The Holy Grail of the Fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War
The Lesser Holy Grail of Fuyuki (冬木の小聖杯?) is a magical construct designed to enable the descent of the Greater Holy Grail of Fuyuki in the Fuyuki Holy Grail War. The Lesser Grail is kept within the Holy Grail Vessel (聖杯の器?), an inanimate object or living being designed to intake the defeated Servants.
History[]
World of Fate/stay night[]
Up until the third Grail War, the vessel for the Grail was a literal "cup". However, during the events of the third War, it was damaged in battle and the ceremony was interrupted; for that reason, it had to be made as something that could manage and protect itself.[1]
During the Fourth War, Irisviel von Einzbern was a homunculus forged by the Einzbern family to be the physical embodiment of the Lesser Grail. Her deteriorating condition as her consciousness was supplanted by the Grail was mitigated by implanting Avalon into her body until the final days of the war. When she was murdered by Kotomine Kirei, the Grail took on her persona.
During the fifth War, the Lesser Grail was made as the heart of Illyasviel von Einzbern, a special homunculus made with concentrated alchemy, with Irisviel as her mother and Kiritsugu Emiya as her father. The Grail hidden in Illya was even more refined than the one in Irisviel, proof that Illya was expected to be the Einzbern's trump card.
At the end of the Fourth War, Zouken Matou acquired the fragments of the destroyed Grail. He synthesized it with his Crest worms, which he put inside the body of Sakura Matou. Though she was incomplete, this turned her into a second Lesser Grail.[2]
In the Unlimited Blade Works Route, Gilgamesh kills Illyasviel and removes her core, which he implants into Shinji. This turns Shinji into an incomplete lesser grail.
World of Fate/kaleid[]
In the World of Fate/kaleid, the Fourth War never happened as Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel von Einzbern destroyed the Einzberns. However their daughter Illyasviel von Einzbern/Chloe von Einzbern still possesses the unnaturally high magical output as a Lesser Grail.
World of Fate/Apocrypha[]
Characteristics[]
List of Lesser Grails[]
- Irisviel von Einzbern - Fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War
- Illyasviel von Einzbern - Fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail War
- Sakura Matou - Fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail War
- Illyasviel von Einzbern/Kuro - Fuyuki Holy Grail War (Fate/kaleid)
References[]
- ↑
[] Fate/Zero material - Encyclopedia: Vessel of the Holy Grail [Other], p.098 Vessel of the Holy Grail [Other]
The substitute prepared to facilitate the descent of the Holy Grail. In the first three Grail Wars it was merely an object, but in the fourth war the Einzberns sought to gain an advantage in the struggle for possession of the vessel by implanting it with a will of its own and a sense of identification with the Einzbern family.
Although Irisviel's homunculus body is unmistakably organic, the inorganic Holy Grail was broken down and fused with her organs.
While it's certainly true that making the vessel required to win the war a member of their own faction is a reprehensible act of cheating, technically their only obligation is to "deliver a vessel to Fuyuki", which they did. Besides, it's a war. Is there really that big of a difference between stealing somebody's possessions and killing them then taking the body?聖杯の器【その他】
四度目に用意された聖杯降臨のための憑代となる器は、それそのものに自衛のための自我とアインツベルン家への帰属意識を植え付はて、器の争奪戦を優位に運ぼうという発想のもとに作られた。
ホムンクルスとしての肉体は行機物に違いないが、その内臓に無機物の聖杯が分解された状態で血合しているのがアイリスフィールである。
その所有権が勝判条件のひとつとなる器を、勝手に自分たちの戦力となる駒として改造してしまったわけだから、卑怯極まるチート行為ではあるのだが、そもそもアインツベルンの義務は「器の役目を果たすものを冬木に持ち込む」ことだけなので、これはぺつたん白眼視されるはどの逸脱ではない。所持品を奪うか、殺して死体を持ち去るかの違いは、聖杯戦争において大した落差ではないのである。 - ↑
[] Fate/complete material III: World material - Record of Heavens Feel - Holy Grail War: History of the Lesser Grail, p.009 History of the Lesser Grail
• Fourth Holy Grail War
• Fifth Holy Grail War
• Matou Sakura
In the final events of the Fourth Holy Grail War, Zolgen (Matou Zouken) acquired the fragments of the destroyed Grail. He combined the fragments with his Crest worms, which he put inside Sakura's body. Though she was incomplete, this turned her into a second Lesser Grail.歴代の小聖杯