Nasuverse The Grail War, Postponed

NMR-3

Well-Known Member
#1
In canon, the Fifth Grail War happened decades too early.
But... what if it didn't?

Say the Grail War happens 10 or 20 years later than canon. This gives every Master more time to sharpen their skills, or allows new Masters to supplant the old.
What do you think would happen?

Personally, I think Shirou would either repair cars for a living (unlikely, since he's not directly saving people that way), or be involved in the yakuza through Taiga (though it'd need some explaining). He could be a firefighter, too.
Rin would probably be married, even if it isn't out of love. She'd also be an expert mage with shittons of gems.
Sakura, Shinji, Zouken... I don't really know, to be honest.
Ilya could be kept in cyrosleep until it was time to summon Berserker.
Gil would probably exhaust his supply of orphans, too.
No idea about the others.

There are a lot of interesting directions this could go.
 

nixofcyzerra

Well-Known Member
#2
Apparently Shirou's intended major was initially in the field of law and politics.

So I guess he'd basically be Japanese Daredevil with swords. Pro-bono attorney-at-law by day, Vigilante by night.
 

Rising Dragon

Well-Known Member
#3
Rin having a shitton of gems is highly unlikely unless she married into wealth. The Tohsaka finances are all but depleted by the time of Fate/stay night.
 

NMR-3

Well-Known Member
#4
nixofcyzerra said:
Apparently Shirou's intended major was initially in the field of law and politics.

So I guess he'd basically be Japanese Daredevil with swords. Pro-bono attorney-at-law by day, Vigilante by night.
Never heard that before. Guess it makes sense, though seeing Shiro as a politician is beyond me.

Rising Dragon said:
Rin having a shitton of gems is highly unlikely unless she married into wealth. The Tohsaka finances are all but depleted by the time of Fate/stay night.
Well, yeah. I thought marrying for love was a rarity in the Clock Tower, with the politics of the Mage families as they are. Her husband would probably be some wealthy magus.
Maybe she loves him, but she probably doesn't. I dunno if they'd have children yet, though.
...Her husband might be Caster's original master or Waver/Lord El-Melloi II, now that I think about it. If it's Waver the whole thing becomes less depressing, at least.
Though then the question becomes why they let her participate in the Grail War. Hm. I guess she could be in it to try and restore the glory of the Tohsaka name?

Some more thoughts: I can't see Zouken keeping Shinji around for long. He'd probably try and secure new heirs through any means necessary.
Kotomine will be too old to do much more kungfu anymore. Maybe his daughter takes his place?
 

Rising Dragon

Well-Known Member
#5
If the Grail War doesn't start by the time she's a teenager, then yes, it's very likely that Rin will have popped out a kid, 'cause Magus families are big on grooming heirs to continue their research and pursuit of Akasha. The later the Grail War happens, the more likely it is. You can't have it happen too far, though, if you want Rin to be the Master, otherwise her kid will likely be near adulthood and thus chosen as Master instead. Her married to Waver would be interesting, and likely plausible, if it gets the Archibalds back in business by having someone in the family with a Magic Crest. I can't see her marrying Atram Galiest, at all. I just can't see her marrying someone that stuck-up, or someone who has a bloody harem, and for all her standoffish nature, she's inherently a good person, so I can't see her marrying someone who mulches children into magic crystals.

As for your question about why let her participate, it's because she is a Tohsaka magus, and thus likely to be chosen as the representative of the family, since the Einzberns, Tohsakas, and Matous are usually the first picked.
 

NMR-3

Well-Known Member
#6
Rising Dragon said:
If the Grail War doesn't start by the time she's a teenager, then yes, it's very likely that Rin will have popped out a kid, 'cause Magus families are big on grooming heirs to continue their research and pursuit of Akasha. The later the Grail War happens, the more likely it is. You can't have it happen too far, though, if you want Rin to be the Master, otherwise her kid will likely be near adulthood and thus chosen as Master instead. Her married to Waver would be interesting, and likely plausible, if it gets the Archibalds back in business by having someone in the family with a Magic Crest. I can't see her marrying Atram Galiest, at all. I just can't see her marrying someone that stuck-up, or someone who has a bloody harem, and for all her standoffish nature, she's inherently a good person, so I can't see her marrying someone who mulches children into magic crystals.

As for your question about why let her participate, it's because she is a Tohsaka magus, and thus likely to be chosen as the representative of the family, since the Einzberns, Tohsakas, and Matous are usually the first picked.
Yeah, marrying her off to Waver is a good idea.
And sure, she participates because she's a Tohsaka magus. Still, she'd have to have something to wish for.
Restoring the honour of the Tohsaka name works, but I don't see Rin as obsessed with the concept of lineage, especially for a magus.

In the end Rin is just one Master in the Grail War, though. The others need fleshing out as well.
I imagine Zouken wants to have a capable heir at all costs, so Sakura is probably a mom as well. The father, though... Zouken doesn't give a shit about Sakura's feelings, and I have no real idea. I recall him being dismissive of other families, but he'd probably want the kid to be a magus, which IIRC is helped by both parents being magi.

I dunno, it's easy to go grimdark or grimderp, and while that has its place, I don't want to sink too far into that pit if I can avoid it.
 

orumon

Well-Known Member
#7
If the Grail war happened on Schedule, it'd be about 50 years after Canon time. (The Holy Grail takes about 60 years to charge)
Shirou would probably be already dead, and in the throne of heroes himself (or a Counter Guardian). Hell, he might even be a servant in this war depending on how famous he got in his heroic identity. Hell having as a heroic spirit would be nice, especially if he got to see Sakura one last time.
Rin would probably be older now, while her heir would be fighting in the HGW. Fortunately for her family, she'd probably already be a grandma.
Illya, yeah, probably kept on ice until it was time for the Grail War.
Sakura would probably be a psychologically burned out wreck, if she hadn't already gone full Dark! Sakura and needed to be put down.
Shinji, well, I can't see him as anything other than a pawn of Zouken at this point.
Kotomine would probably be overseer still, although he'd be like his dad was in HGW 4.
Bazette maybe, but I think someone else would be called, as she'd probably be retired or dead by then.
 

seitora

Well-Known Member
#8
If the Grail War happened on schedule, it wouldn't have happened at all. Remember, Kiritsugu put in bombs to cause an earthquake to disrupt the Grail War from occurring again, and said earthquake was supposed to happen a while before the 5th Grail War's intended date.
 

orumon

Well-Known Member
#9
seitora said:
If the Grail War happened on schedule, it wouldn't have happened at all. Remember, Kiritsugu put in bombs to cause an earthquake to disrupt the Grail War from occurring again, and said earthquake was supposed to happen a while before the 5th Grail War's intended date.
Ah, I'd forgotten about that. Still I do enjoy the idea of Shirou being summoned as a heroic spirit rather than being a master. Lets be honest here, if he's already grown up and matured in thought he doesn't work as a master. Although he might work if he wasn't a master but someone aware of magic who simply meddles.
 

seitora

Well-Known Member
#10
orumon said:
seitora said:
If the Grail War happened on schedule, it wouldn't have happened at all. Remember, Kiritsugu put in bombs to cause an earthquake to disrupt the Grail War from occurring again, and said earthquake was supposed to happen a while before the 5th Grail War's intended date.
Ah, I'd forgotten about that. Still I do enjoy the idea of Shirou being summoned as a heroic spirit rather than being a master. Lets be honest here, if he's already grown up and matured in thought he doesn't work as a master. Although he might work if he wasn't a master but someone aware of magic who simply meddles.
uhhhh....Did you not play Unlimited Blade Works route or watch the film version of it yet?
 

orumon

Well-Known Member
#11
seitora said:
orumon said:
seitora said:
If the Grail War happened on schedule, it wouldn't have happened at all. Remember, Kiritsugu put in bombs to cause an earthquake to disrupt the Grail War from occurring again, and said earthquake was supposed to happen a while before the 5th Grail War's intended date.
Ah, I'd forgotten about that. Still I do enjoy the idea of Shirou being summoned as a heroic spirit rather than being a master. Lets be honest here, if he's already grown up and matured in thought he doesn't work as a master. Although he might work if he wasn't a master but someone aware of magic who simply meddles.
uhhhh....Did you not play Unlimited Blade Works route or watch the film version of it yet?
Yes, I know counter guardian EMIYA is archer from canon, but having a Shirou that managed to become a hero without Alaya's influence and thus remained unbroken would be a different take on the character, especially if he became legitimately famous in life. Essentially, rather than having Counter Guardian EMIYA, it'd be interesting to see Heroic Spirit Shirou.
 
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