherd. During adulthood, in a bout of madness induced by Hera, he murdered his wife, Megara, and her children. In a penance for his gruesome deed, Heracles undertook the Twelve Labours of King Eurystheus, which earned him his Noble Phantasms and solidified his legendary status. Heracles is most famous for his wide range of skills, cunning, and incredible physical strength. Heracles can fulfill the role of any Servant apart from Caster and Assassin. His second Noble Phantasm mostly conforms to the class of Archer and is unusable as a mindless Berserker.

Personality
Due to his Mad Enhancement, Berserker is completely void of thought for most of the story. He is only shown briefly thinking about his fight with Archer, and he speaks briefly before his death during the Fate route.

Role
Berserker was summoned by the von Einzbern family in Germany several months prior to the 5th Holy Grail War, with a slab of stone from Heracles' temple acting as a catalyst. Historically, the von Einzberns have lost every Holy Grail War, and were responsible for polluting its contents during the 3rd Holy Grail War and despoiling all future incarnations of the grail. With the most famous hero in mythology, the von Einzberns hoped Ilya would prove capable of winning the Holy Grail and restoring their lost miracle.

Although Ilya has incredible magical power, restraining Berserker's mighty spirit caused her great anguish. In retribution, she has kept him in a continual state of madness, rendering him unable to think coherently any time. However, Berserker has shown great devotion to Ilya, striving to protect her whenever she is threatened.

Despite his advantages, Berserker was permanently slain in all three scenarios. During Fate, he was killed once by Tohsaka Rin, six times by Archer before being fatally gored by Saber and Emiya Shirou. Halfway through Unlimited Blade Works, Berserker was constricted by Gilgamesh's chain, Enkidu, and was impaled to death while trying to shield Ilya from a hailstorm of blades. In Heaven's Feel, after Berserker was devoured by Zōken's shadow, the shadow regurgitated him as Dark Berserker, a decrepit and blind version of his former self. Dark Berserker, while distracted by Ilya, was finally felled by Shirou with a projection of his own weapon, Nine Lives. In the Anime he was killed 5 times by Archer, once by Rin, and 7 times (at once) by Saber and Shirou.

He appears as Berser-Car in various parody stories like Ilya's Castle in Fate/hollow ataraxia and Carnival Phantasm.

Berserker changed throughout the design process from Fate/Prototype. His Master was originally Sancraid Phahn, a murderous maniac sent by the Church, but Takeuchi suggested a young girl instead. They were originally experimenting with his design to make him seem "inhuman", and the elbow spikes are a remnant of that process. Rider recognized him as Heracles at first glance due to their shared background in Greek mythology. She would have rammed him to death once or twice with Bellerophon before being killed.

The original concept of God Hand held the ability "will not lose for 11 battles", so that he would be able to easily defeat the six other Servants and still have victories left over. Against Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm at the time, which was "will absolutely survive", the two concepts of the abilities clashed and and the paradoxical situation had to be resolved. Berserker eventually died even though he won, while Gilgamesh lost but survived. After designing Ilya as his Master, the originally planned on having them both share lives. As long as Berserker lived, she was immortal and unable to be killed even if other Servants tried to avoid Berserker to strike at his Master. The idea was scrapped after they thought it was too strong.

Abilities
Berserker has God Hand as his only Noble Phantasm, and in other classes he would have Nine Lives