Waver Velvet

Waver Velvet is the Master of a Rider class servant in the 4th Holy Grail War. He is a character in the novel Fate/Zero.

History
Waver Velvet is a nineteen year old student at Clock Tower, an institute of the Mage's Association, and a magus with a recognized magical lineage of three generations. While he is talented, he is not recognized by his peers or lecturers.

An intelligent young man, Waver came up with the revolutionary concept that a mage's power could be increased through effort, experience, and knowledge rather than increasing magical potential through that of a mage's heirs. His idea is dismissed by his lecturer, the nobleman Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi, who tears up Waver's manuscript without another thought.

Role
When Waver discovers that El-Melloi will participate in the fourth Holy Grail War in Japan, Waver steals the artifact El-Melloi intends to use to summon his Servant and runs off to Japan. Intending to win the Holy Grail in order to force the Mage's Association to recognize his genius, he takes the stolen artifact and summons the Rider-class Servant, Iskander. He is youngest of all the master in the 4th Holy Grail War.

Though an adept mage, his confidence in his own skill comes off as arrogance. Waver is not courageous by nature and somewhat short-tempered, cowardly, and whiny.

He has a hard time controlling the overbearing Iskander, who has no interest in the Holy Grail. The two of them stay with Glen and Martha Mackenzie, an elderly Canadian couple living in Japan, for the duration of the war. The couple, thanks to Waver's magical abilities, are under the impression that he is their grandson.

As Lord El-Melloi II, Waver Velvet is Tohsaka Rin's lecturer at the Magus Association and possesses an interest in the popular culture of Japan (though he likes little else about the country). He is responsible for dismantling the Holy Grail after the fifth Holy Grail War. He is also the only surviving master of the 4th Grail War, following the deaths of Kiritsugu Emiya and Kirei Kotomine.

Servant
Waver's servant is Iskander, who was summoned using a mantle once worn by Iskander. The artifact was originally Lord El-Melloi's and stolen by Waver, who intends to prove that his teacher is wrong.

Iskander, the King of Conquerors, is noble and physically overbearing. He is an enormous man who has little interest in the Holy Grail and cares more about conquering the world again, especially now that he realizes the world is much bigger than he was aware of during his life. He is especially fascinated by ordinary aspects of modern life and intends to inform the world of his return, much to Waver's chagrin. When Rider is summoned, Waver has difficulty getting along with his Servant due to differing personalities and Rider's lack of interest in winning the Grail. Rider's self-centered nature makes him especially difficult to control and Waver finds himself accommodating his interests to his Servant's to ensure Rider remains focused on defeating opposing Servants. Despite their differences and have a very close bond of friendship, similar to that of a father and a son. This is evident in the fact, that on their first encounter with the other servents and masters of the war, Rider defended his master's dignity after Waver was being tormented by his Lecturer Lord Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi, who was treatening to make Waver suffer for stealing his artifact and entering the Grail War with the servent he was intending to summon. Rider rebuffes Kayneth by call him a coward saying that someone like him could never be his master even he really was summoned by Kayneth.

As the Holy Grail War continues, Waver and Iskander friendship strengthens, Iskander teaches Waver how to live like a man. On the final day of the war, Waver decides it is too dangerous for him to continue participating in the war and uses all three of his Command Seals to order Iskander to defeat all the remaining Servants, win the Grail, and not to return unless he succeeded. By using all of his Command Seals, Waver effectively abandons his position as Rider's Master and allows the Servant to do as he wishes. However, Iskander insists that Waver stand at his side as he rides off to his final battle as his friend, rather than his Master.

Iskander engages in a battle with Archer, leaving Waver in a safe location to observe the battle. When the King of Conquerors is defeated by the golden Servant, Archer confronts Waver. Though he is afraid, Waver courageously stands up to Archer, declaring that he is a follower of Iskander and that he has been ordered to live for Iskander's sake. Out of respect for Iskander's final wishes, Archer spares Waver's life.