Merlin (Prototype)

Territory Creation: D

One can create a “Workshop”, which is an advantageous position for themselves as a Mage.

Perhaps due to being a completely rootless person and having a freewheeling activity plan of not staying at any one place, Merlin has not accumulated much experience in creating a Territory as such.

High-Speed Incantation: EX

The ability to hasten the chants of magical incantations.

Although they are not Divine Words, the beauty of those Magic Words that Merlin speaks with has already reached the level of the Fairy Language. It is said that Merlin’s Magic Words are spoken in a fast and brief way, and have a sad sound to them in some respects.

Tool Creation: A+

One can create devices tinged with Magical Energy.

The staff Merlin holds in that hand of hers is a Workshop, which is able to create various tools in the blink of an eye.

Mixed-Blood: EX

One has the blood of a non-human being mixed in.

Merlin is considered to be a mixed-race being between an incubus and a human, and has completely inherited the special characteristics of a succubus.

Independent Manifestation: A

A Skill to materialize into the present world as an individual entity.

Merlin has acquired this Skill through her own efforts and is using it for the sake of her own personal hobby. This is one of the reasons how she could appear in “this place” of which she has originally no connection to.

Naturally, Merlin cannot be summoned as a Heroic Spirit. This is because she has not even died in any kind of future. Her serving the Master as a Servant is her letting out her personal desire, or if said more frankly, it is her hobby. In order to make that hobby be realized, she acquired this Skill – which is unable to be possessed by anyone except by those from a certain unique Class – with her own efforts, and she is pretending to be someone who was summoned as a Servant.

Hero Creation: B

The techniques to artificially give birth to and foster a “King”.

Merlin is one of the world-leading kingmakers, but because of her disposition of “The larger picture is important of course, but it’s even more important to have fun”, the Rank has fallen.

Dreamlike Charisma: D

The ability to attract people.

It is also possible to say that it is a Skill that is indispensable for Kings and leaders, but for some reason, Merlin has it by nature… However, because Merlin throws the King’s life out of kilter now and then without meaning to, all for “the precedence of having fun”, her Charisma towards people has declined.

Succubus’ Vicinity: EX

Merlin’s powers as the last succubus on Earth. It is also her real nature. It is a Skill that has the “Illusion Techniques” and “Mystic Eyes” Skills combined. With no more than a single sweep of her eyes over the battlefield, she interferes with the minds of enemies and allies collectively, and absorbs their Magical Energy at the same time.

Hope of Avalon: The Eternally Opened Utopia

Perhaps due to the kind of travels she made, this Merlin is not imprisoned in the Tower of Avalon.

(The theory that is most convincing is that Merlin was not caught in Morgan’s trap because she is a woman.)
(Another theory is that Merlin could have simply withdrew to paradise, but for all that said, she could be looking on human society from paradise in a carefree manner as it is not necessarily the case where she has anything to do in this world, or————)

Avalon will continue to exist until the moment humanity comes to its end. Merlin perceives Avalon in the form of “a future that is regarded as ideal, of which humanity aims for”. For that reason, the Avalon she inhabits is not shut off, and it becomes something placed as an open goal for humanity to reach.

Merlin’s staff points to beyond the horizon. It is “hope” itself that continues to shine the way ahead of eternity, and that continues to make every person move forward even now.

Personality

A sweet flower who never loses her composure. Merlin perceives everything objectively, and despite analyzing the human world as something ugly, she will show to others that she will speak with hope, saying “Come now, it’s not necessary for everything to be pretty. No matter what kind of filthy things there are, it’s fine as long as there’s just one shining star somewhere.”

Merlin likes the world of humans, mischief, and young men. The Mage of Flowers eludes almost all things with a gentle smile while saying “C’mon.”

Differing from the male Merlin, this female Merlin maintains a satisfied mental structure of not having even any sort of worries. She is aware that she is a foreign substance in human society, and she completely reasons out that “Others are others, and I am me” as she does not particularly lament that.
“So I’m something like a navigator that was given birth by humanity, you understand? Therefore I have no intention of stepping into that circle.”
“I’m simply… a woman who believes to some degree that… it’s alright if your journeys never come to an end for eternity. You might say though that… if a journey is likely to become too boring, it’ll get me to slip in a finger… just for a little while.”

Motivation · Attitude towards Master

Merlin deals with the Master with a smiling face and is gentle to them to some extent. Nevertheless, she maintains a moderate sense of distance, being neither too close nor too distant. The reason is because she is aware that the Master is a human and she is a foreign substance. And yet in the case that the time comes where she senses a “shining star” within the Master’s figure, then perhaps…?

Dialogue Examples

Another Mage of Flowers who came from a different world. A woman who is like a sweet flower, Merlin never forgets her smile, no matter what the scenario is. Because of that beauty, anyone who is in front of her will forget about reality and lose sight of their hostility. On the other hand, she can sometimes be made out to be an enchantress who seduces men by being too beautiful (and by being too good at seduction).

Because of her composed behaviour and manner of talking, there are even times where Merlin is relied upon as a wise person, but because of having that lack of tension to her and a thinking that is too dry, she can sometimes be spoken ill of as a cold-blooded Mage who has no concern for the world of humans.

“Now, now. Don’t fret so much, and don’t grieve so much either. Whatever the case, the fact is that you’re all living creatures that will die in vain like birds. Though one would say, “All’s well that ends well”, right? Ah, no, I don’t want to see things that have ended or remain unfinished however, among other things.”

Character Image in “FGOAC”

Another Mage of Flowers who came from a different world. A woman who is like a sweet flower, Merlin never forgets her smile, no matter what the scenario is. Because of that beauty, anyone who is in front of her will forget about reality and lose sight of their hostility. On the other hand, she can sometimes be made out to be an enchantress who seduces men by being too beautiful (and by being too good at seduction).

Because of her composed behaviour and manner of talking, there are even times where Merlin is relied upon as a wise person, but because of having that lack of tension to her and a thinking that is too dry, she can sometimes be spoken ill of as a cold-blooded Mage who has no concern for the world of humans.

“Now, now. Don’t fret so much, and don’t grieve so much either. Whatever the case, the fact is that you’re all living creatures that will die in vain like birds. Though one would say, “All’s well that ends well”, right? Ah, no, I don’t want to see things that have ended or remain unfinished however, among other things.”

Combat Style

Differing from the male Merlin, this female Merlin will not hold a sword in her hand to fight. She fights purely by means of using Magecraft through her staff, and by making use of “light (bits)” that are in a form similar to small Fairies. In addition, as she is nimble, she further carries out (something similar to) hand-to-hand combat actively.

Connections with Characters

Arthur Pendragon

“Look, I’ve finally arrived, My Lord. Eh? What? You say that I’ll be stirring things up again as if I find that funny? Now that’s heartless of you, because even though I may seem like this, the fact is that I’ve been making great efforts for this and that.”
“… You’re right though.” (Whispering)

Tiamat

“Yo Tiamat. Everyone’s mother! Thank you, thank you for that time. I know. I wonder if I should go on at my own leisure now and then. Alright, I’ll treat you to dinner.”

Draco

“… Yo, I was imagining what kind of face you’re gonna make when you were summoned, but yeah. It’s a nice face. Ah, hey, I mean that in a good way of course. Since I’m nooot unkind to that extent, right? By the way, your… Class is Alter Ego, huh? Uh, nope? Come now, there’s no deeper meaning to it. Ahaha.”

Beast VI

“The fact is that the way we met was sad, even pitiful, and nothing more than the worst possible thing.”————Come now, I didn’t think of such things at all. I surely believe that, most of all, it was the best possible meeting between her and us. Even if it was something that happened at the very end, don’t you think? Especially since… that was for all of you, humanity!”

I did not try to aim for a 3D design of Proto Merlin as I certainly did not believe she would be implemented into Arcade, but since there are more elements I was able to include into her design by not considering the 3D side of it, I think it turned out nicely in the end, did it not?… The reason why her 3rd Ascension’s appearance and earrings were overall made to look like elf ears was because my objective was to try to make her design into a Fairy-like image. I was conscious of using a design line different from Merlin’s for the sake of expressing approximately the same amount of difference shown between Artoria and Proto Arthur, but the composition of their colours felt generally similar, so I did things such as decreasing the shade just a little bit as I wanted more of a Proto impression from her. (Taiki)