Bellerophon: Bridle of Chivalry (騎英の手綱, Kiei no Tadzuna?) is a shining golden bridle and whip paired as a set that is capable of fully controlling a Divine Beast, and it is Medusa's most powerful attack. It is not a Noble Phantasm to be used in a one-on-one fight, but rather an "Anti-Army Noble Phantasm" that can cut down enemies in a wide area.[1] It is an oddity even among Noble Phantasms, having no effect without a mount. Its power is great, providing extraordinary offensive and defensive capabilities of the highest level.[1][2] While Medusa alone is not able to match Saber in battle, she is confident in its ability to defeat any opponent without them stopping her charge. It can rapidly augment the abilities of a Phantasmal Species. In battle, the strengthened Phantasmal Beast and Medusa fight as one.[1] Sharing its name with BellerophonWP, the young man who tamed and rode the PegasusWP in Greek MythologyWP, she uses it with her Pegasus, allowing it to display its full power even with its normally docile nature.[2]
Pegasus is already an exceptional beast, and directing it with Bellerophon removes its limiters, causing it to rage under Medusa's command. All of its abilities are increased by one rank, and its defensive power, already on the level of a dragon, is improved several times due to the protection provided by its massive amount of magical energy and divine protection.[2] The "Armor Class" rank is raised by one hundred, and the maximum speed that the charge of the beast can reach is between four hundred and five hundred kilometers per hour. Once fastened, it allows for the mounted beast to use its most powerful charge to physically destroy the target, and it must be fastened after the mount is summoned or simultaneously as it emerges from the summoning circle. Compared to the golden flare of Excalibur, this arrow of light can be called a white comet.[2]
As it is a powerful ability, it is not suited for ground combat in normal situations. Although Medusa can fasten and mount it immediately after it leaves the summoning circle, she prefers to utilize it in the air away from onlookers. She has the Pegasus fly high into the air, before descending down like divine lightning. It grows large enough to engulf the Center Building's rooftop and destroy the building itself. With assistance from Shirou's Rho Aias, it is capable of overcoming Excalibur Morgan after ninety percent of Bellerophon's light is offset. It must be noted that in both encounters with this noble phantasm Saber had been forced to retaliate with her own noble phantasm further signifying Bellerophon's tremendous strength.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6
[] Fate/complete material III: World Material - The Servants of the Fifth Holy Grail War: Rider, p.028-029 [T] Medusa
Class: Rider
Master: Matou Sakura
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Sex: Female
Height: 172cm
Weight: 57kg
Armament: Dagger
STR: B
CON: D
AGI: A
MGI: B
LCK: E
Noble Phantasm: A+
Legend
Medusa was a frightening female monster in Greek mythology. She had a nest of poisonous snakes for hair, copper green scales for skin, golden wings on her back, and eyes that would turn anyone that met them to stone.
The story in which the hero Perseus slew Medusa is famous even in Japan. It's said that Perseus' divine blade Harpe sheared through Medusa's scaley skin, and Medusa's head contained the power of petrification even after being severed.
Medusa was originally a goddess, but a curse by the goddess Athena lowered her to a monster. The story goes that Medusa, overly proud of her own beauty, desecrated a temple to Athena.
According to the Theogony describing the genealogy of the Greek gods, Medusa had a pair of twin older sisters named Stheno and Euryale. Together they were known as the three Gorgon (derived from ancient Greek gorgós, meaning "dreadful") sisters.
It is written that the aboriginal Pelasgians worshiped Medusa when she was still a goddess. After the Pelasgians were conquered by other groups, Medusa was demonized from a great earth goddess into a monster.
After becoming a Heroic Spirit, she retains her wholesome beauty even while possessing the Mystic Eyes of Petrification. Her flying steed Pegasus was said to have been born from a piece of her severed head, or created by her blood when it dripped into the ocean.
Tactics
Medusa specializes in close combat, taking advantage of her high Agility and Monstrous Strength. Her weapons of choice are chained daggers. While quite lethal, they are not Noble Phantasms, so it is difficult to deal critical blows with them when fighting Servants. Medusa excels in a fight using Noble Phantasms. She can annihilate many enemies at once using her anti-army Noble Phantasm Bellerophon (Bridle of Chivalry), which requires an enormous amount of prana. Additionally, she has several methods of attack that can be adapted to a wide variety of situations, such as Blood Fort Andromeda (Outsider Seal - Blood Temple) which can close off a targeted area and dissolve the humans inside to obtain prana, and Cybele (Mystic Eyes of Petrification) which is normally sealed beneath her blindfold.
Class Abilities
Magic Resistance: B
Originally a Greek goddess that turned into a monster, she possesses extremely high Magic Resistance. The Magic Resistance ability that the Rider class possesses is weaker than that of the three knight classes, but the fact that it remains so high is thanks to Medusa's inherently high Magic Resistance.
Rank B Magic Resistance easily nullifies spells of three bars or less. It is also difficult to damage Medusa with even high thaumaturgy and grand rituals. Moreover, Medusa herself is skilled in sorcery, so she has countless ways to counter enemy spells. In other words, Medusa is excellent at fighting magi. Backing all that up is her Agility. Compared to Lancer who boasts the same level of "speed" she is inferior in sudden bursts, but has more endurance. Even with powerful spells, it is extremely hard to hit Medusa who will keep moving at high speed.
Riding: A+
As might be expected of the Servant Rider, Medusa posses a high rank in the Riding ability. But instead of covering only specific animals and vehicles, her ability extends to nearly all beasts, including Phantasmal Beasts and Divine Beasts. However, even with an excellent Riding rank, she cannot ride dragons.
The steed that makes best use of Medusa's Riding ability is the legendary winged horse Pegasus. Mastering a winged horse of the Phantasmal Species is a difficult accomplishment even for Rider-class Servants. When riding the heavenly mount that was born of her own blood, both rider and steed move as one.
When the Noble Phantasm Bellerophon is used, all of Pegasus's abilities are drastically increased for a limited time. Even in the story, this combination was able to toy with Saber by attacking from the skies, forcing her into a difficult battle.
Be that as it may, the only time Medusa was able to use Bellerophon was in her fight against Artoria. During the modern Holy Grail War which unfolded in a sprawling city, Medusa had few opportunities to use her Riding ability. Perhaps because of this, she was eliminated without sufficient chance to use her power.
Personal Skills
Mystic Eyes: A+
Eyes that originally function to collect visual information are instead a method to impart magical effects upon a subject. Medusa possesses the Mystic Eyes of Petrification "Cybele", which are Mystic Eyes of the highest order. As in her legend, subjects caught in her vision will be petrified if their Magic Resistance is C or lower.
Caption: Medusa's Mystic Eyes of Petrification cannot be replicated by magic.
Independent Action: C
The ability to materialize independently. If the Master is lost (or if the contract is nullified), Medusa can continue to materialize for one day. Since Medusa can also obtain prana by drinking blood, she can prey on humans as the situation demands and extend this duration.
Caption: Thanks to Independent Action, Medusa was able to return to Sakura after Matou Shinji was defeated.
Monstrous Strength: B
Medusa has this skill due to her property as a monster despite being a Heroic Spirit. If used, she can temporarily magnify her Strength. This is a necessary skill to Medusa, who does not fight with Noble Phantasms in close combat. It has many uses with her chained daggers, such as forcibly dragging an impaled opponent around.
Caption: Medusa possesses high close combat ability thanks to Monstrous Strength.
Divinity: E-
In Greek mythology, Medusa was once a beautiful goddess, so she originally has very high Divinity. However, because she later became a monster, she is an unusual being possessing the "monstrous" attribute that is antithetical to normal Heroic Spirits. Thanks to this, Medusa manifests as both a goddess with Riding, and a monster possessing Mystic Eyes, Monstrous Strength and so forth. Nonetheless, her aptitude as a goddess Divine Spirit is mostly degraded.
However, her Divinity has not been completely eliminated, and it appears that she still has it.
Noble Phantasms
Breaker Gorgon
Rank: C-
Type: Anti-Unit
Range: 0
Maximum Targets: 1 Person
One of Medusa's anti-personnel Noble Phantasms, Breaker Gorgon is the counterpart Bounded Field thaumaturgy to Blood Fort Andromeda. While the target's consciousness is sealed within Medusa's mind, the target can be prevented from activating any abilities. Also, Medusa primarily uses somewhat weak Noble Phantasm not on others, but on herself to seal her Mystic Eyes of Petrification that are normally always active.
Though mainly used to seal Mystic Eyes, its original use is obviously to exert a degree of mind control on the opponent. Actually, when she took control of enemy Master Emiya Shirou's mind and gave him erotic dreams, she was actually trying to extract prana from him. Also, it requires only a steady stream of prana to have an effect. It is difficult for individuals with low magic resistance to notice it, much less avoid it.
Bellerophon
Rank: A+
Type: Anti-Army
Range: 2~50
Maximum Targets: 300 People
Medusa's most powerful attack. It is not a Noble Phantasm to be used in a one-on-one fight, but rather an "anti-army Noble Phantasm" that can cut down enemies in a wide area. An uncommon type of Noble Phantasm consisting of a paired bridle and whip, it can rapidly augment the abilities of Phantasmal Species. In battle, the strengthened Phantasmal Beast and Medusa fight as one.
Bellerophon is extraordinarily powerful whether used defensively or offensively. However, during the Holy Grail War, it could not display its merit when matched against the more powerful Noble Phantasm wielded by Artoria. Nonetheless, the fact alone that it temporarily withstood a full frontal attack by Excalibur is evidence of its great power.
Blood Fort Andromeda
Rank: B
Type: Anti-Army
Range: 10~40
Maximum Targets: 500 People
One of Medusa's Noble Phantasms, Blood Fort Andromeda is the counterpart Bounded Field thaumaturgy to Breaker Gorgon. It takes the form of magic circles placed as predetermined points. Immediately following the placing of these circles, people within the affected area will only have their life force sapped slightly, but once the field is activated, they will be quickly dissolved. However, it is difficult to affect people with knowledge of thaumaturgy. Thus, it is not a Noble Phantasm to be used for combat, but rather a Bounded Field created by Medusa to efficiently gather blood to drink for prana.
In the Holy Grail War, Blood Fort Andromeda was deployed at Homurahara Academy and activated. From outside the field, the school appeared normal as usual, but the interior was stained with blood, as its name suggests. - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3
[] Fate/side material - Encyclopedia: Bridle of Chivalry [Noble Phantasm], p.057-058 [T] Bridle of Chivalry [Noble Phantasm]
Bellerophon.
An atypical Noble Phantasm. A weapon set consisted of a rein and a whip. Of course, it had no power by itself.
As a Noble Phantasm, it had A+ rank, with abnormally high attack as well as defensive powers.
A Pegasus under the control of Bellerophon would exceed its limits and receive a rank-up in all of its attributes. Furthermore, due to the protection of an immense amount of mana from Bellerophon, the defensive power of the Pegasus would multiply several times.
If Saber's Excalibur was a golden beam, then Rider was the white comet.
Mmm, as an aside, the name of the young man who rode the Pegasus in Greek legend was Bellerophon.騎英の手綱 【宝具】
ベルレフォーン。
宝具の中でも変り種で、手綱と鞭のセット武装。 無論、単体では効果はない。
ランクA+の宝具で、攻守ともに破格の能力を持つ。
ベルレフォーンで操られた天馬はリミッターをカットされ、全ての能力値を1ランクアップし,膨大な魔 力の守りにより防御力を数倍に向上させる。
セイバーのエクスカリバーが黄金のフレアなら、ライダーは白い彗星と言えるだろう。
あ。余談ですが、ギリシャ神話でベカサスを乗りこなした青年の名は、正しくはペルレフォンでーす。