Fate/Apocrypha

Fate/Apocrypha is a light novel written by Yuichiro Higashide with illustrations by Ototsugu Konoe. The first volume will be released on December 29, 2012 at Comiket 83.

Story
The setting of Fate/Apocrypha is a parallel world to Fate/stay night where the Grail was removed from Fuyuki City after the Third War.

The story is focused on a Holy Grail War separate from that of the five Fuyuki conflicts, with 14 servants instead of the classic 7. There will be two factions where there will be 7 red servants vs. 7 black servants. The story will be centered around Joan of Arc:

“In the name of Joan of Arc, I command thee, fourteen servants.”

Masters
Black Faction

The black faction members are part of a Romanian group called Yggmillennia.


 * Gordes Morgik Ygdramillena  - He summoned the Black Saber with a bloodstained leaf of a Sacred Fig tree as a catalyst.


 * Fiore Forvegy Ygdramillena - A girl assumed to be Danik's successor. She summoned the Black Archer using an ancient arrow as a catalyst.


 * Danik Preston Ygdramillena - Black Lancer's Master. He is almost a century old despite looking in his 20s. He plundered the Holy Grail from the Third Holy Grail War of Fuyuki.


 * Selenik Icecol Ygdramillena  - She summoned the Black Rider with a glass bottle which had a liquid stain left on it as a catalyst.


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


 * Cowles Forvegy Ygdramillena - 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 - 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.

Red Faction

The red faction members were sent by the Clock Tower Mage's Association.


 * Shishi - A freelance Necromancer. He summoned Red Saber with a splinter of the Round Table.


 * Shirou - He was sent by the Church as a supervisor and also he is a Master.


 * Rotwell Belsinski


 * Jean Ram


 * Pentel Brother [Younger]


 * Pentel Brother [Older]


 * Findo Wom Senbellum

Servants

 * Ruler

Black Faction


 * Black Saber


 * Black Archer


 * Black Lancer


 * Black Rider


 * Black Caster


 * Black Berserker


 * Black Assassin

Red Faction


 * Red Saber


 * Red Archer


 * Red Lancer


 * Red Rider


 * Red Caster


 * Red Berserker


 * Red Assassin

Minor Characters

 * Sagara Hyouma - A magus who lived with Reika. He is the original Master of the Black Assassin. 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.


 * Lord El-Melloi II

Development
Originally introduced as a canceled project for an online MMO game with various details and character designs 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 involves the Player playing as the Master, and then summoning his Servant. You fight with other Players' Master-Servant teams for online ranking.

Nasu wanted the online game to have a world with a complete story, despite being an online game. Although the development of the story may change depending on the Servant’s relationship with the Master, the story ultimately concludes with Joan activating her ultimate Noble Phantasm which she had stubbornly withheld.

In November 2011 a new project was announced for Fate/Apocrypha as a Light Novel and in early December Yuichiro Higashide confirmed on his Twitter that he is writing Fate/Apocrypha as a novel with illustrations by Ototsugu Konoe.

In the Fate/Apocrypha preview booklet that came along with the TYPE-MOON Ace 8 magazine, it has been confirmed that Musashibo Benkei and Sakata Kintoki have been removed from the novel. They have been replaced by a Red Saber and a new unnamed servant (most probably a Caster, since Shakespeare was the only Caster in the original roster).

Staff
In Fate/complete material IV Extra material, it revealed that the online game had several writers and illustrators for the Servant design.

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)

Release Date
A first chapter focusing on Jack the Ripper and her Master, Reika Rikudou, was published in Type-Moon Ace Vol.7 on December 15, 2011. Preview book was bundled with Type-Moon Ace Vol.8.

The first volume's release date is scheduled for December 29, 2012.