Excalibur


 * This page is about the Fate/stay night Noble Phantasm. For the Fate/Prototype Noble Phantasm, see Excalibur.

Excalibur: Sword of Promised Victory is the strongest and most majestic holy sword that symbolizes King Arthur. As that which can be called the physical actualization of her ideals and the symbol of her heroism, it is her greatest and most powerful Noble Phantasm.

Origin
Excalibur is a Divine Construct, the pinnacle of holy swords, and one of the ultimate god-forged weapons, a Last Phantasm, forged by the planet as the crystallization of the wishes of mankind stored and tempered within the planet. It was guarded by extensions of the planet, Fairies, before briefly being passed on to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake and later returned to the lake before her death. It replaced the destroyed Caliburn, and its sheath, Avalon, provided partial immortality for its wielder. While a powerful sword, it is said that Avalon was more valuable to her. When said to have answered Merlin's inquiry about which had more value with the sword being the obvious answer, he chided the king in that which protects is more important than that which slashes the enemy. She eventually lost Avalon, and replaced it with Invisible Air, which she uses during the Holy Grail Wars to hide the sword and her identity.

It and Caliburn, her first sword, are often confused due to their close nature in the legend. Both the sword from the stone, later broken, and the new sword received from Vivian are called "Excalibur", but that was because they were originally two separate stories. They were later combined into a single narrative, the former becoming known as Caliburn and the latter becoming known as Excalibur. There is also some debate about whether or not Excalibur was reforged from Caliburn, or if they were two completely different swords from the start. The swords are similar in nature and appearance, though Excalibur is more suited to be used as a weapon. Excalibur has good performance as a sword, almost completely devoid of ostentatious ornamentation, and Caliburn is extravagantly adorned as a symbol of the king’s authority, making its rank as a weapon lower. They have similar abilities based in using light to attack the enemy, which Shirou sees as an obvious conclusion from the similar appearance. There is a theory that Caladbolg is the same as of Welsh mythology, making it a prototype of Excalibur.

Attributes
While there are many other Noble Phantasms crafted more splendidly and with better skill, Excalibur is an illusion far superior to them. It cannot be called beautiful because of its appearance, for the description of "beautiful" will only dirty it. It is instead sacred, made from people's conception, legends weaved only out of hope. It is not a myth or inhuman work, but a "crystal trained by the heart alone", making it reign as the strongest fantasy. It is the crystallization of the prayer named "glory" and everything etched in the hearts of those who are scattered at the sword's radiance; the nostalgic, sorrowful, and hallowed dream of those who were placed on the bloody hell called a battlefield, of all warriors past, present, and future fully exposed to the fear of death and despair, and who still cling to a desire: "to be exalted." Looking upon its light makes Gilgamesh fondly remember Enkidu, and it is able to make even Gilles de Rais, having fallen into brutality and smeared with corruption, remember the light and glory of his past that has been etched into his heart before it destroys him.

Excalibur is a typical Western sword with a length of ninety centimeters and a width of twelve centimeters, and it has Fairy Letters inscribed on it to show that it is not the work of mankind. It is normally clad in Invisible Air to hide its identity and increase its destructive power. It must be revealed to unleash its full power, and charging it with energy to slash an enemy, called the gold version (黄金バージョン), brings about an overwhelmingly superior power. Its destructive power widely varies, with Invisible Air showing a power from eighty to ninty and the gold version showing a power of around one thousand. While it takes time to figure out the Noble Phantasms and identities of other Servants, Lancer is able to deduce her identity as King Arthur from a mere glance at the sword, claiming that any Heroic Spirit that has traversed time and space to join the Holy Grail War would never mistake her golden sword for any other.

As a Divine Construct, it is impossible to reproduce with Projection. While Excalibur Image is an exception due to the environment where it is replicated, it is possible that Unlimited Blade Works would normally contain degraded Noble Phantasms with similar abilities within its store of weapons. Within the world of Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA, the general rule still applies, but Kuro, inside the body of Illyasviel von Einzbern, using the Archer Class Card manages to project it and release its true name, which would normally be impossible even with the ability to replicate it. Though weakened, it has the ability to exceed the power of the original when faced with the manifested Saber Class Card. It is noted to be an "advanced exploit" that Kuro is unable to fully replicate upon manifesting a body of her own, so its ability is likened to a "paper mache version" when she projects it again as Broken Phantasm arrow.

Usage
Excalibur is a "sword that amplifies", converting its user’s magical energy into offensive power and releasing it. It is a weapon of directive energy that converts the magical energy of the wielder into light by accelerating it with her factor of the dragon, intensifying the kinetic energy by convergence and acceleration, allowing for the use of Divine Spirit-level thaumaturgy. It is an "ultimate killing technique" that releases light holding energy equaling Artoria's total amount of magical energy from the tip of the blade once the sword is swung. While the result is what looks like a large beam of light, only the tip of the attack, which is a wave of light that can mow through the surface of the Earth, is capable of doing damage, as the beam is the result of the "dislocation" of everything the attack destroys in its path. Even if it is dodged, those in close proximity can still be temporarily distracted by its intensity.



It is considered to be among the greatest of Noble Phantasms, with its speed, attack power, and reach upon being activated surpassing and remaining unrivaled by all others. In terms of competing against others in pure power, only Ea is able to match and surpass it. The speed required for activation is less than a second, slightly surpassing the speed of the charge of Via Expugnatio. It requires a sufficient amount of distance between her and the enemy, and the farther the distance of the opponent increases its effectiveness. Once something is struck by it, no human magecraft of any kind can match it. Both hands are needed to use the attack, so losing access to her hands means being unable to use the ability. After the tendon in her left hand is severed by Gae Buidhe, making it impossible to move her thumb or exert enough strength to grip the sword hilt, it is reflected upon changing Excalibur's status to Anti-Unit.

It ranks as an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm due to its magnitude and destructive power, far surpassing Anti-Unit and Anti-Army Noble Phantasms. She generally attempts to aim it into the sky due to its destructive power, able to incinerate an entire military cohort of one thousand soldiers and turn the ground into scorched earth and leave a great disorder in land that would never fade. Briefly touching the ground against Rider, it leaves molten asphalt and burns away a forest, and used against Berserker in the Einzbern Forest, it leaves a large enough crater deep into the forest that can easily fit two people. When launched into the sky, it can be seen from far around, even cutting into the clouds. It also quickly incinerates the Gigantic Horror, capable of instantly regenerating without damage under the constant assault of four Servants, by annihilating every single atom of its flesh.

The magical energy consumption is extremely high, leaving her exhausted after usage, and it cannot normally be fired consecutively. Releasing the sword where others can view it will allow others to instantly figure out her identity. This requires her to use it only as a last resort, compared to the weaker but easier to use Invisible Air. As her opponents are the size of humans, its size and energy cost can be considered somewhat unnecessary when compared to those with the cost and efficiency to use just enough power to kill the opponent. If used without enough energy or a Master to actively replenish her, it can cause her to instantly fade away upon usage. When used while weakened by her connection with Shirou, she can only activate it once before she is almost out of energy, while she can use it more times upon retrieving Avalon. It is possible to activate it without sufficient energy, but the resulting Excalibur will be weakened. When used in Night Without Dawn, she fails to defeat Berserker, likely barely able to take off even two lives before instantly fading away compared to the full powered version that could potentially kill him outright.

Its destructive power can also be a negative trait that limits its usage, as it can easily damage the surrounding area and kill a large number of people if used under the wrong conditions. This trait makes it impossible for her to use it against Archer during Fate/hollow ataraxia due to the great risk of destroying the Center Building and numerous buildings around it to reach him. She can somewhat control the output with precise calibration, but it is still easily capable of completely destroying Fuyuki's church while holding back energy to minimize collateral damage. It is possible to limit its destructive power if the opponent focuses on close-range combat. and it cannot be used against opponents who fight at extremely close range, such as Assassin, who could cut off her head with Tsubame Gaeshi the instant she began to gather energy into her sword.

Excalibur Morgan
Excalibur Morgan: Sword of Promised Victory, also known as Black Excalibur (黒エクスカリバー), is the form Excalibur takes after being corrupted by evil. Just as the fairies of the Lake, and Morgana, can coexist as polar opposites embodying good and evil, Excalibur can also hold a dual existence of good and evil. Due to its nature as a "sword that amplifies", it is blackened when Saber is blackened by Angra Mainyu, reflecting her inner feelings and corrupted nature as "Saber Alter."

Becoming the "Black Sword of Ultimate Light", it is no longer sheathed in Invisible Air and takes on a different appearance. Rather than creating an almighty slash at the tip of the sword, Excalibur gathers a large amount of magical energy to cover the sword in a black light with the same shape. It matters not if it is filled with good or stained by evil, as the fact that it is the strongest holy sword does not change. It can either be used to attack as a blazing black flame in a similar fashion to the regular Excalibur or, as shown in Fate/unlimited codes, swung like a sword in an upward arc multiple times as a technique named Vortigern: Hammer of the Vile King. Due to the corruption and the enormous amount of magical energy received from Sakura Matou, Saber can fire this version of Excalibur without limit.

Excalibur Image
"May this light reach the king who never can be reached. Can you withstand this fragment of a true holy sword?"

- Archer

Excalibur Image: Forever Distant Golden Sword is a degraded version of Excalibur utilized by Archer that can only be utilized within Unlimited Blade Works. It is normally impossible for Unlimited Blade Works to replicate Excalibur through projection, but the conditions for where wrought iron is possible are boosted within the Moon Cell to allow for the replication of holy-sword class weaponry with inferior performance compared to the originals.

Excalibur (Fate/strange fake)
Excalibur: Sword of XXXXXX Victory is a sword possessed by Saber, which has had part of its name obscured. It is unknown if it is connected to King Arthur's Excalibur.