Medusa

Gender

Female

Alignments

Chaotic good

Height

1.72 meters

Appearance

The Medusa materialized in the Fifth Holy Grail War appears differently to her legend. She appears to be in her human form, unlike her legend where she has snake for her hairs, she has long purple hair. She wears an eye cover that seals her excessively powerful Mystic Eyes of Petrification within the Bounded Field. Her sight is completely sealed. Although Rider perceives the world through senses such as hearing, touch, smell, and magic-detection, she is able to acquire more precise information than sight. She has a complex about her own height and the way she gets embarrassed when people see her Mystic Eyes, she might actually be pretty ladylike. Because of her outward appearance and primary weapon, a lot of people thought she was going to be an Assassin class Servant. In her casual attire, she wears a black polo neck top and blue jeans. She wears Touko Aozaki's "Mystic Eye Killer" to disable her Mystic Eyes. It only seals the power of petrification. It does not act like the Breaker Gorgon, which "seals all magical properties".

Personality part 1

Concealing her eyes with a mask, she is a hard one to understand. However, it is not that she doesn't have much in the ways of emotion; rather, she is the type that thinks too much and ended up stuffed with emotions inside. In battle, she is ruthless and without mercy, willing to prey on unrelated innocents without hesitation if it's by her Master order in the Holy Grail War. On the other hand, she displays a degree of kindness to those who are not antagonistic towards her Master. Rider is silent, sultry, blunt, and vigilant, never hesitating to shield her Master from harm. She is always faithful to her Master, even with Shinji acting in that role most of the time. She is not openly talkative, and she prefers to analyze people and their actions. She is very protective of Sakura and willing to sacrifice herself for Sakura's happiness. She is very logical and she doesn't act out of anger or instinct. Despite being a beauty, she tends to appear to have a merciless personality because of her thorny aura and cold behavior. Her appearing indifferent and coldblooded is simply due to her feeling it to be bothersome otherwise, according to Artoria. She loves alcohol and reading. Being summoned as Rider, it seemed like she had grown a fondness towards bicycles. A beautiful woman with a tall figure and outstanding style, but since for Medusa the criteria for beauty is "being small and lovely", seems she has a complex over her tall figure and mature style. As she materialize, that complex of her ended up stirred towards girls with petite builds such as her sisters. Due to being pushed around by her cruel and willful sisters, Stheno and Euryale, she ended up ingrained with a self conscious nature. It seemed that this sort of power relationship doesn't change even after they became Heroic Spirits, with her being abused by their unreasonable demands even in Chaldea. But despite this her and her sisters love each other with all their hearts.

Personality part 2

She, at the very least, displays loyalty towards her Master. Even if she thinks that there is something wrong with her Master's standpoint or orders, she is capable of serving them while killing her own personal feelings. Ferocious and terrifying, yet beautiful. She is fundamentally indifferent towards humans other than her Master, but she opens her heart to those she deemed worthy of her trust.

Likes

Swimming, and reading books.

Dislikes

Emeralds, and having seaweed wrapped around her legs.

Past part 1

Medusa and her sisters were born from the wishes of mankind for ideal idols, the embodiment of the yearning hearts of men. As "perfect goddesses", their "divine essence" was to remain the same from the moment of their creation to their destruction. Medusa was an exception who was a failure from birth, growing older over time. Though they should have all been copies, or even as close as clones, resulting from the deification of the same phenomenon, a mistake in her birth or something of deeper significance caused her to be copied imperfectly. While she did not embody "forever young and immortal", she gained abilities in compensation compared to her sisters' inability to even care for themselves. With divine powers, her Mystic Eyes, indispensable in protecting her sisters who could not live in the world on their own, this caused the previously united sisters to become three separate individuals. Although Medusa was different from the start, even the other two showed irregularities, their sadistic nature, from interacting with her. She was originally considered to be a princess loved by humans, but Athena, jealous of their beauty, cursed Medusa alone, taking away her "faith from each and every person" and exiling her to the Shapeless Isle. Their love for her turned to hatred, and she was banished by those who had adored her. The island had nothing to offer compared to her days of luxury, and she prayed that none of the humans that now frightened her with their unwarranted resentment would tread on the island. Weeping in loneliness, she had no idea as to her sin that forced her to be exiled. Although her sisters were not affected and still greatly loved, they too accompanied her there out of caring for their younger sister. She was happy even on the barren island due to their company, and only had to fear the coming humans.

Past part 2

While they became rumored as monsters, her sisters were still revered by nearby men, while she was feared as a monster. Humans sought to kill that which had been branded as a monster and take away the goddesses, and after they began to also target her sisters, she decided to protect them while taking her revenge on the humans. Although littered with statues that had been warriors, they were harmonious for a time on the island, at one point receiving her Pegasus from Poseidon. Though bullied by her sisters daily, she simply moved about the island on days humans did not appear, hoping for the peace to continue. Repaying them in the same manner as they treated her, she killed many humans, simply hoping to be left alone on the only place she could exist with the company of her sisters. Though she was protecting them from the foolish humans who sought their own deaths, her sisters warned her not to take pleasure in killing them. Using her eyes that were only a deterrent to sow terror in humans, she began to experiment in ways of killing them more quickly. Deciding to become a trap against those who would take her sisters, even they who had always been full of joy began to fear her after she started drinking their blood instead of simply petrifying them. The humans continued to journey the island no matter the infamy surrounding her, and she eventually became too ashamed of her slowly disfiguring self to appear before her sisters. Leaving them, she once again found herself alone, hungering for new sacrifices to replace her sadness and loneliness.

Past part 3

She grew into the Gorgon each day as her body, heart, and very being decayed, all backed by the thought of becoming stronger for the sake of protecting her sisters. Even that reached a point where her sisters instead became nuisances who were intruding upon her lair. They appeared before her after her full descent into a monster, lamenting that they had not asked for her protection and were just letting her enjoy what had seemed fun to her. Saddened by her state, they sacrificed themselves to the Gorgon because the sister who protected them was no longer there. Consumed by countless snakes without any trace of joy or sadness, they were ground into pulp and absorbed into the beast while still alive. Without leaving a trace, they became its flesh and blood, and it continued to thrive as the Gorgon sisters became monsters of nightmares and legends. The Gorgon's notoriety continued until Perseus decided to bring back its head for his own fame. Granted five Noble Phantasms, he boldly traveled to the Shapeless Isle without any hesitation, only realizing his folly upon seeing the state of the island. He despaired upon encountering it, having decided that there is no victory to be found against the demon god, with his Noble Phantasms only acting as lifesaving equipment in the best scenario. Avoiding her gaze by focusing on his Mirror shield, he desperately fought to survive. Tired of toying with him, it used Breaker Gorgon, and he used the only possible method of defeating it, using Kibisis to have it encage itself.

Past part 4

Reversing the nightmare of the Bounded Field upon it, it suffered as Medusa as the nightmare reflected upon it instead of Perseus. While it was a "nightmare beyond nightmares", it was not an evil vision that caused excruciating pain, but a pleasant dream of her sisters, paralyzing her with the joy of seeing those she thought she would never again meet. Despairing upon the reflection of itself from when it was still self-aware, this allowed Perseus to have his single counterattack, severing its head with Harpe. The monster, out of its own will, became Medusa again and let itself be struck down. Perseus used Kibisis to hold its head, later going on to become a successful hero.

Identity

The Gorgon from Greek mythology. Rather than being a regular Heroic Spirit, she is an existence closer to a Divine Spirit, but her actions have made it better to categorize her as an "anti-hero closer to a monster." With her older sisters Stheno and Euryale, they made up the three Gorgon Sisters who inhabited the Shapeless Isle. She was known as the "woman who dominates", an anti-hero who became as such due to the dark thoughts of humans. Differing from someone like Hassan of the Cursed Arm who was a hero who actually existed, she is said to be one of legends born by the gathering of belief. The legend of Medusa is different than her actual life. She was said to be a half-human, half-god female beast often portrayed with the form of a snake. Originally she was an Earth Goddess. While all originally beautiful women, she and her sisters were hated by Poseidon's wife because of his love for them. Athena, jealous of their beautiful hair, transformed them into demons. Secluding themselves in a lightless temple on the Shapeless Isle, they only attacked humans with a reason. Eventually, as a victim of the gods' unreasonable actions, she was to have her head cut off on their whim. Defeated by Perseus by reflecting her petrification back at her with his mirror-like shield, Pegasus, the son of Poseidon, was said to have sprung from the blood of her headless neck.

Abilities

Medusa is the frightening monster from Greek mythology who had a nest of poisonous snakes for hair, and eyes that would turn anyone that met them to stone. The story in which the hero Perseus slew Medusa is famous even in Japan. Because she was originally an Earth Goddess, Rider is an existence closer to a Divine Spirit than a Heroic Spirit. However, it is better to call her “an Anti-Hero closer to a monster” rather than a proper Divine Spirit. Although Medusa is not a true Heroic Spirit, she isn’t a true Anti-Hero either. Because she possesses the monster attribute, Rider is very incompatible with Servants such as Cú Chulainn who fought off monsters in their tales. Due to her status as a former earth goddess, she has a strong connection to the earth, sensitive enough to its state to be able to sense disturbances in Fuyuki's leyline.

Combat part 1

Medusa excels in a fight using Noble Phantasms, as she is a unique Heroic Spirit who displays a great variety of skills and Noble Phantasms that are particularly high numbered even amongst other Servants, all of which are traces left from her time as a goddess. Her great versatility grants her several methods of attack that can be adapted to a wide variety of situations. Medusa also specializes in close combat, taking advantage of her Monstrous Strength and high Agility. Both Cú Chulainn and Medusa boast the most outstanding speed in the Fifth Holy Grail War. In average speed, Rider is faster, being able to move like a bullet and race around the battle field. Lancer on the other hand, surpasses her in immediate maximum output, as he is able to counter attacks with a lance with the speed of gods, while standing still. If the two of them were to fight each other, While Rider has several different types of Noble Phantasms, Lancer also has protective ability from rune sorcery, so he'd be able to counter her Mystic Eyes. Being an expert monster exterminator, Medusa would find a battle against him rather tough. The compatibility between EMIYA and her isn't good, and if the two were to fight, they'd definitely both choose a low-risk and high-return type of warfare. Due to EMIYA surpassing Medusa in skill, at medium range combat, his bow would give him a great advantage. Although she would use her mystic eyes to petrify it rendering it useless. If EMIYA resorts to activating Unlimited Blade Works, Rider will just use Bellerophon and destroy him instantly. What determines victory or defeat is whether Aias on its own would be enough to block Bellerophon perhaps...? All in all it can be deemed that her strength is on par with both Cú Chulainn and EMIYA. Despite being regarded as one of the more powerful servants within the 5th Holy grail war, Rider lacked the ability to access her full strength for much of the events of Fate/stay night.

Combat part 2

Due to her contract being passed to Shinji Matou, her abilities are lowered greatly throughout most of the Fifth Holy Grail War, and she must seek out alternative means of magical energy. While she takes blood for the most part, she is not a Dead Apostle, but rather a bloodsucker whose most efficient manner of gaining energy is through drinking blood. To regain the ability to use the full extent of her powers and capabilities she requires a master that could supply her with a constant and sufficient amount of mana, which Shinji Matou could not do. One of her greatest strengths is her tactical acumen. Medusa is a highly skilled tactician having displayed this ability a fair amount of times throughout the 5th holy grail war. She specializes in being able to devise strategies in the heat of battle because the longer she fights with her opponent, the better she is able to analyze their fighting style, attack patterns and deduce their powers. The reason her tactical skill was underutilized was because under contract with Shinji who saw servants as tools and thus he too saw Rider as a mere tool, he would not care to listen to her strategic expertise. This often proves to be fatal for the pairing. She fights mainly with a pair of Nameless Dagger in close combat that is more likely to be called a "nail" rather than a "dagger." It is attached to a long chain that can restrain and immobilize targets that she pierces. It is not suited to short-range battles, instead best utilized as a thrown weapon from a distance. It is not a Noble Phantasm, and it is thought to be a weapon that reflects her inner character, as well as being strong enough for her to stand on and use to propel herself at an opponent. She is also able to conjure numerous Nameless Daggers through a summoning circle and fire them over a large area in the direction of her choosing.

Combat part 3

She displays the ability to phase her Nameless Daggers into and out of spirit form due to her weapons being an extension of her hair. This ability is extremely valuable in combat because it allows her to stealthily restrain and or trap her enemies. Rider's fighting style relies heavily on sneak attacks and evasive maneuvers which she uses in tandem with her speed. This style of fighting allows her to disorient her opponent as they don't know where her attacks are coming from until it's too late and to make the first move in a battle. Signature moves of her fighting style include: rushing at her opponents in spirit form and materializing just right before the moment of impact, striking at her opponents at great speed from all sides with a barrage of kicks and stabs from her daggers weakening them until she can land a fatal blow and utilizing her surroundings to rush for cover after striking to prepare for another sneak attack. Due to her speed and her ability to promptly strategize she is able to land multiple sneak attacks at a time even at close range, only those with great technique such as Saber are able to counter them all. She displays a preference for striking her enemies' weakspots because it allows her to incapacitate her opponents swiftly and efficiently. As demonstrated in both Fate/Extella and the Heaven's Feel route in her fight against True Assassin, one of the best ways Rider uses her Nameless Daggers in combat is by stabbing her enemies with her daggers or ensnaring her opponents in her chains and proceeding to smash her captured adversaries into the surrounding environment to injure them, hurling them with a hammer throw or using them as flail like weapons against other enemies. She normally does this in tandem with her Monstrous Strength skill.