Lancer (Fate/Extra Rani route)

Lancer (ランサー) is the Lancer class Servant of Rin Tohsaka in the Moon Cell's Holy Grail War of Fate/Extra. While he is always featured in the story, he is only fought as an enemy the Rani route, while another Lancer is fought in the Rin route. He is an alternate version of his Fate/stay night counterpart.

Identity
The great hero of Ireland.

The demigod hero that appears in the Ulster myth, born between the God of Light, Lugh and Deichtine, the younger sister of the king of Ulster, Conchobar. His childhood name was Setanta and from a early age it has been prophesied that "This child will live as a hero".

Cú Chulainn means "Culann's Hound". This comes from when, after killing by accident the watchdog of a wealthy merchant called Culann, Setanta vowed the following:

"If this dog has a child, I will raise it myself into a strong and loyal watchdog. Until then, I will continue to protect you."

Even more than the physical strength to kill the famous hound of Culann bare-handed, the second name of Cú Chulainn is a praise to Setanta's caliber for being thoughtful to the master that lost his pet dog while still a child.

Upon growing into a strong adult, Cú Chulainn enrolled into the Knights of the Red Branch that protected the king of Ulster. As a condition to marry a certain woman, he ends up going towards a ominous place called Land of Shadows.

After overcoming many barriers, Cú Chulainn arrived at the Land of Shadows.

The master of those lands - the witch Scathach - took a liking of him and by training under her, he mastered many Magecraft and martial arts. In the Land of Shadows, he spent all the he springtime of his life. A master that he could reverence, martial arts worthy of his passionate devotion and friends he could work hard together with. Especially, for him who had no opponents who could fight him on equal grounds, the friendship born between him and the swordsman Ferdiad, who was a rival that aimed together with him to be Scathach number one disciple, was certainly something unique.

At the end of Cú Chulainn's training, he had learned all the martial arts of Scathach and, as proof of that, he obtained the demoniac spear Gae Bolg and left the Land of Shadows.

While receiving the praises without stint of his close friend Ferdiad, he returned to his deared homeland - Ulster.

Child of Light
A demigod hero born from a god and a human.

Being a half-breed of gods or spirits is not an unusual special characteristic for a Heroic Spirit of Mythology, but there are not many heroes that are called Child of Light. Probably, he is a hero that inherited the blood of the Absolute One, the chief god that appears in that national myth.

Knight of the Red Branch
In the legends, Cú Chulainn was conveyed as an heroic, deeply compassionate and pleasant young man. In the battlefield, he took down enemies without mercy, but he prized loyalty and possessed the nobility to never violate the vows he once exchanged.

Among the Celtic warriors, there was a custom of each vowing certain commandment called "pledge(Geis)", and a curse would befall the warrior that violated their pledges.

In accordance with his second name, Cú Chulainn had a Geis of "never eat dog for life", but later, several Geis like this became the main cause that rob him of his life.

The battle against the enemy army that came to invade his home-country of Ulster.

In middle of a dilemma where the warriors across the country fell asleep due to a Geis, as the only one who escaped that Geis, Cú Chulainn had to hold back the enemy army all by himself. The queen of the enemy army, Medb, scorned "What can a single warrior possibly do?" and marched triumphantly into Ulster.

...However, despite even riding superior chariots, Cú Chulainn repelled this large army by himself.

Strictly speaking, he defended alone the path where the large army had to go through.

Cú Chulainn who repelled the invading Medb army on countless occasions.

Time until the Geis of sleep cast across Ulster was broken: one year.

Medb had to defeat Ulster within that one year no matter what. But Cú Chulainn's defense was an impregnable fortress and nobody was able to break him.

During that fight, Cú Chulainn managed to capture Medb, who was the main culprit of the conflict, but released her while saying "There is no way I can kill a woman".

For Medb, who was a queen, that was the greatest of insults. Turning into a personal avenger, Medb began to consider a plan that aimed not at defeating Cú Chulainn with strength, but rather weakening him by making him violate a Geis.

Queen Medb proposed to Cú Chulainn that "If you accept a Geis, I won't break into the territory of Ulster beyond the necessary" and then negotiated many Geis to him in their discussions.

...There was a countless number of traps in there, but Cú Chulainn accepted the Geis of the queen while acknowledging his own ruin.

The pledge with Medb would certainly protect Ulster.

However, all those Geis worked to entrap Cú Chulainn.

Among the many Geis that Cú Chulainn exchanged, the two vows exchanged with Medb of "fighting only one warrior per day" and with his old friend Fergus of "one win and one loss" are famous. By the end of many schemes, Cú Chulainn continued to violate his self-imposed Geis one by one.

In the middle of a open battle, he put dog meat in his mouth by being deceived to think of it as sheep meat.

For the sake of his friends, his country and his king, he threw away all his divine protections.

In the end, he was made to fight even against his best friend, Ferdiad.

...And thus, the hero that completely lost all his powers, in the rapids that became the cornerstone of the defense, at last received a fatal wound from a spear in his flank. The proud Cú Chulainn refused to perish collapsed, so he tied his body to a pillar and continued to fight until the end of his life.

That was the rapids of the four branches (Ath nGabla).

Afterwards, this Rune was made into a proof of determination by the Knights of the Red Branch.

Appearance
His appearance strongly resembles his Fate/stay night counterpart except he has a pale complexion, he wears a similar outfit to his mainline self but it looks more advanced. It covers his entire body with light blue lined design, with a light flame design on his left arm.

Personality
His personality is based on his counterpart.

Fate/Extra
He is the Servant of Rin Tohsaka, and he is fought as an opponent during the Rani VIII route.

Fate/Extra CCC
Lancer is one of the bonus bosses of the game, paired with Kotomine as his master.

Gae Bolg (刺し穿つ死棘の槍 - Sashi Ugatsu Shi Ibara no Yari)
A crimson spear feared for piercing the opponent's heart without fail when thrust.

The truth is, this spear is released after the outcome of "hitting the heart", a reversal of causality. Before the spear is released, it has already hit the heart as a premise. It can be conjectured as an attack against fate itself, described as not hitting because it was released, but rather being released because it had hit. To avoid Gae Bolg, what is important is not a high Agility value, but the power to change fate before Gae Bolg is activated - a high Luck value.

It is the most efficient Noble Phantasm, as it requires a low amount of prana to be activated and, furthermore, is a one-hit-one-kill attack.

Rune User
A Magecraft system transmitted in Northern Europe.

It has been said that, by engraving letters of power into stone, various mysteries are induced. Presently, it is a lost ancient Magecraft.