- "Dorothea" redirects here. For the character from Fate/Samurai Remnant, see Dorothea Coyett.
Jester Karture (ジェスター・カルトゥーレ, Jesutā Karutūre?) is the "False" Master of False Assassin in the True and False Holy Grail Wars of Fate/strange Fake.
Profile[]
Background[]
Known originally as Dorothea (ドロテア, Dorotea?),[1] Jester is a Dead Apostle known as the Six Hearted Revolver (六連男装, Rokuren Dansō?) who has taken interest in the Holy Grail to grant his wish. As it is his first time participating in such a battle, he researched the nature of the ritual thoroughly, and plans to summon a Servant of the Assassin class. He brought ten disciples with him to Snowfield, all of whom are loyal to the point where they will face certain death to avenge their supposedly dead master. They don't appear to know of his true nature because they are shocked at his supposed demise.[2] His original form is that of a small girl,[3] and his lineage as a Vampire originates from Van-Fem.[4]
Appearance[]
As Jester's signature technique is his ability to change between different bodies, his physical appearance, including characteristics as significant as his species and sex, depends entirely on which body he is currently using. Regardless of the body, he always has a bright red mark on his chest resembling the cylinder of a revolver, which he can physically interact with to change bodies. The process of changing bodies causes Jester's flesh to become amorphous for several seconds as it rearranges itself into a different form.
The three male humanlike bodies he possesses somewhat resemble one another, all being slim and having white hair with dull grey eyes. His child form in particular bears a very close likeness to his young adult form. The elderly magus body, in contrast, has a gaunt face with a sharp, pronounced nose, and lacks the telltale fangs of a Vampire that he clearly displays as a young man and a child, allowing him to pass for human. After being reconstituted following its apparent destruction by Hansa Cervantes, Jester's young man body is left covered in scars.
His original female body is noted as being "small", and when using one of his two non-humanlike bodies, he can take the form of a werewolf with red fur or a steel golem.
Jester's Command Spells, unusually, are located on his left hip rather than on the back of his hand.
Personality[]
« Since we are both heretics in this country, let’s be friends! Ha….Ahahahahahahahahahahaha! » |
(Jester Karture) |
Jester is bored with the nature of the world, so he participates with the hope of waking the spider from its slumber with the power of the Holy Grail and to die with the rest of the world.[2] While not according to his original plans, the mishap with Assassin revives a part of humanity he thought he had lost: "excitement." He gains knowledge from their connection, allowing him to grasp Assassin's convictions. He describes her with a variety of praises like lovely, trim, and perfect, but then decides that he does not have the appropriate adjective to characterize her.[2]
He becomes enthralled with this new prospect, the ability to bestow upon her a name by tainting, molesting, demeaning, dominating, and befouling her beauty, soul, strength, and faith all for his own pleasure. His only goal is to make her submit, so that he can savor the expression she makes while he crushes her faith and drains her strength. The Holy Grail and end of the world may be beautiful, but they are worthless dust compared to her despair.[2]
Van-Fem once considered Jester a "fellow affirmer of humanity" admirable for his view of humans as "worthy enough to plan a murder-suicide with" despite his decadent and destructive nature, but upon learning of his obsession with a Heroic Spirit, he completely severed ties with him. If Jester had become obsessed with his Servant without making a claim to "deny human history", he would not have cared, but since Jester changes his very way of being based on who he's dealing with, Van-Fem considers him an "unnecessary bug in the world".[1]
Jester strongly dislikes being referred to by his birth name, Dorothea, and reacts with shock and anger when addressed as such. This was taken advantage of as a weakness by Flat Escardos and Hansa Cervantes during their battle against him within the dream world created by Doomsday Come.[1] He seems to prefer using a male body and being perceived as a man, since all of his bodies save for his original one are male. In particular, his “primary” body is that of the young man, with him defaulting to using it outside of circumstances where a different body is more practically useful.
Role[]
Fate/strange Fake[]
Day 0[]
Jester gathers his disciples in the basement of a large villa in the Lake Region of Snowfield. He has prepared a Bounded Field to make ordinary people not "pay attention" even if they find it to be off in some way. As his disciples finish the Summoning Ritual, he prepares to answer the question asked by the Servant to complete their contract, but his plans go awry upon the Grail summoning a heretic Assassin. She is different than his expectations, and gives him a sense of unease. While she does ask the expected question, his answer immediately get him killed with Zabaniya: Delusional Heartbeat due to her unwillingness to participate in such an insult to her faith.[2]
After he falls to the floor, his disciples attempt to avenge him, but they are all quickly slain. After Assassin leaves, planning to use any remaining Magical Energy into destroying the ritual, he begins to revive a few minutes later. With laughter like that of a child’s tinged with a hint of twistedness, it originates from pure joy at the depth of his heart. Having found a purpose in destroying Assassin's faith, he changes his form, devours the corpses of his disciples, and feels no remorse for reducing them to bones. He begins thinking of Assassin's despair, and his dead eyes shimmer with life while reaching a frenzy imagining the taste of a Servant’s blood. Without even a formal contract between the two, they begin the Holy Grail War.[2]
Day 1[]
When Assassin fights Clan Calatin force, lead by Orlando Reeve, in the police headquarters Jester reveals himself and Assassin finally realizes he's still alive. Jester used one of his Command Spells to teleport her away. Assassin was forced to be sent to the woods. Jester then engages Clan Calatin himself. The Noble Phantasms used by Clan Calatin, however, are unable to even damage him, while Jester is easily able to attack the officers. Before he can start killing them, Jester is interrupted by Hansa Cervantes, the Overseer sent by the Church, who throws coffee on Jester. Annoyed by Hansa, Jester throws an entire sofa at him, which Hansa surprisingly kicks away without much effort. Hansa then blows Jester into the wall with a single attack.[5]
Jester though emerges relatively unscathed but impressed by Hansa's physical abilities. They then proceed to fight, both being able to match each other in speed and strength. Their battle eventually moves to the streets, with Jester resorting to his Magecraft and Hansa revealing his cybernetic enhancements. Being amazed by Hansa's abilities, Jester even speculates that he could be a part of the Burial Agency, the elite members of the Church. Hansa, however, is greatly angered by Jester's statement, taking it as an insult towards himself and the Burial Agency, who are far stronger than he could ever be. This causes Hansa to get serious and use a rocket to blow Jester apart. This causes Jester to lose one of his hearts, but allows him to take the form of a young child, allowing him to escape the scene.[6]
Jester, in his child form, later finds Tsubaki Kuruoka, the young comatose girl who is the Master of False Rider and is currently in a hospital due to her state. Rider has created a dream world for her, where Rider also brings people and animals he has infected. Jester enters this dream world and manages to befriend Tsubaki, earning the approval of the silent Rider. Jester wishes to use Tsubaki to torment Assassin for his own pleasure.[7]
Day 2[]
When True Archer and Clan Calatin arrive to the hospital, Archer wanting to kill Tsubaki and Clan Calatin wanting to secure her, Jester protects Tsubaki from an attack of Archer. He also watches the battle between True Archer and False Berserker and the appearance of False Archer, as well as False Assassin who is accompanied by Saber and Sigma, much to Jester's dismay.[8]
He observes False Assassin and Sigma's talk where he agrees to help her rescue Tsubaki despite his misgivings. When the pair enter the hospital, he hurls several knives at Sigma, but False Assassin pulls him out of the way. Jester reveals himself and says that if Sigma had abandoned False Assassin, he would have simply killed him, but now, he cannot tolerate them being so close, and delivers a graphic description of what he plans to do to Sigma. Believing the two are an item, he says he can't wait to see the look of anguish on False Assassin's face once he makes Sigma suffer. In response, she attacks him with a Zabaniya.[9]
Her Zabaniya summons creatures called jinnīya which take many shapes and sizes like massive beasts, great serpents, beautiful women, and giants to attack Jester. They tear Jester apart several times, but he simply regenerates. Jester says if they joined forces, his magical energy will allow her to control even more powerful jinnīya. She is insulted and says she doesn't control them and he is a monster who insults her order's teachings. Jester demands she call him by his name. Sigma interrupts by shooting Jester in the face, but he regenerates and yells at him for interfering. Sigma suddenly recites several facts about Jester. Unnerved, Jester demands to know how he learned this, but he doesn't answer. Jester moves to attack him, but they are distracted when they sense True Archer's power and then they hear an unnerving roar. Alarmed, Jester says if this keeps up, everything will be destroyed. Jester then grins and says he'll move them to a new stage. Sigma and False Assassin are shocked when a wave of blackness washes through the hospital and then the street. When it passes, Jester and all the other combatants have vanished, to the shock of those observing.[10]
Day 3[]
Inside Tsubaki's dream world, Jester watches at a distance as Sigma and False Assassin wake up and meet Tsubaki, her parents, and False Rider. He gloats that he can't wait to see False Assassin's reaction when she learns the only way to escape the dream world is to kill Tsubaki, an innocent child.[11] He then gloats that False Assassin will soon learn that everyone else is an enemy and that he is her only true ally.[12]
Abilities[]
Jester's nature as a Dead Apostle allows him to provide enough energy for Assassin to repeatedly use her Noble Phantasms when a normal magus would have been drained. The reason he is able to survive having his heart crushed is due to his unique body. Differing from the Command Spells on his hip, he has tattoos laden with a sense of magic in a shape much like the cylinder of a revolver, six red crests arranged in a circular pattern, upon his chest. Each contains a Conceptual Core as a Magus (魔術師としての概念核, Majutsushi to Shite no Gainenkaku?) in the form of a heart that contains a "soul as a magus." They are shielded by several layers of magical defense, and he can revive easily even if one is destroyed. While the state of the destroyed body is definitely that of a corpse, he can move it around like a Puppet. Despite how a body can seem damaged he is still able to return to it as shown when he changes back to the same body he fought Hansa with when trying to protect her against True Archer, however he still had scars from the fight on that body.[2]
The active core is placed upon his left thorax, and it will turn black if it is destroyed. He can switch it by inserting his hand into the crest, making it sink into himself rather than tearing through skin, and he stirs his insides nosily like the cylinder of a revolver. The black crest is moved to his left abdomen, and a new red crest takes its place on his left thorax. Changing it also allows him to change his appearances by morphing his shape, and using up all the faces will return him to his original form.[2] He changes bodies by wearing his cores on his original body like Mystic Codes, a method that also allows him to make the body doubles which all Dead Apostles can create think and act independently from himself, making them more effective decoys. When using such a proxy body, Jester uses a type of “jamming” to hide the nature of the double.[1]
Forms include:
- Magus: The abilities of his magus form are unknown due to being killed shortly after its introduction.
- Young Man: The form possesses the strength of a Dead Apostle, displaying power over wind and flame. Due to being a Dead Apostle, his physical abilities far surpass average humans. Due to conceptual advantage, the Noble Phantasms of Clan Calatin are ineffective. The Noble Phantasms of a Servant would not be nullified.[5]
- Child: The form is that of a ten year old boy without any special abilities. It is undetectable, and it doesn't possess the weaknesses of Dead Apostles.[6]
- Werewolf: The form is that of a red werewolf with physical capabilities exceeding other forms.[13]
- Golem: A golem with a steel body. It is implanted with a self-destruction spell that can create an explosion as cover for Jester to escape from a dangerous situation.[14]
Jester has control over his shadow, turning it into an elongated red extension of the same color as the tattoo, and it can entangle targets, separate from the floor, swallow them in a red tide, reduce bodies into mere skeletons in just seconds, and return to him brighter than it was before.
Jester's overall Magical Power reserves as a Dead Apostle were also shown to be incredibly vast. As seen where he could easily provide vast amounts of Power to allow False Assassin to use her Noble Phantasm consecutively and repeatedly without issue and still retain use of his own abilities. Jester himself admitted that he could easily provide enough power for his Assassin and at least three other servants of her power to use their Noble Phantasm's repeatedly with no issue.
During his battle with Hansa Cervantes, Hansa mentions that Jester's Curse of Restoration is unusual compared to the other vampires he has fought.[6] As Van-Fem is the source of Jester’s Dead Apostle lineage, being abandoned by him caused his vampiric powers to degrade.[4]
Development[]
Creation and Conception[]
Narita originally thought the idea behind the character was excessive, but Nasu encouraged the idea and thought of the nickname. They then both decided on making his true form that of a small girl because Nasu thought that he "couldn’t see Assassin giving up the Grail to any man, given how super-tough she is.”[3]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Fate/strange Fake Volume 6 - Chapter 20: "Fantasy Becomes Reality"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Fate/strange Fake Volume 1 - Prologue III: "Assassin"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Fate/strange Fake Original Novel - Extra: “Nasu, the Editor-in-Chief”
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fate/strange Fake Volume 7 - Chapter 23: The Age of Gods and the Modern Age <Daybreak>
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Fate/strange Fake Volume 2 - Chapter 3: Day 1, Early Dawn "Ensemble Versus Illusion"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Fate/strange Fake Volume 2 - Chapter 4: Day 1, Before Dawn "A Battle Without Heroic Spirits"
- ↑ Fate/strange Fake Volume 3 - Chapter 9: Day 1, Evening "A Horse Yet Pale: Mud Yet Firm"
- ↑ Fate/strange Fake Volume 4 - Chapter 13: Day 2, Night "At Last, a Second, and a Third"
- ↑ Fate/strange Fake Volume 5 - Interlude: "Mercenary, Assassin, Vampire I"
- ↑ Fate/strange Fake Volume 5 - Interlude: "Mercenary, Assassin, Vampire II"
- ↑ Fate/strange Fake Volume 5 - Interlude: "Mercenary, Assassin, ________"
- ↑ Fate/strange Fake Volume 6 - Bridge: "Canon of the Demigods, Act 2"
- ↑ Fate/strange Fake Volume 6 - Interlude: "A Mercenary is a Free Man II"
- ↑ Fate/strange Fake Volume 7 - Interlude: Audition
Vampires |
---|
Dead Apostles |
Ciel (Remake) • Curry de Marche • Jester Karture • Lord Rozay-en • Maiko Yamase • Noel • Odd Borzak • Satsuki Yumizuka • Shiki Tohno (Remake) • SHIKI Tohno (Remake) • Sion Eltnam Atlasia • Shirley • Tarantella • Third Crusade Dead Apostle • Zepia Eltnam Atlasia |
The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors (Remake) |
Primate Murder • The Dark Six • Brunestud of the Crimson Moon • Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg • ORT (Lostbelt • Xibalba) • Rizo-Waal Strout • Einnashe • Forest of Einnashe (Remake) • Fina-blood Svelten • Altrouge Brunestud • Nrvnqsr Chaos (Remake) • Louvre • Stanrobe Calhin • TATARI • Dust of Osiris • Van-Fem • Rita Rozay-en • Gransurg Blackmore (Remake) • Trhvmn Ortenrosse • Enhance • Zaria Offenbaum • Vlov Arkhangel • Merem Solomon • Sumire • Chromclay Petastructure • El Nahat • Be'ze • Caubac Alcatraz Michael Roa Valdamjong (Remake) |
True Ancestors |
Altrouge Brunestud • Arcueid Brunestud (Red Arcueid • Berserker • Remake (Eco-Arc • Archetype: Earth)) |
Lamyros |
Wolfgang Faustus |
Others |
Akiha Tohno (Remake) • Hinako Akuta • Baobhan Sith • Carmilla • Child of Einnashe • Euryale • Medusa • Sion Eltnam Sokaris • Stheno • Vlad III (EXTRA • Apocrypha • Berserker) |