AshwatthamaWP (アシュヴァッターマン, Ashuvattāman?), Class Name Archer (アーチャー, Āchā?), is the Archer-class Servant of Scandinavia Peperoncino in the Lostbelts of Fate/Grand Order. He is also summoned by Ritsuka Fujimaru.
Profile[]
Identity[]
One of the heroes that appears in the Mahabharata.[2] Ashwatthama is a warrior of the strongest rank that appears in the poem, and despite not having the same dramatic quality as Karna or Arjuna, he owns an abundance of episodes.
His father is the Brahmin hero Drona. In the great war sung in the epic, he, like his father, stuck by Duryodhana's side, and unfolded a lurid conflict with the five Pandava brothers together with Karna.
It is said that after he learned of the death of all the important, influential men of his army—starting with the death of his brother-in-arms Karna, the fall of his leader Duryodhana into a moribund state, and the murder of his father Drona—he became maddened with rage, breaking his pledge and written vows as a warrior; he carried out a forbidden night assault, where he apparently massacred thousands of people.
After being driven to an effective rout, he submitted the jewel on his forehead as proof of surrender. The gem would later be inserted into the royal crown.
Appearance[]
 Archer Stage 1 in Fate/Grand Order, illustrated by pako.  Archer Stage 2 in Fate/Grand Order, illustrated by pako.  Archer Stage 3 in Fate/Grand Order, illustrated by pako.  Archer Stage 4 in Fate/Grand Order, illustrated by pako.  Archer Stage 1 in Fate/Grand Order, illustrated by pako.  Archer Stage 3 in Fate/Grand Order, illustrated by pako.    Ashwatthama and others wearing formal outfits, as a bonus illustration for Fate/Grand Order From Lostbelt Volume 1, illustrated by Nakatani.  Ashwatthama and Scandinavia Peperoncino artwork, illustrated by pako. |
Personality[]
Stern. He’s continuously angry, to the point that most of his words give the illusion of him yelling. He’s a straightforward person that laments and resents the unreasonableness of this world more intensely than others, but he’s ideal as a warrior.
Ashwatthama is a loud and battle-loving warrior. He also possesses an iron will and will stop at nothing to avenge fallen friends, which is represented in his Violation of the Warrior Code skill.
Angry for the unreasonable, angry for sadness, angry for pride. However, he swore not to hate. He always wished to be a person to raise an objection against the unreasonable world.
Blowing away any wise reason, no matter who he faces he’ll blow them away with composure if they don’t convince him.
In a Holy Grail War, he’s the type of considering the compatibility with the Master extremely important. If the affinity is bad, he’ll even think on self-annihilation in the first battle.
Relationships[]
- Parvati
- "Parvati-sama? Ha, no. My body, my power, all of these are a boon from Shiva-sama. Normally, I should head to purify this bloodstained body. I deeply apologize for this body."[3]
- A respectable goddess. Ashwatthama usually is so stern he could be likened to a tiger, but in front of her he’s in a temporary cat state.[2]
- Karna
- "AIN’T YOU KARNA?!!! WHAT, YER IN THIS SIDE TOO?!!! You got an irritatin' mug as always, hey! But well whatever. If you wanna fight, say the place! By the way, is the boss Duryodhana doin’ well? What’s that guy that gets carried away so much doin’?"[3]
- A sworn friend. In their previous life, Ashwatthama thought fondly of him, who despite not having new fellowships was honest and didn’t have two faces. He’s a bit worried that, after Karna’s death, he was defeated despite leading the army as a marshal (obviously Karna isn’t worried about it, though).[2]
- Arjuna
- "Arjuna? Is that you?! Ah shit! What a strange fells. Well whatever. Yer strong! Now just that’s fine."[3]
- Actually in a relation in which they have crossed blades on countless occasions. However, since they had a friendship in their previous life, it’s slightly awkward. The topic of nocturnal assaults in particular can’t be touched.[2]
- Arjuna Alter
- "Arjuna? No, wrong. Who the hell are you? Lostbelt? The last god? Kh, never mind, return to the Arjuna of always! Ah? “I won’t return”?"[3]
- Ganesha
- "Ganesha-sama, huh? No wait, say what you like but that’s wrong, hey! What’s with those eyes, huh?! “I don’t want Yankees to get involved in my life”, YOU SAY?! WHO THE HELL IS A YANKEE, HEY?! “That’s what I meant”. WHAT DID YOU MEAN, HEY?!"[3]
Role[]
Fate/Grand Order[]
Yuga Kshetra: Samsara of Genesis and Terminus[]
Scandinavia Peperoncino summoned Ashwatthama after becoming a Crypter. However, God Arjuna stole their contract after Ashiya Douman convinced him to speed up the yuga cycles.[4] He then implanted Ashwatthama with the Curse of Krishna. Ashwatthama tried to kill God Arjuna, only for God Arjuna to kill and revive him countless times. Eventually, Ashwatthama's spirit broke, and he agreed to become God Arjuna's first Lokapala to escape his eternal suffering.[5]
God Arjuna becomes curious about Chaldea's actions and has his Lokapala accompany him to Bichu when the Kali Yuga comes. Ashwatthama arrives ahead of them and confronts Ritsuka's party. He fights the group until his fellow Lokapala arrives.[6] God Arjuna dismisses Chaldea as failures to be erased upon seeing them and begins charging Mahāpralaya. Peperoncino tries to help Ritsuka's party escape, but Ashwatthama arrives to stop them. Karna eventually hits him with Vasavi Shakti in the ensuing fight, and the group escapes without finishing him off. God Arjuna then resets the world with Mahāpralaya.[7]
God Arjuna later orders Ashwatthama to kill Koyanskaya after Douman informed him that she is fueling the Resistance by returning the items that were erased with their owners. Ashwatthama eventually finds Vitch and confronts her about her actions. Vitch claims her actions were to identify undesirables for God Arjuna to erase to speed up the yuga. But Ashwatthama informs her of his orders. Vitch is enraged at him for thinking a mere Servant can kill her and at God Arjuna for sending him. She then fights Ashwatthama in the belief she can easily kill him.[8] But she underestimated Ashwatthama and is forced to escape.[9]
When the Kali Yuga comes again, Ashwatthama interrupts Rama as he is about to finish off William Tell. William soon gets up, but instead of helping Ashwatthama kill Ritsuka's party, he shoots him. Ritsuka's party uses this opportunity to escape while William uses Vayu's power to sneak away from Ashwatthama. Ashwatthama chases after the group when he collapses as a result of William's arrows triggering Krishna's curse.[9]
Later, aware that Chaldea is looking for him, Ashwatthama waits for them in the mountains since Vitch is with them. When Ritsuka's party finds him by the 1st day of the second yuga, he fights them until they discover God Arjuna inflicted him with Krishna's curse. Ashwatthama confesses in his rage why he agreed to help God Arjuna. With his rage further increasing his power, he fights the group again. Rama then transfers his curse to himself since he and Krishna are both avatars of Vishnu.[5]
Joined by Ashwatthama, the group leave the mountains. He suggests they deny the Yuga to weaken God Arjuna by surviving and rejecting his Noble Phantasm. Ganesha and Lakshmibai decide to use their Noble Phantasms to help achieve this. Ashwatthama decides to send them into the past, which he can do thanks to God Arjuna’s constant resting damaging space-time. He will send them to the beginning of God Arjuna's rule, from which they will have to become an ever-present element. If they can do that, it will prove God Arjuna’s imperfection and weaken him in the present. Holy beasts then start approaching, so Lakshmibai uses Alakshmi's power to call upon the Kali to distract them. As the others fend off the holy beasts, Lakshmibai and Ganesha activate Nahi Doongi and Ganesha Vighneshvara. They then enter the rift opened by Ashwattham’s Mahakala Shakti. The monsters soon overwhelm the group when the Border arrives. The group board it, and Goredolf uses evasive maneuvers to retreat from the monsters.[10]
Time advances to the last day of the Kali Yuga. Goredolf maneuvers the Border to evade the Vimana’s shooting. They soon arrive at God’s Skyboulder and realize Lakshmibai and Ganesha’s Noble Phantasms created it. After breaking through the Kali protecting it, Ritsuka touches it to free Lakshmibai and Ganesha. At that moment, Ashwatthama entered God Arjuna's "trash dump".[11]
There he tries to get Karna (who was erased earlier) to leave with him immediately before they're torn to shreds, even though time is meaningless in this space. But Karna wants to train so he can face God Arjuna on even ground out of respect and despair for the hardships his brother went through to reach his current state. Ashwatthama accepts, and the two spare countlessly until Karna is at last satisfied. Ashwatthama then relinquishes his body and Spirit Core so Karna can return.[11]
Afterwards, Ashwatthama begins to disappear due to using his Noble Phantasm and God Arjuna severing their contract. He apologizes to Peperoncino for failing to be his Servant, saying his former Master has every right to be angry, But Peperoncino can't be angry because he knows it isn't Ashwatthama's fault and he can't live in anger. Ashwattahama realizes Peperoncino's resignation affects everything he does and why he hates human society for not helping outcasts like him. He isn't disappointed though and hopes they'll be Master and Servant again. Peperoncino thanks Ashwatthama for giving him something to look forward to. Ashwatthama then disappears, allowing Karna to return.[11]
After God Arjuna disappears, Karna returns Ashwatthama's Saint Graph to him. Now rejoined as Master and Servant, Ashawatthama and Peperoncino defend Fantasy Tree Spirlal from Ritsuka's party. Eventually, though, they are defeated and Spiral is destroyed. Peperoncino considers using the Sirius Light, but Ashwatthama tells him not to. Seeing Ashwatthama start to disappear, Peperoncino regrets their teamwork wasn't good enough. He wonders if things would've been better if they kept their contract the whole time. Ashwatthama believes they were a good match and apologizes for not winning their last battle. Peperoncino doesn't mind though since he's alive. He and Ashwatthama then say their goodbyes before the latter disappears.[12]
Abilities[]
As the heroic half-incarnation of Shiva,[8] Ashwatthama is a demigod holding the power of Shiva and Yama within.[10] Due to being one of the most famous heroes of the Mahabharata, Ashwatthama is said to be equal if not superior to Karna, to which Karna agrees saying that even while he was receiving the teachings of his teacher Drona, it wasn't like he was the strongest warrior around at all.[7] After having fought each other 2000 times in a realm where time is meaningless, Karna stated that Ashwatthama is one of the strongest warriors he has met in the Grand Orders, as they reached an even score of 1000 wins and 1000 losses.[11] As the hero of the Kauravas, Ashwatthama is not only an exceptionally skilled warrior but a tactician clever enough to serve as commander in chief. That is to say, he is a Servant who can fulfill more than just one role.[5] Despite being such an amazing mythological figure,[8] he was no match for Arjuna Alter and his absolute divine power.[10]
Combat[]
Even though he is an Archer, Ashwatthama is a melee fighter who uses the Giant chakram (Sudarshan Chakra) as his weapon. A weapon he actually couldn’t obtain in his previous life and that was originally used by Krishna. After becoming an Archer, he worked hard and obtained it or something like that. It seems his proficiency improves with every Holy Grail War, but details are unknown.[2]
Scandinavia Peperoncino claims that Ashwatthama could have destroyed Chaldea's entire base.[13] When Arjuna Alter died, Krishna's curse was lifted. Being able to fight without restraint once again, Rama, along with Ganesha, Lakshmibai, and Mash, fought and defeated Ashwatthama.[12]
Yan Qing praises Ashwatthama's strength, saying he felt as if his fist was going to burn off when he hit Ashwatthama. On the other hand, Ashwatthama regards Yan Qing's Chinese Boxing as an incovenience. If Ashwatthama didn't know any better, he would think Yan was using an illusion or something. He is impressed Yan can pull that off with physical strength alone. After that, Ashwatthama, Yan Qing, Saber Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, Lancer Li Shuwen, and Beowulf engage in a brawl. Parvati was able to defeat all of them thanks to Boudica's support and using the spear of Shiva.[14]
Curse of Krishna[]
Towards the end of the great war depicted in the Mahabharata, Ashwatthama was overcome with anger at his father's murder, and in a cowardly act of retribution, he snuck into the enemy camp and killed them all in their sleep. Afterward, he fired an arrow at the stomach of the pregnant mother of what would have been the last child of the Kuru. However, Krishna protected the baby and placed a dreadful curse upon Ashwatthama's head in retaliation. One interpretation says that the curse would last for three thousand years, during which he would be forced to endure all manner of pain and suffering. As a Servant, Ashwatthama doesn't usually bear this curse, however, during the events of the Indian Lostbelt, Arjuna Alter implanted it on him after stealing the Master contract from Scandinavia Peperoncino.[5]
This curse grants Ashwatthama amazing regenerative abilities that practically make him immortal.[9][15] No matter how much he is hurt, he will just bounce back, even if the wound is fatal. Scandinavia Peperoncino confirms that Ashwatthama was nowhere near as durable when he was his Master.[16] Even with the support of Rama, Ganesha, and Mash, Karna was unable to overpower Ashwatthama in close range combat, and was forced to use Vasavi Shakti in order to buy some time to escape. Although it certainly hurt him, he started recovering from the damage at an alarming rate.[7] In fact, even if his body was torn to shreds, his body would simply regenerate, thanks to his connection to Arjuna Alter's nigh-infinite supply of Magical Energy.[5] Rama states that his regenerative abilities are on a scale he has rarely seen, and that they make Ashwatthama a significant threat, even when his opponent is only trying to get away from him rather than fighting him directly.[17] Although he wouldn't be able to defeat him on his own, Rama states that he would try to delay him if necessary in order to allow the others to escape. Of course, since Ashwatthama would recover from most damage as soon as it was inflicted on him, Rama would probably have to cut off both his legs to do even that. That is just as much work as defeating him, especially while trying to make an escape at the same time.[9]
Although Koyanskaya initially regarded Ashwatthama as a "mere Servant," claiming that she would have no problem destroying a warrior like him with just "a few bites", Qin Shi Huang being the only exception,[8] when the two fought, Ashwatthama left her so gravely injured that she could barely move, leaving her depleted of most of her Magical Energy. Being overwhelmed, Koyanskaya states that she punched Ashwatthama's front teeth down his throat before making her escape. She later states that as the locally sourced Lokapala, Ashwatthama is on a whole different level, making him the most powerful Servant in the Indian Lostbelt, excepting Arjuna Alter. Furthermore, Ashwatthama had some powerful holy sutras equipped, likely thanks to Ashiya Douman.[9]
Being a curse meant to torment Ashwatthama, or rather, his Saint Graph, this curse inflicts him great pain. The pain is so extreme, that even when Rama transferred it from Ashwatthama's body to his own, it brought him down to half his normal strength, despite Rama being an avatar of Vishnu just like Krishna, and therefore supposedly having a higher tolerance to the curse than Ashwatthama.[5]
Skills[]
Class Skills[]
- Magic Resistance (A Rank): Cancels all magecraft of rank A or lower. In fact, a modern mage could not hurt Ashwatthama.[2]
- Independent Action (EX Rank): The ability to act even in the absence of a Master. As long as Personification of Rage continues, Ashwatthama will head anywhere to defeat the enemy.[2]
Personal Skills[]
- Divinity (A+ Rank): He is said to have half the body of the highest Indian god, the avatar of destruction, Shiva.[2]
- Incarnation of Rage (EX Rank): He whose half of the body is inhabited by Shiva, will never stop until the enemy is defeated once his rage is fired up.[2] He is very fearsome combatant, capable of killing thousands of trained soldiers in a single combat while going berserk.
- Violation of the Warrior Code (A Rank): The vows established between the warrior class (Kshatriya) were trampled underfoot in succession at the great war of the Mahabharata. Vengeance called vengeance, and offense propagated offense. Ashwatthama was so angry, he performed a prohibited nocturnal assault and brought down the enemy.[2]
- Revered Warrior (A+ Rank): A sublimation of the anecdote in which he was praised as the best warrior in the Mahabharata, ranked equal to Arjuna and Karna. (Although his social status is a Brahmin) Combined with Violation of the Warrior Code and Incarnation of Rage he becomes a mad warrior superior to a Berserker. It’s not like he loses his rationality, but his tolerance to weak points is slightly weakened due to being in a state of extreme fury.[2]
- Mani Jewel (B Rank): A jewel embedded in his forehead since he was born. With this, he could defend himself from demonic entities or beasts. Later, he handed it over as proof of surrender.[2]
Noble Phantasms[]
Ashwatthama's main Noble Phantasms is Sudarshan Chakra Yamaraj. Unusually, the weapon he didn’t, he couldn’t use in his previous life, has become a Noble Phantasm.
Ashwatthama's second Noble Phantasm is Brahmashirastra. The ultimate weapon, received from his father Drona. This weapon that possesses the destructive power to paralyze the world, despite having been antagonized by Arjuna shooting with his bow at full power, left ravages that were said to turn the whole surroundings into a barren land for twelve years. Ashwatthama will not use this Noble Phantasm.
Ashwatthama also possesses a third Noble Phantasm known as Mahākāla Shakti, although he is unable to use it under normal circumstances. With it, Ashwatthama awakens Mahakala, the manifestation of Shiva inside him that can control time itself, allowing him or others to travel back in time.[10] Needless to say, he can only use it once,[10] as it requires him to sacrifice a lot to pull it off, leaving his Saint Graph at its limit.[11] With this Noble Phantasm, he was able to send Ganesha and Lakshmibai thousands of years into the past, long before Arjuna Alter started ruling the Indian Lostbelt.[10]
Development[]
Creation and Conception[]
Ashwatthama was designed by pako in Fate/Grand Order. His scenario writer is Yuuichirou Higashide in Fate/Grand Order.[2]
Comment of the Illustrator[]
"India’s intellectual tire Yankee. In the end, Indian Servants are all serious, aren’t they…? I was asked to draw a cut-in so I didn’t know how many stars he’d have until rolling the gatcha and fidgeted with magic cards. This is just a personal thing, but I was very happy with the voice." (pako)[2]
References[]
- ↑ Fate/Grand Order - Spotlight Lostbelt No.4
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.34 2.35 2.36 2.37 Fate/Grand Order material VIII - Ashwatthama, Profile translated by King of Padoru
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Fate/Grand Order Ashwatthama's Lines
- ↑ Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 6: The Relic Called Falsehood
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 16: Aswatthama
- ↑ Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 4: Kali Yuga/The Demon of the End
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 5: Kali Yuga/A Revolving World
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 13: The Prince of Loss/Divine Judgement Looming
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 14: Those Who Laugh During the End of Yuga
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 17: The Flaw of Being "There"
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 18: Together With You, At the End of the Eternity Known as a Moment
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 19: The Final Dark God
- ↑ Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Permafrost Empire, Anastasia: Prologue Intro 1
- ↑ Fate/Grand Order - Parvati's Interlude, Those Watched Over by the God's Consort
- ↑ Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 15: Return of Paradise/The Queen's Identity
- ↑ Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 11: Treta Yuga/Asclepius, the God of Medicine
- ↑ Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 10: God's Commander