My copies of the last two volumes of Fate/Complete Material (AKA that gigantic multi-volume Fate/Everything encyclopedia-cum-artbook) arrived today. In the back of the fourth volume there is a section filled with character designs, artwork, and notes for the canceled Fate/Apocrypha online game.
And you know what?
You know what?!
Karna was going to be a playable character. You could play him as either an Archer, Lancer, or Rider.
(*headdesk*)
Goddamit! The Mahabharata and Fate streams were finally going to cross and then the whole project got canceled. Siiiiigh.
For those of you unfamiliar with the whole Fate franchise, the basic premise is this: Every sixty years (or thereabouts - this rule gets broken right away in Fate/Stay Night) seven magicians summon seven Heroic Spirits (who can be either real historical figures or fictional/legendary heroes) and compete in a battle royale to determine who will have a wish granted by the Holy Grail. The last magician/hero pair standing wins the Grail.
The fact that this entire franchise is a thinly-veiled attempt to have fun with questions like "so if King Arthur and Gilgamesh and Alexander the Great got into a three-way brawl, who would win?" is probably what led to the natural progression from visual novels and anime to a genuine multilevel RPG. (And by the way, the aforementioned question forms much of the meat of the story in Fate/Zero. I kid you not.) Unfortunately said online RPG was officially cancelled last year. But if it HAD happened, here's what the roster of playable characters would have looked like:
Saber class: Siegfried and Joan of Arc.
Archer class: Atalanta, Karna, and David (as in the Biblical David).
Lancer class: Karna, Vlad the Impaler, and Benkei.
Rider class: Astolfo (who in this version is a young woman), Saint George, Karna, and Siegfried.
Caster class: William Shakespeare (I shit you not - he actually has an attack that lets him rewrite the outcome of any other character's attack HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!)
Beserker class: Frankenstein's monster (who is female in this game, for fanservice-related reasons), Kintarou, and Spartacus.
Assassin class: Queen Semiramis and Jack the Ripper (who is also a young woman, you know, for fanservice).
WHY IS THIS GAME NEVER GOING TO EXIST. (*sob*)
Even better: Karna actually has a skill called "無冠の武芸" which roughly translates to "Uncrowned Arms Mastership." It would have meant that his stats would appear lower than they actually are to any opponent who challenges him in a duel.
And yes, Karna starts the game with his golden armor and earrings, which provide him with extra protection against attacks. If you level him up enough, however, you could exchange the golden armor and earrings for the Vasavi shakti. Just like Karna did in the Mahabharata.
So, in case you can't tell, I am forever sobbing that this game was cancelled and goddamit I would have played the shit out of this game if it really existed.
To be perfectly honest, thought, I probably would have played as David or Shakespeare instead of as Karna. Because their attacks and special skills are way more hilariously awesome.
ETA: Okay you know what these characters designs and attack names and skill lists were just TOO AWESOME (for certain definitions of "awesome") not to share. Because, you know, Frankenstein's monster as translated into a lolified JRPG character is pretty fucking hilarious. So here you go, scanspam behind the cut: ( Artbook scans!! )
And you know what?
You know what?!
Karna was going to be a playable character. You could play him as either an Archer, Lancer, or Rider.
(*headdesk*)
Goddamit! The Mahabharata and Fate streams were finally going to cross and then the whole project got canceled. Siiiiigh.
For those of you unfamiliar with the whole Fate franchise, the basic premise is this: Every sixty years (or thereabouts - this rule gets broken right away in Fate/Stay Night) seven magicians summon seven Heroic Spirits (who can be either real historical figures or fictional/legendary heroes) and compete in a battle royale to determine who will have a wish granted by the Holy Grail. The last magician/hero pair standing wins the Grail.
The fact that this entire franchise is a thinly-veiled attempt to have fun with questions like "so if King Arthur and Gilgamesh and Alexander the Great got into a three-way brawl, who would win?" is probably what led to the natural progression from visual novels and anime to a genuine multilevel RPG. (And by the way, the aforementioned question forms much of the meat of the story in Fate/Zero. I kid you not.) Unfortunately said online RPG was officially cancelled last year. But if it HAD happened, here's what the roster of playable characters would have looked like:
Saber class: Siegfried and Joan of Arc.
Archer class: Atalanta, Karna, and David (as in the Biblical David).
Lancer class: Karna, Vlad the Impaler, and Benkei.
Rider class: Astolfo (who in this version is a young woman), Saint George, Karna, and Siegfried.
Caster class: William Shakespeare (I shit you not - he actually has an attack that lets him rewrite the outcome of any other character's attack HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!)
Beserker class: Frankenstein's monster (who is female in this game, for fanservice-related reasons), Kintarou, and Spartacus.
Assassin class: Queen Semiramis and Jack the Ripper (who is also a young woman, you know, for fanservice).
WHY IS THIS GAME NEVER GOING TO EXIST. (*sob*)
Even better: Karna actually has a skill called "無冠の武芸" which roughly translates to "Uncrowned Arms Mastership." It would have meant that his stats would appear lower than they actually are to any opponent who challenges him in a duel.
And yes, Karna starts the game with his golden armor and earrings, which provide him with extra protection against attacks. If you level him up enough, however, you could exchange the golden armor and earrings for the Vasavi shakti. Just like Karna did in the Mahabharata.
So, in case you can't tell, I am forever sobbing that this game was cancelled and goddamit I would have played the shit out of this game if it really existed.
To be perfectly honest, thought, I probably would have played as David or Shakespeare instead of as Karna. Because their attacks and special skills are way more hilariously awesome.
ETA: Okay you know what these characters designs and attack names and skill lists were just TOO AWESOME (for certain definitions of "awesome") not to share. Because, you know, Frankenstein's monster as translated into a lolified JRPG character is pretty fucking hilarious. So here you go, scanspam behind the cut: ( Artbook scans!! )
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