http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VisualNovel/FateStayNight

I ask of you: Are you my Master?

I am the bone of my sword

Steel is my body and fire is my blood

I have created over a thousand blades

Unknown to Death, Nor known to Life

Have withstood pain to create many weapons

Yet, those hands will never hold anything

So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works.

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Fate/stay night is a Japanese Visual Novel H-Game developed by the company Type-Moon. Created by Kinoko Nasu with character design by Takashi Takeuchi, it was first released on January 30, 2004 for the Windows PC and serves as the first installment of the Fate franchise.

There exists a plane outside of human concepts, within which lies the Throne of Heroes. Here, the records of the brave men and women whose lives have become legends are kept, to be used as eternal guardians of mankind. When a legend has been venerated enough by humanity, it can become immortalized as a Heroic Spirit that surpasses time itself. However, the definition of what a "hero" is, is broad; even the ruthless and heartless are the heroes of their own tales.

"Heaven's Feel" is a magical ritual where seven Heroic Spirits are summoned to become "Servants" to seven "Masters". They must then fight each other in a seven-way battle royale, whereupon the last Master/Servant team remaining is granted the ultimate prize: the Holy Grail, a legendary artifact said to grant any wish of whomever claims it.

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As public knowledge of a Heroic Spirit's true identity would reveal their strengths and weaknesses, each Servant is divided into (and referred to as) one of seven classes: Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Berserker, and Assassin. Finally, each Servant is armed with a number of "Noble Phantasms": the armaments and abilities that personify their legend.

Shirou Emiya is an Ordinary High-School Student who happens to know a little magic from his late adopted father, a retired mage. When he stays behind at school one night, Shirou stumbles into the beginning of Heaven's Feel V, aka the Fifth Holy Grail War. The official rules state that all witnesses must be killed, but before that can happen Shirou finds himself bound to a Servant of the "Saber" class, widely regarded to be the most powerful of the seven.

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With the aid of Rin Tohsaka, a rival mage who summons an amnesiac "Archer" Servant, Shirou learns the rules of the Holy Grail War and just how far its participants will go to have their wishes granted. His dream is to become a selfless "Hero of Justice", but just how much meaning does that carry in a tournament where one must kill or be killed?

Although never officially released in English, the game originally had a Fan Translation patch made for it by the good folks at Mirror Moon. The visual novel was adapted for the PlayStation 2, with the pornographic content excised, but adds lots of cool new stuff in its place. The PlayStation 2 version is subtitled Realta Nua and you can implement the extra content from this version onto the original CD/DVD installed PC version with this patch . A PlayStation Vita port of Realta Nua has been released in Japan on the 29th of November, 2012 with high-resolution graphics and three openings animated by ufotable. A version of Realta Nua was also released for PC in the beginning of 2012, with the three routes separated into individual downloads, as well as a port of the Vita version for iOS and Android in 2015. The newest (and arguably most complete) English fan-translation project for Realta Nua PC is Fate/stay night [Realta Nua] - Ultimate Edition , that features Mirror Moon's fan-translation, adds the new openings (with the 2004 ones as an extra), updated high-resolution art, remixed soundtrack, widescreen presentation from the Vita and mobile versions, the ability to toggle and/or decensor the adult content, implements a backlog feature, and combines the three individual routes of Realta Nua PC into a single game à la the original 2004 release.

Set in the Nasuverse. It is split into three routes. While these routes can in theory be played in any order, it is generally recommended to follow the intended order as listed below:

Fate: A route focused on Shirou's relationship with Saber and his ideal of becoming a selfless "Hero of Justice" who can protect the lives of everyone and everything. It also lays down the characters and the framework of the Holy Grail War for the reader.

Unlimited Blade Works: A route focused on Rin and Archer, specifically delving into Archer's mysterious past and his conflict with Shirou's ideals.

Heaven's Feel: The third and final route, focused on Shirou's childhood friend Sakura Matou, the dark machinations of her grandfather, and the secrets behind the creation of the Heaven's Feel ritual.

Adaptations

An anime adaptation created by Studio DEEN, released in 2006. The story is mostly based on the Fate route, with a few additions from the other two routes to make the series fill 24 episodes and give more attention to characters that were pushed into the background during Fate.

A movie adaptation, also created by Studio DEEN and released in 2010. This version covers the Unlimited Blade Works route, with emphasis on the action scenes. (This is sometimes counted as the second movie, after Fate/stay night TV reproduction, a two-hour OVA recut from the TV show.)

A manga adaptation was serialised in 2006-2012. Like the anime adaptation, it's based on the Fate scenario with some additional material from the other routes as well as some original content. The artist, Datto Nishiwaki, is a big Type-Moon fan, and made references to other Nasuverse works in his end-of-volume rants.

Another anime by ufotable based on Unlimited Blade Works, first season released in 2014. The second season aired in 2015.

A Heaven's Feel manga began serialization in May 2015.

Three Heaven's Feel movies by ufotable. The first, presage flower, was released in October 2017. The second, lost butterfly, was released in January 2019. The third, spring song, was released in August 2020.

In 2005, it received a (sort-of) sequel titled Fate/hollow ataraxia, and in 2006, a 4-volume light novel prequel titled Fate/Zero which was adapted into an anime in 2011-2012. For other derived and related media set in the same universe, see Nasuverse or Fate Series.

Tropes in Fate/stay night:

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General Tropes

Fate

Unlimited Blade Works

Heaven's Feel

Adaptations

Gameplay

Setting

... I want to become a hero.