Master

Master (マスター, Masutā^?) is a designation given to an individual, usually a Magus, who has become one of the formal participants of the Holy Grail War by obtaining Command Spells and forming a contract with a Servant.

Characteristics

Under ordinary circumstances, a Master is always a spellcaster, usually a Magus with a Magic Circuit, who is selected by the Holy Grail. It is possible for an ordinary person to become a Master, as in the case of Souichirou Kuzuki, as well as untrained individuals such as Ryuunosuke Uryuu, though this is rare.

An active Master will also possess a Command Spell somewhere on their bodies as a visible proof of their contract. It is not possible for a person who is not a Master to steal Command Spells to become a Master, but a Master creating a Book of the False Attendant can provisionally transfer it so long as the person retains the book.

A Master that is providing Magical Energy to a Servant will "leak" Magical Energy in a volume that is easily detectable to most spellcasters. The leakage is distinctive, allowing a Magus to determine that the Master has a contract with a Servant.

• Generic version of the vision
• Shirou's version of the vision
• Rin's version of the vision in the Unlimited Blade Works anime

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Masters get a form of Clairvoyance called "Master's Perspective". As Masters, they are able to see information regarding Servants they've observed in the manner that is most easily understandable for them. Shirou Emiya sees it as character sheets, while Tiné Chelc sees them as speeds of the currents of six rivers flowing from a mountain, and Haruri Borzak sees them as honeycomb patterns. Since she isn't a proper Master, the false Ayaka cannot perceive Servant parameters.

• Rin forging a new pact with Saber becoming her new Servant.
• Ritsuka creating a pact with the Queen of Sheba.

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A Master is always a Master, whether he currently has a Servant or not, as long as he still has the Command Spell. A Master without a Servant can make a pact with an unclaimed Servant at will, though having too many Servants is hazardous to the health of a Master due to Magical Energy consumption. This also means that a Master can claim a new Servant regardless of the length of time since his last Servant.

Under the Fuyuki-related systems, it is possible for a Master to contract with as many Servants as they wish, but even excellent Magi cannot materialize more than one Servant at once. The result would just be splitting their potential power by the number of Servants. Kirei Kotomine, Caster, Sakura Matou, and Shirou Kotomine avoid that obstacle by using alternate energy sources to provide Magical Energy for a number of Servants at once. Under the Moon Cell system, all Servants have a direct connection to the ID of their Masters, so the system inherently prohibits Masters from possessing more than one contract. Chaldea Security Organization's FATE system allows for hundreds of Servants to be materialized at once under the same Master by providing for their Magical Energy needs and augmenting the amount of Magical Energy they can hold. That said, due to the difficulty of coordinating the activities of multiple Servants and the risk of causing unnecessary strain on the Master only a handful of them are deployed at any given time; the remaining Servants remain on standby in Chaldea but can be called upon for aid whenever they are needed.

Multiple Masters

Through manipulation of the Holy Grail War system by a sufficiently proficient Magus, it is possible to separate the rights of a Master between multiple individuals. Implemented in the Fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War by Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, he was able to separate the right of bearing the Command Spells and the right of supplying Magical Energy between himself and his fiancee Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri.

The El-Melloi Classroom use Kayneth's process as the basis by which to split the Master rights and Command Spells for True Rider between thirty different individuals.

Magical Paths

In providing Magical Energy to their Servant, they are connected by Magical Paths to facilitate the energy. The Master has complete control over how much Magical Energy is granted, allowing them to have hold over the actions of the Servant except in cases where they possess Independent Action. They can limit the Magical Energy to keep the Servant at a level below themselves like Caster's original Master, and they can cut it off to force Servants into spiritual form.

The Servants have some control over accepting the Magical Energy, allowing Rider to exclusively use his own Magical Energy to actualize his Noble Phantasm to keep from draining his Master to death due to his inferior ability as a Magus. It is possible to redirect the Magical Paths to other Magi, allowing for the burden on the main Master to be greatly reduced. If there is a problem in establishing the Magical Paths or if the Master is unable to provide Magical Energy due to being a normal human, the Servant will be limited to only their current stock of Magical Energy unless they establish outside means like draining from the Ley Lines or eating human souls.

Masters and Servants share a deep mental connection, so it has been observed that both can see visions of each other's pasts in the form of dreams. It is a known phenomenon which has occurred in the first three Fuyuki wars, the Subcategory Holy Grail Wars of the World of Fate/Apocrypha, and the Grand Orders, so those who know of it do not find the experience to be mysterious. While Servants do not need to sleep and do not normally have the capacity to dream even if they force themselves to do so for the purpose of saving Magical Energy, Servants can see the pasts of Masters as dreams as well. The viewers sometimes only realize the dreams' nature after waking and are sometimes conscious of themselves within the dreams, but are unable to reject them even if it means intruding on the mind of the other. The specific way in which these dreams can be shared varies dramatically; in some particularly unusual cases, the Master finds themselves physically present within the dream itself and can act as an active participant within it. In the case of Ayaka Sajyou, somehow one of the participants of the dreamed past life, Saint Germain, was able to perceive her and address her directly.

Some situations can cause these dreams to happen in special situations. Due to their connections as members of Clan Calatin and being wielders of the Noble Phantasms he created through his Sublimation Skill, members of the Snowfield police department are able to see a dream of Alexandre Dumas' past without being his Masters. Because she's a Sibyl and has high sensitivity to spiritual entities, Gray was able to see glimpses of Faker's past without being contracted to her. And, while he wasn't a Servant, she experienced a similar phenomenon with Ergo.

Goals

Traditionally, a Master is an individual who has formed a contract with a Ghost Liner type Familiar, for the purpose of acquiring the Holy Grail of Fuyuki City. There are no actual restrictions on how the contract is used, when it is made, or how long it lasts, but the Servant inevitably has goals of its own which complement those of the Master.

Creation

In order to become a Master, a person must successfully summon a Servant through the use of a specific Formal Craft ritual. Upon completion, the Master must formalize a contract with the Summoned Servant by acknowledging their respective roles. The process creates a link between the two, allowing the Master to support the Servant with their Magical Energy or an external source.

In every known case, with one exception, Masters only occur through the power of the Greater Grail of Fuyuki City. The Holy Grail both selects prospective Masters according to their need and provides the majority of the Magical Energy needed to manifest and maintain the Servant. It also provides the Command Spells which grant limited control of the Servant to the Master.

The one exception to the rule is the case of Illyasviel von Einzbern, who successfully summoned Berserker without the aid of the Holy Grail through the techniques of the Einzbern family. Her Command Spells were physically inscribed on her body with an unknown power source. The Grail recognized her as a legitimate Master, despite the abnormality, as she had the aptitude to become the vessel of the Lesser Grail.

Card User

Card Users (カード使用者^?) are those participating in the Ainsworth Holy Grail Wars. Instead of summoning Servants as familiars, Card Users use Class Cards to imbue the power of Heroic Spirits directly into their bodies to fight each other.