It is described as the ultimate Noble Phantasm of Rider, a "super Noble Phantasm" as described by Tokiomi Tohsaka with the same rank EX-rank as Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon.[4][5] The trump card of the King of Conquerors, it summons a Reality Marble that embodies Alexander the Great's dreams and philosophies as a king and the bond formed with his subjects, his life sublimated as a Noble Phantasm.[6] Like how Saber'sExcalibur can be called the physical actualization of her ideals as a king, Ionioi Hetairoi is the actualization of Alexander's commanding abilities and his kingship. It is an irregular Reality Marble compared to those used by others. Normally, only a magus or something beyond normal reality like Daemons are capable of materializing the environment inside their minds, and as Alexander is neither, reproducing it alone is impossible for him. It comes about through the combined efforts of his personal guard who all shared his dreams and pledged allegiance to him after many victories and defeats, even after death and becoming Heroic Spirits on their own as well. They and their king recreate the land in which they once marched and shared many joys and sorrows, as it is imprinted upon the heart of each soldier, allowing them to bring about a sand-filled expanse roaring with hot and dry desert winds under the scorching sun and cloudless, clear skies without anything to obscure the everlasting horizon. This Noble Phantasm drags the enemies into a terrain that has no obstacles on the desert battlefield. It also maximizes the Charisma of the King of Conquerors Iskandar.[2]
Once fully materialized, the heavily armed cavalry of soldiers slowly appears as mirage-like images and completely manifests as a diverse fighting force with the fierceness of a true army. The entire fighting force is fully composed of a peerless array of famed and legendary warriors only heard reverently in legends, all of whom personally fought with Alexander on the battlefield. They swept across continents during life, and no matter what they faced, enemy or fortress, it was powerless before them. As a leader who only desired to become stronger and more magnificent, live more fully, and become a man more real than any other, he inspired them enough to leave upon them an impression of never-ending loyalty that not even death can conquer. They are able to break the rules of space and time to fight once more at the side of their king, and like him, they wager everything that they are on the king's dream. They are his greatest treasure within treasures that make up his right to rule, and more than mere followers and soldiers, they are his true friends. They display the violence that reveals Alexander's method of tyrannical kingship without restraint, and he only takes pride in it. Their thunderous cries and their spirit could split oceans, and even someone as proud and haughty as Gilgamesh is left silent upon seeing such a radiant army.[5] He can also choose where to deposit them after releasing it, though only within one hundred meters.
The members that make up his army include the Lord of War, the Maharaorajah, the founders of many dynasties, and even his horse, the legendary charger Bucephalus. The Fate/Zero Drama CD introduced an illustration with a number of unique designs that were also given specific details upon Ionioi Hetairoi's deployment in the anime adaptation. Known names for members of the Hetairoi are Hephaestion, Ptolemy, Eumenes, and Mithrenes. It is unknown if someone like Waver Velvet, who pledged his eternal allegiance to Alexander during the Fourth Holy Grail War, will join its ranks after his death, or if it is limited only to those who pledged their allegiance during Alexander's lifetime.[7] The nature of the Reality Marble is not something like simply summoning the soldiers as familiars, but rather the EX Rank of the ability comes from the fact that it is the consecutive summoning of multiple independent Servants.
They are all Master-less Servants, but they each have the Rank E- equivalent of the "Independent Action" Skill, meaning that they cannot leave the Reality Marble under normal circumstances and can only remain materialized for "thirty turns." They lack Skills and Class designations due to being summoned through Rider's ability, making it unnecessary to assign them anything based on the rules of the Holy Grail War, and, due to the limit of Rider's abilities, their Noble Phantasms cannot be materialized. There are also some Heroic Spirits that are stronger than the summoner himself, as while his deeds were great, it is not a testament of his personal martial prowess. Aside from the several people who are stronger than Rider himself, there are also those summoned that has greater military power than Rider and there are those who has Charisma equivalent to Rank B for being the kings of their own countries. They come to Rider's aid regardless because during his lifetime, Iskandar is not a hero who made particular deeds of arms as an individual, but is a hero who fought by commanding armies.[2] The army numbers in the tens of thousands, allowing them to easily overwhelm the less than one hundred Assassins without the bulk of them having to act.[8]
The generated land is Alexander's preferred battlefield due to the wide plains allowing him to best display his numerical superiority and his preference of facing enemies directly. He generally leads the army at the front of the vanguard while atop Bucephalus, but he can also freely use Gordius Wheel within the confines of the Reality Marble if he wishes. Their battlefield, sublimed into eternity, can be actualized anywhere, and if he were to again set forth in tyranny, all of his servants would hasten to him no matter his location. He believes that equipped with weapons from the Gate of Babylon, it would become the most powerful army capable of easily conquering the modern world. Tens of thousands of soldiers paired up with unlimited Noble Phantasms would produce a most ideal result.[8] It's a powerful Noble Phantasm that even Excalibur would not have guaranteed victory against.[9] Rider is prepared to face any threat that may come against them, whether it is an Anti-Unit attack directed at destroying only him at the head of the army, or something large like an Anti-Army or Anti-Fortress attack, and overcome it so that they can easily trample the enemy before they can launch the next attack. He can freely organize the positions of those that enter Ionioi Hetairoi, grouping them to keep allies safe and align enemies directly before his army.[5] He can also choose where to deposit them after releasing it, though only within one hundred meters.
It takes a great deal of energy to maintain it, and like most Reality Marbles, it can only be utilized for a few minutes at a time. Both the activation cost and the summoning of the Servants are taxing, but he claims that it wouldn't cost as much if most of the army isn't brought out. Due to Waver Velvet being unable to provide enough mana for its maintenance, he has to rely on his own reserves. Using it two nights in a row brings him to the point where he is forced to take spiritual form to conserve as much energy as possible, and even after receiving boosts in energy from three Command Spells, he still can only use it one more time. Once activated, it is maintained by the collective magical energy of the entire army, which means that it will not remain stable if a large portion of the army is destroyed in a single attack.
Iskandar's Shadow[]
While normally rejecting the army in its entirety, the experiences Iskandar's Shadow gains through her summoning under the Faker class - where she manifested Ionioi Hetairoi after being transformed into Divine Spirit Iskandar[10] - which she remembers due to Mnemosyne's ability to keep those memories between summonings, this gives her inspiration to manifest the Noble Phantasm via her For He Is Another Iskandar (Fake)Skill and the ability of the Pretenderclass to disguise her True Name and class as Iskandar.
The total time it can be manifested is only a few minutes, and only a fraction of the full army is manifested, being comprised of just foot soldiers willing to obey her, and they all have contribute to help maintain the bounded field. Notable figures such as Hephaestion, Eumenes, and Ptolemy cannot be found within the army, but she does summon Iskandar himself. As she is forcibly manifesting it, it burns out her Saint Graph.[11]
Summoning[]
The Heroic Spirits of Ionioi Hetairoi are called to the aid of Iskandar, granted fundamental knowledge needed for existing by the world itself, are then given a chance to accept or reject the summoning, and manifest as Servants upon accepting. In the case of Iskandar's Shadow, the knowledge gained of the Wars of the DiadochiWP causes her to reject the summoning.
It is within the boundaries of ordinary space to summon a single soldier into the normal world without them being crushed by its corrective impulses. This allows Iskandar to summon Bucephalus without needing to deploy the Reality Marble, and if he needs to communicate with the outside after it has been deployed, he can send a single soldier, such as Mithrenes, outside of it briefly to receive and relay messages.
Class: Rider
Master: Waver Velvet
True Name: Alexander
Gender: Male
Height/Weight: 212cm/130kg
Alignment: Neutral good
Strength: B
Endurance: A
Agility: D
Mana: C
Luck: A+
Noble Phantasm: A++
Class Skills
■ Magic Resistance: D
Cancel Single-Action spells. Magic Resistance of the same degree of an amulet that rejects magical energy.
■ Riding: A+
The skill of riding animals and vehicles. Creatures on the level of Phantasmal Beast and Divine Beast can be used as mounts. However, that does not apply to members of the Dragon Kind.
Personal Skills
■ Charisma: A
Natural talent to command an army. Can be said to have achieved the greatest popularity as a human being
■ Military Tactics: B
Tactical knowledge used not for one-on-one combat situations, but for battles where many are mobilized. Bonus modifiers are provided during use of one's own Anti-Army Noble Phantasm or when dealing against an enemy Anti-Army Noble Phantasm.
■ Divinity: C
Despite the absence of clear evidence, according to many stories it is said he is the son of Zeus, the greatest of gods.
Noble Phantasm
■ Via Expungito: Distant Trampling Domination
Rank: A+
Type: Anti-Army Noble Phantasm
Range: 2~50
Maximum number of targets: 100 persons
The trampling attack performed with Noble Phantasm "Gordius Wheel." The damage is decided twice, first by the hooves, then the wheels of the chariot. Along with all physical damage, there is also the effects of lightnings, the manifestation of Zeus. Should the target fail its STR check, additional damage will be dealt.
■ Ionioi Hetairoi: Army of the King
Rank: EX
Type: Anti Army Noble Phantasm
Range: 1~99
Maximum number of targets: 1000 people
Having sworn loyalty to Alexander even after their deaths, his personal guards who had turned into spirits, manifest into Servants together with the ruler. The summoned ones are Servants without Masters, however each have the rank E- equivalent of the "Independent Action" skill, allowing materialization possible for a maximum of 30 turns.
CLASS ライダー
マスター：ウエイバー・ベルベット
真名：キルガミッシュ
性別：男性
身長・体重：２１２ｃｍ／１３０ｋｇ
属性：中立・善
Iskandar, King of Conquerors [Servant]
Saber's rival in the Fourth Holy Grail War.
He possesses a Noble Phantasm that rivals that of the King of Heroes.
In the fourth war, he was weakened from fighting Saber, then subsequently defeated during a battle with Gilgamesh.
TMF: Is Waver, who swore fealty to Alexander, going to rejoin Ionian Hetairoi after his death? Or is it only people who followed Alexander while he was still living who can rejoin him?
U: It’s an important question to ask, given it makes Waver immortal. And as it wasn’t directly addressed in the story, I can’t say here. [laughs]
TMF : Est-ce que Waver, qui a juré fidélité à Alexandre, va rejoindre Ionioi Hetaroi après sa mort ? Ou est-ce que ce sont seulement les personnes qui ont suivi Alexandre lorsqu’il était encore vivant qui peuvent le rejoindre ?
U : C’est une question importante à poser, par rapport à l’immortalité de Waver. Et comme ça n’a pas été directement dit dans l’histoire, je ne peux pas en parler. [rires]
Narita: Here it is, the deployment of the King's Army at the midpoint of the War! Using an army of tens of thousands to crush less than a hundred Assassins is too much of an over-kill (laughs).
Haganeya: There were way too many people. It was great that so many showed up, but most of them went home without doing anything (laughs).
Nasu: The scary part is, some heroes in this army were stronger than the summoner Rider himself. Although Rider's deeds were great, it was not a testament of his personal martial prowess.
Sanda: So do they have basic Skills and Noble Phantasm as Servants?
Nasu: No, since they were summoned via Rider's skill, it was not necessary to assign them Class based on the rules of the Holy Grail War. However, since there is a limit to Rider's abilities, their Noble Phantasms could not be materialized. If Iskander's army of tens of thousands could pair up with Gilgamesh, who had unlimited Noble Phantasms, the result would be most ideal.
