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True Name: Artoria Pendragon
Class: Saber
Noble Phantasm: Excalibur
Introduction: Who is Saber?
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Artix
Saber is the most well-known character in the Nasuverse and (quite literally) the face of the Fate series.
Her true identity is that of King Arthur, regarded as a man by history, her True Name is Arturia/Artoria/Altria, depending on the translation.
In her original appearence in the Fate/Stay Night Visual Novel, she was summoned in the Saber class for the Holy Grail War, a war where 7 Masters summon Servants(historical and mythological figures summoned as powerful familiars) to compete for the Holy Grail, said to be able to grant any wish. She is the protagonist's(Shirou Emiya) Servant and the main heroine of the Visual Novel.
Ever since then, she has made countless appearences in other Fate works.
Is Saber eligible for Smash? AKA the "answering to 'but she's an anime character'" section:
Well, first off is that, despite what her series is better known for in the West, she did debut in a game, the original Fate/Stay Night is a Visual Novel for computers and was later re-released in consoles like the PS2. Her first, and currently, only appearence in a Nintendo console is Fate/Extella, a Musou-styled game, as a "secret" unlockable character.
As such, she checks off the two universally-agreed-to requirements for Smash. Also, should you believe a Visual Novel is not a game for whatever reason, please refer to Fire Emblem the Phoenix Wright thread.
Abilities: What can Saber bring to Smash?
Despite being "yet another swordfighter" at first glance, Saber has much more up to her sleeve.
The first being her Invisible Air, which conceals her blade, making its range hard to discern.
After Invisible Air, comes her ability to release said air in bursts known as Strike Air. In Fate/Extella, she not only uses her signature stab followed by its release to create a controlled mini-tornado, but she can also use release gusts of wind independently from her blade or even make her the eye of the storm. She can also use it to propulse herself or extend her blade's range. Basically, she has some limited control over wind.
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Then there are her normal skills, Instinct, Charisma and Mana Burst.
The most important skill, however, is Mana Burst, being what allows her to unleash the gusts of wind from her blade, it's a skill that allows her to absorb and release Mana in to boost her abilities.
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And let's not forget her sword, the famous Excalibur, which can shoot lasers so that's cool. She also possessed other weapons in life, the Sword of the Stone, Caliburn, a frail yet powerful blade, and the Holy Lance, Rhongomyniad(just try to type that without looking it up), a divine lance that she used in her final battle against Mordred at the Battle of Cammlan.
Oh wait, but there's more: Command Seals! Three Seals that a Master possesses which can be used to give an order to a Servant. They can even make impossible feats hapoen such as teleporting a Servant due to the fact they're pure Mana, which means they can also be used to enhance a Servant's abilities temporarily. The best examples being Fate/Extella and Fate)Grand Order, in the former, Command Seals can be used to either revive a fallen Servant or use all three of them to make the Servant "fight beyond their capabilities"(which translates to an increased max HP and Musou gauge), while in the latter, it can be used to also heal, fullt charge a Servant's Noble Phantasm gauge or use the three of them to revive the entire party with their Noble Phantasms charged.
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After Invisible Air, comes her ability to release said air in bursts known as Strike Air. In Fate/Extella, she not only uses her signature stab followed by its release to create a controlled mini-tornado, but she can also use release gusts of wind independently from her blade or even make her the eye of the storm. She can also use it to propulse herself or extend her blade's range. Basically, she has some limited control over wind.
Then there are her normal skills, Instinct, Charisma and Mana Burst.
The most important skill, however, is Mana Burst, being what allows her to unleash the gusts of wind from her blade, it's a skill that allows her to absorb and release Mana in to boost her abilities.
And let's not forget her sword, the famous Excalibur, which can shoot lasers so that's cool. She also possessed other weapons in life, the Sword of the Stone, Caliburn, a frail yet powerful blade, and the Holy Lance, Rhongomyniad(just try to type that without looking it up), a divine lance that she used in her final battle against Mordred at the Battle of Cammlan.
Oh wait, but there's more: Command Seals! Three Seals that a Master possesses which can be used to give an order to a Servant. They can even make impossible feats hapoen such as teleporting a Servant due to the fact they're pure Mana, which means they can also be used to enhance a Servant's abilities temporarily. The best examples being Fate/Extella and Fate)Grand Order, in the former, Command Seals can be used to either revive a fallen Servant or use all three of them to make the Servant "fight beyond their capabilities"(which translates to an increased max HP and Musou gauge), while in the latter, it can be used to also heal, fullt charge a Servant's Noble Phantasm gauge or use the three of them to revive the entire party with their Noble Phantasms charged.
Movesets: How would her abilities translate into Smash?
Well, these are at least my personal takes on what she could do. I don't have the time now to do a full moveset, especially since I'm really bad at describing movements so I'll just leave her specials and some other stuff here. If anyone comes up with a moveset, I'll add it to this post, even if just small ideas, so feel free to share them.
Unique Properties: Invisible Air-At 0%, Saber's blade is completely hidden, but damaging her will make it consistently more visible. At 30%, the blades fully reveals itself.
Neutral Special: Command Seal-Gives Saber an order. Pressing the button once will heal her and spend on Seal, pressing the button twice will slightly raise her attack temporarily and spend two Seals, pressing three times will teleport her back to the last spot she touched the ground but spend all 3 Command Seals. Seals slowly regenerate at a pace of one every 20 seconds.
Side Special: Strike Air Cyclone-Saber slashes her sword upwards from below her shoulder, creating a tornado that slowly moves forward while pushing away opponents.
Up Special: Strike Air Propulsion-Saber points her sword below her and unleashes a gust of wind, launching her upwards. The gust of wind is a windbox and will push away opponents.
Down Special: Mana Burst-Releases her armor, creating a small explosion around her. Without her armor, her attack and defenses are lowered, but her speed and mobility are increased and she becomes floatier. While without her armor, she may use this move to charge it back up.
Final Smash: Excalibur
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Saber raises Excalibur above her head, charging it as a beam of light emanates from it, after that, she releases a powerful beam across the stage, constantly hitting trapped players in the beam like with Daybreak, until they are dragged into a pillar of light and launched away.
Neutral Special: Command Seal-Gives Saber an order. Pressing the button once will heal her and spend on Seal, pressing the button twice will slightly raise her attack temporarily and spend two Seals, pressing three times will teleport her back to the last spot she touched the ground but spend all 3 Command Seals. Seals slowly regenerate at a pace of one every 20 seconds.
Side Special: Strike Air Cyclone-Saber slashes her sword upwards from below her shoulder, creating a tornado that slowly moves forward while pushing away opponents.
Up Special: Strike Air Propulsion-Saber points her sword below her and unleashes a gust of wind, launching her upwards. The gust of wind is a windbox and will push away opponents.
Down Special: Mana Burst-Releases her armor, creating a small explosion around her. Without her armor, her attack and defenses are lowered, but her speed and mobility are increased and she becomes floatier. While without her armor, she may use this move to charge it back up.
Final Smash: Excalibur
Saber raises Excalibur above her head, charging it as a beam of light emanates from it, after that, she releases a powerful beam across the stage, constantly hitting trapped players in the beam like with Daybreak, until they are dragged into a pillar of light and launched away.
The Other Stuff: What comes with her?
Being from a new series in Smash, she'd have to bring some stuff in with her.
Home stage: Ryuudou Temple
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The Ryuudou Temple is probably the most iconic location from the original Visual Novel, while other places could certainly be used such as the Fuyuki Church, the Emiya Household or the Eizbern Castle, the Ryuudou Temple is the setting for the final battle in two out of three routes. The actual location of the battle in the stage can be different though: it can take a page from Fate/Unlimited Codes(a fighting game for the PS2) and have the fight take place in the stairway to the temple, it can be the inside of the temple, where the actual final battle takes place, or it can be in both with the perspective shifted perpendicularly so that it goes from the beginning of the stairway all the way to inside the temple. Hell, it could even be on top of the roof.
Hazards could include Assasin Kojiro and Caster Medea attacking the players during the battle, or
Assist Trophy: Archer
Once summoned, Archer will stand in the stage for a few seconds, shooting down any projectiles that are used.
Music
To be added. You see, I don't have a stable internet connection at the moment and I'm also on mobile, so it's impossible to load all those Youtube videos to link the music. Don't worry though, this is my favorite part, so I'll update it with all of the goodies when I can.
The Ryuudou Temple is probably the most iconic location from the original Visual Novel, while other places could certainly be used such as the Fuyuki Church, the Emiya Household or the Eizbern Castle, the Ryuudou Temple is the setting for the final battle in two out of three routes. The actual location of the battle in the stage can be different though: it can take a page from Fate/Unlimited Codes(a fighting game for the PS2) and have the fight take place in the stairway to the temple, it can be the inside of the temple, where the actual final battle takes place, or it can be in both with the perspective shifted perpendicularly so that it goes from the beginning of the stairway all the way to inside the temple. Hell, it could even be on top of the roof.
Hazards could include Assasin Kojiro and Caster Medea attacking the players during the battle, or
The Grail itself manifesting in the middle of the fight and having numerous effects.
Assist Trophy: Archer
Once summoned, Archer will stand in the stage for a few seconds, shooting down any projectiles that are used.
Music
To be added. You see, I don't have a stable internet connection at the moment and I'm also on mobile, so it's impossible to load all those Youtube videos to link the music. Don't worry though, this is my favorite part, so I'll update it with all of the goodies when I can.
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