Avenger (Fate/hollow ataraxia)
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Avenger is a fictional character from the Japanese visual novel Fate/hollow ataraxia by TYPE-MOON.
The eighth servant class, whose true identity is initially believed to be Angra Mainyu, the spirit of pure evil that was accidentally summoned during the 3rd Holy Grail War and had been imprisoned within the tainted Grail ever since. He usually has a lazy and laid-back attitude, lacking any sense of justice.
As a combatant, he seems to be the weakest of all Servants in every parameter. His Sword Breaker is weak and unreliable, while his skill in manipulating his twin daggers Tawrich and Zarich as melee weapons is only average compared to other servants. Even his Noble Phantasm poses little threat and his master Bazett has proven herself to be physically stronger and a better fighter.
[edit] Noble Phantasm
- Void Avesta: False Copy of Inscribed Creation
- Rank:
- Type: Anti-Unit.
- An ability that can only be used as a counterattack. Avenger is able to reflect all damage his opponents deal to him back at them, not as physical wounds but rather as the pain resulting from them. The main problem with this skill is that it is not automatic, but needs to be consciously activated, meaning that Avenger not only needs to be harmed, but remain alive and conscious for it take effect, thus making it useless against any higher-level attacks. It functions principally as a distraction or hindrance, only made truly useful by Bazett's ability to finish off the enemy.
[edit] True Identity
Initially believed to be the Persian God of Darkness Angra Mainyu. In reality, he was no more than an ordinary villager sacrificed as an evil demon by his village. One day he was randomly chosen as the source of all evil in the world by his villagers, and was tortured and sacrificed in the following rituals. The villagers believed that the only way to realize the true goodness of human beings was to put all the evil onto one person and blame him as the true source of any human evil. His forceful sacrifice eased the confused minds of his people, which despite being unintentional, still earned him the right to be called a Heroic Spirit. However, from his own point of view he only feels anger and hatred towards the world and the people that mercilessly assassinated him.
However, as the time passed by, as he saw many rises and fall of generations, he realized that while he still hated humans for what they did, he still loved the world. In the end, he accepts his role for the humanity, even if it means to be just the blame for their wrongdoings.
[edit] Role
During Fate/stay night, Avenger was trapped in the wish-granting spiritual Holy Grail, and his influence was the one that tainted it. After falling during the 3rd Grail War, he was trapped in the Grail, thus the end of the fourth Grail War. However, during the 5th, he was finally reborn as the Grail thanks to its immense mana. Yet the physical vessel for the Grail was destroyed by Shiro to prevent the disaster to be brought by the presence of Avenger. After finally being able to grant wish, the Grail was left to expire without accomplishing its role. In order to do what it was born to do, Avenger/the Grail sought a wish. In the process, he found Bazett, who after being left to die, wished hard that she did not want to die. Therefore, they made a contract: Avenger, to continue to exist and accomplish its new role of granting a wish, and Bazett, to stay alive even in a vegetative state.
However, 6 months after the 5th war, Caren came to Fuyuki city, found and nursed the dying Bazett. Unlike before, when Avenger just had to keep her physical signs alive, now he had to keep both Bazett's now awake consciousness and body alive. In order to accomplish that, he created the four-day temporal loop.
To keep Bazett thinking that she was alive, Avenger recreated the 5th Grail War. The problem, however, was that he never personally experienced the 5th war. He only knew of the 3rd war. So he just took the participants of 5th war and used them to create the characters in the 3rd war to play the 5th war events.
While he was Bazett's Servant Avenger by night, he took on the form of Shirō Emiya by day. As Shirō, he comes to care for other people, especially the mysterious Caren Ortensia. In this form, he has no idea of his own identity and thinks and acts like Shiro Emiya. He later explains that this is because Avenger himself is 0, and no matter how much you add 0 to 1, it is still 1.
The problem starts when (1) Shiro, in truth Avenger, realizes the temporal loop and tries to solve the anomaly, and (2) Avenger himself begins to keep "filling up" the Grail to see more and more new events. Since Shiro Emiya is someone who cannot let the wrong stay wrong, he had to fix the abnormal temporal loop. Also, even though he knew that by seeking new events he would complete the Grail thus ending the loop, which would ultimately mean his return to void, Avenger could not stop enjoying the happy daily life as Shiro.
Later Bazett realizes the false reality of the temporal loop, but refuses to finish it. She thinks that she would die once the loop is over, but she also knew that would permanently take Avenger to nothingness. In her hope to stay alive, and her wish to keep Avenger from his ultimate fate, she tries to continue the loop, even if it means going against Avenger himself.
With help from Caren, the only one whom Shiro has never met and thus Avenger reveals his true self, Shiro/Avenger finally realizes that he himself is the cause of all the problem, and decides to put the end to it. He finally reaches the Grail as the other Servants and Masters prevent the monsters(which are actually leftover parts of Avenger) from stopping him. In the end, Avenger frees Bazett from the loop and returns to void.
