Fate/Apocrypha

Fate/Apocrypha (フェイト/アポクリファ) is a light novel written by Yuichiro Higashide with illustrations by Ototsugu Konoe. The first volume was released on December 29, 2012 at Comiket 83. The second volume was released on August 16, 2013. The third volume was released on December 29, 2013.

Story
The setting of Fate/Apocrypha is a parallel world to Fate/stay night where the Greater Grail was removed from Fuyuki after the Third Holy Grail War and disappeared for many years. Around the 2000s, around the same time as the Fifth Holy Grail War would have happened, the group that plundered the Grail, Yggdmillennia, openly declares their secession from the Mage's Association and that they are in possession of the Grail. The Association dispatches fifty magi to retrieve it, but all but one are instantly slaughtered by Lancer of Black. The one remaining manages to activate the reserve system of the Greater Grail, allowing for the summoning of fourteen Servants in total.

This marks the start of the Great Holy Grail War, featuring two different factions, the Black Faction (黒の陣営), whose members are part of Yggdramillennia, and the Red Faction (赤の陣営), whose members were sent by the Mage's Association with the exception of one from the Church. The Grail itself also summons Ruler to act as a mediator of the Holy Grail War.

Setting
The story takes place in the city of Trifas in Transylvania, Romania. It is a small city north of Sighisoara, the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler, that has acted as the base of the Yggdmillennia clan since the Middle Ages. Its citadel and part of the city are surrounded by walls built to defend against the invasion of the Turks during the Middle Ages, and they are still perfectly preserved in the modern day. Many of the city's buildings have been repeatedly repaired and reconstructed since they were built in the Middle ages, making them no less valuable than those in Sighisoara.

The symbol of the city is a large castle upon a small hill, the the Fortress of Millennia. The castle has remained under the ownership of Yggdmillennia and not once changed hands through the invasion of the Ottoman Turks, the outbreak of the Black Death, and the explosions of modern war. Despite the hardships that have befallen the city, the fortress and the clan still stand strong. They also employ menial homunculi to perform various chores and patrol the castle while wielding halberds.

The city has a population of twenty thousand, and they thrive mostly around agriculture and textiles. They live in fear of those living in the castle, and though the sights inside, the patrolling soldiers unthinkable in the modern age and statues with glowing eyes, would shock people, the residents of the city would never step inside in the first place. They are forbidden from even stepping outside of their homes whenever the lights of the citadel are lit, and with the advent of the Great Holy Grail War, the lights that had been off for a long period of time are once again bright. They can only pray for the safety of their homes and continue their daily lives.

Characters

 * Ruler
 * Joan of Arc.


 * Sieg
 * Sieg is a Homunculus created by Gordes Musik Yggdmillennia. Gordes created a way to manipulate the Mana Pathway system so that he, along with six others, are providing prana for all of the Servants.

Black Faction
Masters


 * Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia
 * Black Lancer's Master and the leader of the Yggdmillennia group. He is almost a century old despite looking in his 20s. He plundered the Holy Grail from the Third Holy Grail War of Fuyuki.


 * Gordes Musik Yggdmillennia
 * He summoned the Black Saber with a bloodstained leaf of a Sacred Fig tree as a catalyst.


 * Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia
 * A girl assumed to be Darnic's successor. She summoned the Black Archer using an ancient arrow as a catalyst.


 * Celenike Icecolle Yggdmillennia 
 * She summoned the Black Rider with a glass bottle which had a liquid stain left on it as a catalyst.


 * Roche Frain Yggdmillennia
 * He is thirteen-years-old, and already famous in the field of 'Doll Engineering'. Respectfully refers to the Black Caster he has summoned as 'Sensei'; their relationship is close to that of a teacher and student. Spends all his time building golems in a workshop in the city for the Holy Grail War.


 * Caules Forvedge Yggdmillennia
 * Fiore's little brother. He is immature and childish for his age. He summoned the Black Berserker, with the blueprints of the 'Ideal Human' as a catalyst.


 * Reika Rikudou (六導玲霞)
 * She's a prostitute who lived with Sagara Hyouma until he used her as a sacrifice to summon the Black Assassin, who saved her life and killed Sagara.

Servants


 * Saber of Black
 * Siegfried, the Dragon-Blooded Knight.


 * Archer of Black
 * Chiron.


 * Lancer of Black


 * Vlad III, the Lord Impaler


 * Rider of Black


 * Astolfo, the Twelfth Paladin of Charlemagne.


 * Caster of Black
 * Solomon ibn Gabirol


 * Berserker of Black
 * Frankenstein, Frankenstein's Monster


 * Assassin of Black
 * Jack the Ripper, Legendary Serial Killer

Red Faction
The Red Faction consists of people selected by the Clock Tower specifically for the purpose of retrieving the Greater Grail and stopping Yggdmillennia's defection. They decide to choose outside professionals and some from the Clock Tower as well. Those from the great families cannot be chosen, as it would require over three months of politics like succession and the safekeeping of Magic Crests before a selection can even be confirmed. Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri decides upon the catalysts, while Rocco Belfaban and Lord El-Melloi II handle the participants. They heavily restrict travel to Romania for magi to prevent the unlikely scenario of Command Spells manifesting on a third-rate magus.

They seek one Master from the Church in order to have their involvement prove the legitimacy of their cause. Although they do not need an impartial overseer like the Fuyuki conflicts due to it being a struggle between two opposing forces of magi, it would be a problem if they were to instead back the Black Faction. They wish to proclaim themselves as the only legitimate thaumaturgical organization even if it means having a Master as the overseer.

Should they emerge victorious, they plan to take the Greater Grail for safekeeping. Belfaban admits that such a thing would likely be difficult due to the survivor being faced with something that can lead to the Root, so the result will be up to them. They can attempt a wish, or even destroy everything to prevent others from making one themselves. Kairi Sisigou believes that Belfaban will prepare a retrieval team to quickly move in once the war ends, but plans to get around them to make his own wish.

Masters


 * Kairi Sisigou (獅子劫界離)
 * A freelance Necromancer. He summoned Red Saber with a splinter of the Round Table. He notes that the selected members are world renowned magi that are known as monsters specialized in combat. They remove the opposition without mercy, and he can account for their skills, having worked with all of them with the exception of Sembren.


 * Shirou Kotomine (シロウ・コトミネ)
 * He was sent by the Church as a supervisor and also he is the Master of Red Assassin.


 * Rottweil Berzinsky (ロットウェル・ペルジンスキー)
 * A freelance Magus, also known as the Silver Lizard.


 * Gene Rum (ジーン・ラム)
 * A freelance Magus, also known as Storm Treads (疾風車輪).


 * Pentel brothers (ペンテル兄弟)
 * Two brothers of the Pentel family known as the Gum Brothers


 * Feend vor Sembren (フィーンド・ヴォル・センベルン)
 * First-class instructor of the Clock Tower.

Servants


 * Saber of Red
 * Mordred, The Knight of Treachery.


 * Archer of Red
 * Atalanta, the Chaste Huntress.


 * Lancer of Red
 * Karna, Son of the Sun God.


 * Rider of Red
 * Achilles


 * Caster of Red
 * Shakespeare, the Playwright


 * Berserker of Red
 * Spartacus, the Gladiator


 * Assassin of Red
 * Semiramis, Wise Queen of Assyria

Others


 * Lord El-Melloi II
 * Lord El-Melloi II is one of the principal people in preparing for the Holy Grail War. He dislikes being referred to as "Lord El-Melloi" because it is grating to hear it spoken without the "II."


 * Rocco Belfaban (ロッコ・ベルフェバン)
 * Rocco Belfaban is the head of the Department of Summoning in the Mage's Association. He is a short old man, straight-backed and the creases on the skin of his face gleam as if he were a statue carved of wood. He is said to have held his position for over fifty years, but no one is certain of the fact. He has a number of items in his collection, including a skull that looks like a chimera of ape and elephant, a scroll over one thousand years old, and a preserved juvenile hydra. He personally hires Kairi Sisigou, and although he tries to pass it off as a forgery, reluctantly parts with the hydra as part of the payment.


 * Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri (ブラム・ヌァザレ・ソフィアリ)
 * Bram Nuada-De Sophia-Ri is the brother of Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri and the successor of the head of the Department of Evocation. He is considered to be one of the first-class instructors employed by the Clock Tower. He is noted to be young and handsome with red hair, and a single glance shows a strong, high-minded gaze, refined features, and strong sense of duty in his words that place him as a member of the elite. He is confident in his ability to acquire powerful catalysts in a short time.

Discarded characters

 * For the list of characters from the cancelled game, see List of unused Fate/Apocrypha Servant designs.


 * David
 * A servant of the Archer class, he and Saint George are later removed from the finished product in order to make way for the new Archer servant of the Black faction.


 * Musashibo Benkei
 * A servant of the Lancer class, he and Kintoki were removed from the finished product in order to make way for Red Saber and Black Caster.


 * Saint George
 * A servant of the Rider class, alongside with David, he's removed later for the new Servants.


 * Sakata Kintoki
 * Originally a servant of the Berserker class, he and Benkei were removed from the finished story in favor of Red Saber and Black Caster.


 * Sagara Hyouma
 * A magus who lived with Reika in the original pilot of the series. He is the original Master of the Jack the Ripper. He summoned her using Jack the Ripper's knives as the catalyst and Reika as a sacrifice to make the summoning more effective. He's killed by the Black Assassin shortly after he summons her.

Volumes
The first novel was released December 29, 2012.

Game
Originally introduced as a canceled project for an online MMO game, various details and character designs were collected in Fate/complete material IV Extra material. TYPE-MOON and an unnamed video game developer were developing this game, however, the project was discontinued right at the planning stages.

The original gameplay would have involved the players acting as Masters, and fighting with each other's Servants. Nasu wanted the online game to have a world with a complete story, despite being an online game. While the overall story would change depending upon the Servants' relationship with the Masters, the story would conclude with Ruler activating her ultimate Noble Phantasm that she had been stubbornly witholding, thus creating a world with a complete story despite its nature as an online game.

Light novels
It was announced in November 2011 that a new project was for the concept would be made in the form a light novel series. It was to be written by Yuichiro Higashide, the writer of Propeller company, and he later confirmed on his Twitter that he was writing Fate/Apocrypha in novel format with illustrations by Ototsugu Konoe.

He released a story penned as the first chapter, focusing on Jack the Ripper (which he designed for the original MMO game) and her Master, Reika Rikudou, in TYPE-MOON Ace 7 on December 15, 2011. While the story elements of Reika and Jack still exist in the novel version, the story itself has no relation to the plot of the novels. He released a preview of the novel in TYPE-MOON Ace 8, where it is shown that Musashibo Benkei and Sakata Kintoki have not been included within the story.

Staff
The Servants were designed and drawn by a variety of different people.

Servant Designer

 * TYPE MOON (Siegfried) (Semiramis)
 * Kinoko Nasu (Karna) (Joan of Arc)
 * Gen Urobuchi (Vlad III) (Spartacus)
 * Myougaya Jinroku (Musashibo Benkei) (Atalanta)
 * Meteo Hoshizora (David) (Astolfo) (Frankenstein)
 * Kiyomune Miwa (Saint George)
 * Ototsugu Konoe (Astolfo)
 * Shoji Gatoh (Shakespeare)
 * Yuichiro Higashide (Jack the Ripper)
 * Jin Haganeya (Sakata Kintoki)

Servant Illustrator

 * KN (Siegfried)
 * pako (Karna)
 * Hirotaka Maeda (Vlad III)
 * Katsuya Terada (Musashibo Benkei) (Spartacus)
 * Ginka (David)
 * Genji Asai (Atalanta)
 * Higashiguchi Chuuou (Saint George)
 * Ototsugu Konoe (Astolfo)
 * Chinatsu Kurahana (Shakespeare)
 * Taketo Sanada (Jack the Ripper)
 * Shidzuki Morii (Semiramis)
 * Takeshi Okazaki (Frankenstein)
 * Raita Honjou (Sakata Kintoki)
 * Takashi Takeuchi (Joan of Arc)