Fate/stay night

PC game opening movie:

F0dpRL3Jobg Fate/stay night (フェイト／ステイナイト) is a Japanese eroge visual novel game created by TYPE-MOON, which was originally released on January 30, 2004. It is Type-Moon's first commercial work, following their transition from a doujin soft visual novel group. Fate, Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel are the three branching storylines found within the game. Each diverge at certain points, and, depending upon player interaction, will end in one of several possible ways. The Fate scenario features Saber as the main heroine. In Unlimited Blade Works, Tohsaka Rin is the main female lead but the storyline focuses around her Servant, Archer. Heaven's Feel expands on the dark history of Matou Sakura.

Premise
Fate/stay night chronicles a two-week period in the life of Emiya Shirou, an amateur mechanic who attends school called Homurabara Gakuen in Fuyuki City. Ten years ago, Shirou was caught in a massive fire that incinerated his parents and consumed a large portion of the city; as he was dying, an enigmatic man discovers and treats him. This man, Emiya Kiritsugu, decides to adopt him, though the two maintain a distant relationship because of Kiritsugu's frequent departures from Fuyuki City. One moonlit night, Kiritsugu and Shirou have a discussion outside of their home, and Shirou discovers a fact about his father that Kiritsugu was actually a mage.

Through their conversation, Shirou learns of his foster father's failed life ambition to become a "Hero of Justice" (正義の味方), a guardian of mankind who could protect the weak and innocent. Touched by Kiritsugu's conviction, Shirou affirms to his foster father that he intends to devote his life to achieving that distant ideal, much to Kiritsugu's chagrin. To do this, Shirou pleads with a begrudging Kiritsugu to teach him magecraft (魔術); but Shirou proves to be talentless in almost all the fundamental magecraft disciplines.

Kiritsugu warns his son that the life of a magus is one that leads to destruction, but if he is truly set on benefiting people, he should apply his knowledge in secret and hone his craft in private. After Kiritsugu dies, Shirou becomes frustrated with his progress, for he feels inadequate about his good deeds through magecraft and is unsure of how to orient his future to contribute more.

Unknown to Shirō, Fuyuki City is the setting for a secret and violent war among competing magi. For the past two centuries, seven magi were gathered and engage in a Battle Royale, each gambling his or her own life to obtain the Holy Grail, a legendary chalice capable of granting wishes. The past four Holy Grail Wars have typically occurred every sixty years, with the most recent concluding a decade ago, but the fifth war has eerily started prematurely.

Each magus, better known as Masters, are aided by one of the seven summoned spiritual familiars known as Servants, who are the reincarnations of legendary souls from all across time. These resurrected Heroic Spirits (英霊), possess superhuman characteristics and wield powerful artifacts or abilities called Noble Phantasms (宝具). A Noble Phantasm's hidden abilities may be released by invoking its true name, but casual brandishing of a Noble Phantasm is best avoided, for symbolic Noble Phantasms usually belie a Servant's identity, diminishing that Servant's competitive advantage. Specific legends may be summoned with the aid of catalysts, which are artifacts, ideas, or experiences similar or of value to the desired Servant. Only one Servant can be summoned in each war from one of seven classes: Saber, Archer, Lancer, Berserker, Rider, Assassin, and Caster.

The Holy Grail is a spiritual artifact, so only astral entities, such as Servants, are capable of touching it; this restriction forces Master and Servant to cooperate with each other against rival pairs, even if a situation entails fighting to the death. Masters control Servants with three Command Mantra (令呪), which are crystallized miracles issued by the Holy Grail that manifest on a Master's hand. When activated, Command Mantra permit a Servant to accomplish an incredible feat, or alternatively provide Masters with the authority to issue an irrevocable and absolute order to a Servant. In the event of a Master's demise, a Servant may choose to bind him or herself to another Master; if a Servant is slain, a Master may ally with a wayward Servant or pursue sanctuary with the Holy Grail War's impartial supervisor, who is traditionally a delegate of the Church.

After cleaning his school's kyudo (archery) dojo late one night, Shirou stumbles upon two Servants, Archer and Lancer, battling in the school courtyard. To avoid compromising the war's secrecy, Lancer hunts down and pierces Shirou in the heart with a spear. For an unknown reason, Shirou's classmate, Tohsaka Rin, uses an heirloom filled with concentrated prana, Prana (魔力), to resuscitate him. Shaken and dazed, Shirou goes back to his home, but is again attacked by Lancer. Shirou weakly defends himself against Lancer but is soon overwhelmed by the powerful Servant's attack. After the battle prelonged, Shirou falls into his storage room. Cornered, he prepares for the worst; but before Lancer can inflict another fatal blow, a young woman outfitted in armor blocks Lancer's spear. She drives Lancer away, introduces herself to Shirou as Saber, and greets him with the words: I ask of you, are you my Master?

Characters
As with Tsukihime, the character base in Fate/stay night is extremely comprehensive and expansive, with characters possessing varied and extraordinary abilities.


 * Emiya Shirou
 * Shirou is the main character of the story. He is a serious yet helpful, hardworking, and honest teenager. His hobbies include fixing a variety of broken things, from VCRs to stoves, as well as cooking and cleaning. He has some slight talent with magecraft, though he was discouraged by his foster father Emiya Kiritsugu from improving his gifts. He is initially confused about the Holy Grail War and attempts to irrationally shield others from danger, including his own Servant, Saber.


 * Saber:
 * She is Shirou's Servant, an agile but powerful warrior. Loyal, independent, and reserved, Saber acts coldly but is actually suppressing her emotions to focus on her goals. Her class is considered the "Most Outstanding", with excellent ratings in all categories. Since her Master cannot effectively provide her with Prana, she minimizes her activity to preserve what she has. Saber is frustrated by Shirou's "protective" tendencies, believing his erratic and reckless behavior will jeopardize her chances of winning the Holy Grail War.


 * Tohsaka Rin:
 * A model student and idol of Shirou's school who is secretly a magus and Master in the Holy Grail War. She is a descendant from a long line of magi, and though she lacks a formal magecraft education, she is extremely powerful in her own right. Her father was killed in the fourth Holy Grail War, and she has trained since his death to succeed him. She is perceptive, resourceful and avidly competitive. She tried to summon a Saber-class Servant, but she accidentally called Archer instead.


 * Archer:
 * He is the Servant of one of the series' main heroines, Tohsaka Rin. Due to an incomplete summon, he apparently has no memory of his previous life or identity. Archer is sarcastic and cynical - but under his hardened exterior lies a complex and dark personality that unfolds throughout the story. Though skilled with ranged weapons, he can hold his own in mêlée combat. Archer considers Emiya Shirou's idealism to be weak and delusional, recognizing Shirou's mentality of "wanting to save everyone" as naïve and impossible.


 * Illyasviel von Einzbern:
 * A young German aristocrat, she traveled to Japan to participate in the Holy Grail War as a Master. Illyasviel has an angelic appearance and an unsurpassed degree of magical power. She lives in a castle on the outskirts of Fuyuki City, accompanied only by her Servant and two maids. Illyasviel asks those she feels comfortable around to simply call her "Ilya".


 * Berserker:
 * The Servant of Ilya, who appears as a swarthy giant with adamantine skin and gross brawn. He wields a colossal stone axe-club, and is capable of causing massive destruction with the mere backlash of his swings. As a Berserker, he is stripped of his sanity and reason, acting feral and animalistic in combat. Berserkers are praised as members of the "strongest" class, though they are difficult to control and always turn on their Masters. Ilya appears to have little trouble managing him.


 * Matou Sakura:
 * A student in her first year of high school, sister of Shinji Matou, and Shirou's kohai. After Shirou's father Kiritsugu died, Sakura often visited Shirou's home to help him with his daily chores. Though Shinji is from a family of magi, he asserts that she has no knowledge of her family's craft or history. Sakura is outwardly shy and timid, but possesses great inner strength. She has a long standing and obvious crush on Shirou Emiya.


 * Matou Shinji:
 * Matou Sakura 's older brother, and a long-time friend of Shirou. Shinji is very popular as vice-captain of the archery dojo despite being chauvinistic and a narcissist. Like Tohsaka Rin, he is of a distinguished lineage of magi, though the Matou blood has thinned and no longer produces heirs naturally capable of magecraft. Shinji feels uncomfortable with his sister's daily visits to Shirou's home. He has an open crush on Rin, but she does not return his favors.


 * Rider:
 * The Servant of Shinji, first seen scouting around Homurabara Gakuen. Rider is silent, sultry, and vigilant, never hesitating to shield her Master from harm. With Shinji incapable of lending Prana to her, she is forced to seek alternative means to augment her abilities. To compensate for her weakness, Rider employs covert battle tactics and takes full advantage of territory around her. Her weapon of choice is a pair of long iron nails fastened to opposite ends of a single chain, which she effectively thrusts from distances.

Related media
Fate/stay night was the beginning of a whole franchise of various media. Important related products include:
 * The Fate/stay night anime TV series, mostly an adaption of the Fate path
 * The Fate/stay night manga serialization, an adaption of the Unlimited Blade Works path
 * Fate/stay night Réalta Nua, an all-ages port of the game to the PlayStation 2
 * Fate/hollow ataraxia, a fandisc/quasi-sequel featuring the Fate/stay night cast and several new characters
 * Fate/Zero, a novel prequel detailing the events of the 4th Holy Grail War 10 years prior to the 5th one told in ''Fate/stay night'
 * Fate/tiger colosseum, a 3D fighting game for the PlayStation Portable featuring the Fate/stay night cast