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Magic Crests (魔術刻印, Majutsu Kokuin?)[1] are the most important treasure[2] of a lineage of Magi.

Overview[]

Engraved on the body in a variety of shapes, most typically in a magic circle, a Magic Crest is a series of Magic Circuits that were given a more stable form in order to act as an archive of Thaumaturgical capability.

At some point of the Magus’ life, he will forge some of his own Magic Circuits into the Magic Crest, store many, if not all, Spells that he learned in life and then pass it down to his successor. As the process repeats itself with each new generation, the older a lineage is, the greater the number of Magic Circuits forming the Magic Crest, and the greater the amount of knowledge stored inside it. It is the duty of any heir of a family of Magi to successfully expand and pass down the Magic Crest to the next generation.

As the complexity of the Magic Crest increases with each new generation, the spells stored inside them become more stable and easier to activate. As long as the Magic Crest is completely integrated with the Magus' body, he will be able to cast any spell recorded in the Magic Crest, even if he himself never had the chance to learn it properly.[3] All he has to do is to activate the Magic Crest just like he would do to a normal Magic Circuit (by running Magical Energy inside of it), find the spell stored inside and activate it with its relevant incantation and thaumaturgical process.[4]

Furthermore, it is possible to use it to support the Magus' regular spellcasting and, whenever the Magus gets heavily injured, the Magic Crest is capable of keeping them alive for as long as there is still Magical Energy inside their body.[5][6][7][8][9]

Location of the Magic Crest varies: Rin Tohsaka has hers on her left arm,[10] Kiritsugu Emiya had his on his back,[11] Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi had his on his shoulders[12], and Gray has it on her right hand,[13] while Heine Istari had it on his leg,[14] and Olga Marie's is located on her forehead.[15]

Crest transfer

A Magic Crest transfer being performed.

Although the Magic Crest is a set of Magic Circuits independent from those natural to a Magus’ body, and cannot be detected when no Magical Energy is being passed through them, transplantation of a Magic Crest is still very much like that of an internal organ and thus can only be done to a compatible host.[3][16][17][18][14] Normally that would mean someone who shares blood relation with the Magus, but that is not an unbreakable standard.[16]

Even between close relatives, the chances of rejection are high. Therefore, in order to increase the chances of success, the transplant is done slowly throughout the heir’s childhood, so that their bodies can get accustomed to the presence of the Magic Crest as they mature. Furthermore, the use of medicines made of special herbs and crushed bone is normal during the whole process, although bloodlines with a long history of 500 years or more have achieved a genetic uniformity that allowed them to overcome the need for that altogether.

Despite all the troubles, the Magic Crest is still a highly valued article for any Magus. But since usually only one person can inherit it, troubles can arise when there is more than one candidate. It’s not unheard of for bloody feuds to erupt within a clan of Magi because of a dispute between two or more children fighting over the family’s Magic Crest. It was because of that and other reasons that the current trend of only one heir per family (and the consequential policy of forsaking or excluding all other children) came to be.

In a sense, Runes,[19] magic jewels,[20] and Command Spells[21] can be considered simplified forms of Magic Crests. Grimoires[22] are similar in function to Magic Crests as they store spells and Thaumaturgical Systems from eras past. The Mage's Association also has the capability of extracting just the Magic Crest from the body and storing it, as was done to Waver Velvet.[23]

Magic Crests are only used by Magi who use the style of Magecraft used by the Mage's Association. Other Magecraft styles and organizations have their own counterparts, such as the Philosophy Keys used by the Spiral Manor in China.[24]

It is possible, due to many different factors, that Magic Crests negatively affect their host. Rosalind Istari, after her brother's escape, had the Magic Crest of the Istari family transplanted into her by her presumably impatient father within just a year, and the consequence of such an act was that most of her life force was stolen.[14]

Despite all of the restrictions that come with the transfering of the Magic Crest, Gray is able to have the Blackmore Magic Crest despite not being from the Blackmore bloodline. This is because the Blackmore's Magic Crest has had no Magecraft added to it through the generations. Its only function is to allow the owner to manipulate Add, the Mystic Code passed down through Blackmore Cemetery. The Magic Crest's lack of Magecraft means there is virtually no rejection when it is implanted into someone outside the family.[13]

Creation[]

The first generation of a family's Magic Crest is developed by implanting a fragment of some lost Phantasmal Species or Mystic Code, called a 'Core', into the body. Of course, since you are implanting a completely foreign object into the body, the rejection response is far stronger than what one would see when receiving a Magic Crest from a parent. By suffering through those rejections for generations, the Core will slowly become saturated with the hosts' Magecraft, and thus the Magic Crest would be complete.[25]

However, Magi that use this method to produce Magic Crests are all but extinct in modern times. While there aren't that many from outside previously established families that decide to pursue Magecraft, those that do typically received a Crest Split from a much more historied family. Of course, since it's a transplant from a stranger, the intended function of the Magic Crest - to act as a crystallized Mystery - is all but lost. Even so, it is a method that produces results many generations faster than starting from scratch, and it is much easier to control the development of a Magic Crest made in such a way.[25]

This method does damage the original parent Magic Crest, but with the help of a Tuner (Magi who specialize in healing and improving Magic Crests) such a level of damage can normally be repaired within a few months to a year. In exchange, the source family can expect tremendous loyalty from the recipients, and the family that received the piece of the Magic Crest becomes a branch family of the original. As such, it became common place for families involved in factional struggles to create such branch families, and the original family from which they were derived would come to refer to their Magic Crest as a Source Crest.[25]

There apparently seemed to be some inherent risks and conditions for partitioning a piece of the Magic Crest, as Tokiomi Tohsaka didn't give his daughter Sakura Tohsaka a piece. Whether it was because Tokiomi was a traditionalist, the Tohsaka Magic Crest was too young to be split, his lacking of a trusted Tuner, or both his daughters' inherent talent requiring a full Magic Crest are unknown.

Grand Order[]

For the quests performed by Chaldea, see Grand Order.

Grand Order: Coronal Rank Designation (冠位指定(グランドオーダー), Kan'i Shitei(Gurando Ōdā)?), as it relates to Magic Crests, is the highest law of the Magus chosen to inherit the Magic Crest, where he is forbidden from committing suicide by a severe mental restraint. Since meaningless suicide of a Magus who possesses a Magic Crest would most likely mean his bloodline's loss of claim to Magecraft itself, the inability to commit suicide has been known to be the paramount responsibility of Magi since the inception of Modern Magecraft. In order to kill oneself while carrying a Magic Crest, it is necessary to have an extremely legitimate reason.[26]

Although this is what Magi know as a matter of fact, the true Grand Order is actually a curse originating from Goetia (under the guise of Solomon) that is crucial for his plan to exterminate mankind. During his lifetime, Goetia planted the curse of Grand Orders in the Magic Crests of select Magus bloodlines and designed them so that they would transform the carrier of the Magic Crest into a Demon God after a certain amount of time, completely erasing their original personalities. The prevention of suicide as an ideal was spread to ensure that Goetia's chosen Magus bloodlines survived until the designated time. Using this method, he was able to ensure that his loyal servants would appear in certain intervals over 3,000 years to create Singularities for feeding Ars Almadel Salomonis with energy.[27]

In Clock Tower 2015, Lev Lainur Flauros' third personality, Flauros, kills himself in order to prevent his transformation into the final Demon God Flauros, and his remaining two personalities fight over control of the body until they eventually destroy themselves.[26] As a result, Goetia's 3,000-year-old plan to destroy mankind is foiled.[28]

The term "Grand Order" also appears to be used colloquially by Magi as a way to refer to a self-imposed mission or purpose for existing that motivates all their actions.

Crest Worms[]

Fate-zero-01-21

The Crest Worms implantation process.

Crest Worms (刻印虫, Kokuinchū?) are a unique kind of Magic Crest of the Matou family and the personal Familiars of Zouken Matou. Crest Worms are Magical Energy-eating worms that can channel Magical Energy even when their host is no longer alive.[29]

Anyone implanted with Crest Worms also becomes Zouken’s puppet, physically incapable of defying him. So far the only known example of a Magic Crest that can be passed down to someone outside of the bloodline, forcibly confers to one’s body the capacity to use Magecraft.

Crest Worms are not only capable of expanding one’s natural Magic Circuits, but also capable acting as artificial Magic Circuits after a certain incubation period is complete.[30] Since they usually remain in a dormant state, the Crest Worms don’t have that much direct influence over someone. However, once awakened by the activation of Magic Circuits they will try to force the body to continuously produce Magical Energy in order to sustain themselves. In case the user is unable to create enough Magical Energy, they will either consume their flesh as nutrition, or stimulate the host's libido in the hope of being able to steal Magical Energy from a sexual partner.

Through the use of these and an intensive training, it is possible for someone with no prior experience in Magecraft to become a Magus eligible to participate in the Heaven's Feel in roughly a year, as was the case with Kariya Matou. However, doing so not only greatly shortened his lifespan the process in itself was also incredibly painful.[30]

The Crest Worms implanted in Sakura Matou are unique since they have the fragments of the Holy Grail summoned in the Fourth Holy Grail War as component materials.[31] After an incubation period of ten years, the Crest Worms have spread themselves through the girl’s entire body.

References[]

  1. [v] Lord El-Melloi II Case Files material - Encyclopedia: Magic Crest [Magecraft/Other], p.109

    Magic Crest [Magecraft/Other]
    Passed down through the generations along with a family’s history, the greatest treasure of any magus bloodline.
    Like an additional organ added to the body, it won’t be compatible with anyone from outside the magus’ family. In the world of magecraft, the reason older families have such an overwhelming advantage can be narrowed down to primarily because of the number of magic circuits, and the existence of these Magic Crests. The magecraft engraved within that Crest serves both as a magus’ greatest power, and as a curse binding them until they pass it down to their own descendants.
    At present, El-Melloi II’s Magic Crest is being held by Melvin. Though some people may have witnessed it for the first time in the last episode of the anime, it is truly nothing more than a “square frame.”
    In short, there’s nothing inside of it at all. In exchange for there being no curse tied to it, it contains nothing but what future generations might fill it with. That’s why El-Melloi II is so hell bent on recovering that Magic Crest.
    “It’s the number one piece of collateral that guarantees a magus cannot betray you. Taking that away from them is like taking way all the meaning their lives ever had, after all.”

    魔術刻印【魔術/その他】
    魔術師の家系が歴史とともに伝えてきた、最大の家宝というべき品。
    もうひとつの臓器のようなもので、家系以外の人間には適合しない。魔術世界において、古い家が圧倒的に幅をきかせているのは、魔術回路の数と、この魔術刻印のふたつによるところが大きい。この刻印に刻まれてきた魔術こそは、魔術師にとって最大の力であり、子孫に至るまでの生涯を縛り付ける呪いである。
    現在、エルメロイII世の魔術刻印はメルヴィンが保管している。アニメ最終回で初公開されたのを観た人もいるだろうが、これは見事に「四角の枠」でしかない。
    つまり、中身にまだ何も詰め込まれていないのだ。呪いができあがってもいない代わりに、この中身を今後本人や子孫が埋めていくしかない。だからこそ、エルメロイII世は石にかじりついてでも、この魔術刻印を取り戻さねばならないのだった。
    「魔術師を裏切らせないという意味では、最高の担保だよ。最初から生きがいを奪っておくようなものなんだから」

  2. [v] Fate/side material - Encyclopedia: Thaumaturgy Crest [Magecraft], p.073-074 [T]

    Thaumaturgy Crest [Magecraft]
    An inheritance passed down within magi families.
    The mysteries that a magus has spent his entire life establishing (stabilizing) are turned into a crest and left to his descendants.
    It's no exaggeration to say that the crest is engraved with the history of the entire bloodline, and that the magus who inherits it is burdened not only with his family's regrets, but is duty bound to pass it on to a successor as well.
    In a way, you could call it a curse passed down through the generations.

    魔術刻印【魔術】
    魔術師の家係が持つ遺産。
    生涯を以って鍛え上げ、固定化(安定化)した神秘を刻印にし、子孫に遺したもの。
    その血統の歴史全てが刻まれているといっても過言ではなく、魔術刻印を継承した魔術師は一族の無念を背負って、次の後継者に刻印を譲り渡さねばならない。
    ある意味、代を重ねて重みを増していく呪いと言える。

  3. 3.0 3.1 Fate/stay night - Fate route - Day 7: Sword & Magic (I) - Lectures on magic by Tohsaka-Sensei. What a Magic Crest is.
  4. Fate/stay night - Unlimited Blade Works route - Day 5: Bonnie And Clyde - Tohsaka Rin (III)
  5. Fate/stay night - Heaven's Feel route - Day 16: FINAL - To Angra Manyu
  6. Fate/Apocrypha Volume 3: Triumphal Return of the Saint - Chapter 3
  7. Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Volume 1: case. Adra Castle Separation - Chapter 4 Part 1
  8. Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Volume 4: case. Mystic Eyes collection train (Upper) - Chapter 4 Part 2
  9. Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Olympus: Interstellar Mountain City - Section 25: That Is, Someone That Doesn't Possess a Birthplace
  10. Fate/stay night Prologue - Day 3
  11. Fate/Zero Volume 2: The Mad Feast of Kings - Act 6 Part 4 -130:45:08
  12. Fate/Zero Volume 2: The Mad Feast of Kings - Act 7 Part 3 -130:32:31
  13. 13.0 13.1 Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Volume 7: case. Atlas Contract (Lower) - Chapter 2 Part 3
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Volume 1: case. Adra Castle Separation - Chapter 2 Part 3
  15. Lord El-Melloi II Case Files: Grace Note - Rail Zeppelin 3/6: A Sibyl, Decision, and Child of Einnashe
  16. 16.0 16.1 Fate/stay night Réalta Nua - Unlimited Blade Works route - Day 15: After image - Memories in the Ocean
  17. Fate/Apocrypha Volume 3: Triumphal Return of the Saint - Chapter 2
  18. Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Volume 1: case. Adra Castle Separation - Chapter 1 Part 2
  19. Kara no Kyoukai - 4/The Hollow Shrine - /5
  20. Fate/stay night - Unlimited Blade Works route - Day 7: Ghostwaltz - "Tohsaka Rin (IV)"
  21. Fate/Zero Volume 3: The Scattered Ones - Act 12 Part 4 -58:16:21
  22. Mahoutsukai no Yoru - Chapter 12: "Witch on the Holy Night II"
  23. Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Volume 2: case. Twin Towers of Iselma (Upper) - Prologue
  24. The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 2: The Devil of the Wandering Sea (Upper) - Chapter 2
  25. 25.0 25.1 25.2 Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Volume 2: case. Twin Towers of Iselma (Upper) - Chapter 3 Part 2 (Translated by TwilightsCall)
  26. 26.0 26.1 Clock Tower 2015 - 05 Winter - The Death of a Certain Magus
  27. Fate/Grand Order - Salomon: The Grand Time Temple - Section 1: Sector of Beasts
  28. The Bamboo Broom Diary, August 14th, 2015

    "Clock Tower 2015 is in the world of Tsukihime and Mahou Tsukai no Yoru. In that world, a certain someone XX in order to protect the present, and so the events of FGO don't happen. No one knew about his achievements but he protected both the past and the future."

  29. Fate/stay night - Heaven's Feel route - Day 7: dialogue lost loop - War balance randomizer
  30. 30.0 30.1 Fate/Zero Volume 1: The Untold Story of the Fourth Holy Grail War - Act 1 Part 4 -271:33:52
  31. Fate/stay night - Heaven's Feel route - Day 13: LAST TALK - Confrontation with Zouken
Concepts
Bounded FieldConceptual WeaponMagic (Second MagicThird MagicFifth Magic) • Magical Spells (AstromancyGradation AirFlash AirTuning) • Marble PhantasmMystic CodeMystic Eyes (Mystic Eyes of Death Perception) • PsychicReality Marble
Creatures
BicornCentaurDaemonDead ApostleDemonDemon BoarDivine SpiritDollDragonD'yavol TronFairyFamiliarGazerGiantGolemHomunculusHumanHydraLamiaMagicianMagusMixed-BloodOniOuter GodPhantasmal SpeciesSoul EaterSphinxSpiritsVampireUltimate OneTenguTrue AncestorWitchWizardXianYaga
Holy Grail War
Anti-HeroCatalystCommand SpellBlackeningGreater Holy Grail of FuyukiLesser Holy Grail of FuyukiHeroic SpiritHoly GrailIncarnationMasterMirror WorldOverseerNoble PhantasmParameter RulesSaint GraphServant (Class CardDemi-ServantGrand ServantHigh-ServantPseudo-ServantServant Universe) • Servant classesSkill
Organizations
Holy Church (Burial Agency (Remake)) • Chaldea Security OrganizationDemon Hunter OrganizationMage's Association (Clock TowerAtlasWandering Sea) • Spiral ManorSummit CourtThe Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors (Remake)
Terms
AdvantageAkashaAuthorityAnti-Purge DefenseCounter ForceIncantationsImmortalityElementsWorldWorld of MagecraftMagic CircuitMagical EnergyMagic CrestMagical WorkshopMysterySoulSpiritronStarlogResurrectionTextureTime TravelTradition ProtectionParallel WorldQuantum Time-LockUnderworld
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