Vritra

Magic Resistance: A

Cancels spells of A-rank or below.
In practice, she is unable to be affected by any magecraft conjured by modern magi.

Dragonkind: A

A skill which proclaims the owner to be a dragon, the pinnacle of Phantasmal Species.
Although her Servant form is that of a human body, she essentially still retains the special characteristics of a dragon.

Fated Enemy of the Gods: A

Although Vritra has been spoken of in various forms in legends, her role has always remained the same. A skill that demonstrates her eternal position and raison d’être as an existence opposing the gods.
Another name for Vritra, “Surāri”, is said to mean “enemy of the gods”.

The Vajra that Penetrated: A

Although the details vary from legend to legend, many of them recount that Vritra was slain by the very weapon she now wields herself (the Vajra). Some stories also exist where Vritra was slain by shooting the Vajra into her mouth as she held it wide open.
As a Servant, Vritra has come to possess the Vajra which was the very cause of her death. Of course, saying it’s the “very same” might not be entirely correct, since its shape and properties might have altered somewhat, but it’s still modeled after the same one used by Indra.
Even in its current form, having been transformed into a spear, it remains endowed with the strength and destructive power of a Divine Construct.
As for the reason behind using the weapon of an enemy…perhaps it’s for the sake of not forgetting the anguish bestowed upon her by her bitter enemy? Or perhaps, she flourishes it now as a spear of evil as a form of harassment to ridicule her enemy?

Eternally Indestructible Demon: EX

Even if she is defeated by Indra, after some time she will revive once again and begin a battle against the gods.
A skill that demonstrates that eternal cycle, that nature of indestructibility that could even be likened to a natural phenomenon.
The confrontation between “Vritra who stems waters (by bringing about droughts or trapping it in the clouds and mountains)” and “Indra who unleashes that with thunderstorms” is not a one-time occasion; it is something that’s been repeating since the distant past and will probably repeat eternally in the future as well.
That is, perhaps, the very primordial faith that reveres nature and the gods.
Vritra reigns as an indestructible demon with the same intensity as the reverence towards nature that the people pour into the gods.

O Demon, Cover Wholly the Heaven and Earth

Asura Shrestha.
A Noble Phantasm that refers to Vritra’s other name, “the greatest among the Asuras.” She uses an army of demons which are either her kin or her own alter egos, and covers the heavens and earth, exactly as her reason for existence dictates, isolating the target. According to legend, “Vritra used her own body to dam water up in the mountains”. The “mountains” here can be interpreted as “clouds”, and so this Noble Phantasm takes the form of an ominous cloud that blankets and then crashes down onto the world.

In addition to being an evil dragon, Vritra is also described as an Asura (demon), and is also called Asurendra (king of the Asuras). In the “Mahabharata,” an army of malevolent demigods like Kalakeyas and Rakshasas led by Vritra were described as having tormented Indra and the gods, and so she not only has the authority to “obstruct things”, but also wields control over armies of pure violence.

Personality

As sadistic as she is energetic.
She’s a beautiful vixen of a woman, sneering and baring her teeth in full the moment she finds a prey worth her time to mess with.
Deep within her heart, what she really feels is more like “How commendable, you pygmyish human! Come on, come on, keep at it! You can do this!” though it comes off as quite a condescending tone, as if she’s merely toying with people. She always perceives people from the perspective of a “demon” who is wholly different from other people, which gives the impression that she lacks any worldly sense whatsoever. On the flipside, however, this will usually give rise to both charming and humoristic moments.

Motivation · Attitude towards Master

She doesn’t really have a wish for the grail.
The reason she has no need for such borrowed power is because she is more than capable enough of obstructing things and enjoying all the wonders of this world just on her own strength. If that wasn’t the case, she would use the grail as a resource to make ends meet.

Her disposition toward her Master is that they are someone she especially enjoys providing hardships for. That said, after the Christmas incident, she doesn’t bother them all too much (except, you know…sometimes).
If she does, it is an everyday, really trivial kind of messing with.
The primary reason for this is because her Master has their hands full with restoring the Human Order (resolving the Bleaching of the Earth), so even if Vritra herself doesn’t get involved, she is still able to observe her Master overcoming a great challenge.
For that reason, she tries her best to keep it light and fun for the time being, and not alter the situation by getting too involved.
She just continues grinning, and with a sadistic look thinking “Will they be able to overcome this obstacle?” It is all purely for the sake of her own pleasure.

Dialogue Examples

“I am Vritra. Now tell me, what would a person like you, have a serpent like me do?”
“Uuugghh… So tedious…”
“Kihihi! So you have come, child of Indra! Will you be the one to slay the serpent this time, hah?”
“O’ one whose armor was stolen by Indra. I know very well he’s the sort of god to come up with a scheme like that. What? You don’t have any grudges against him? Kihihi, is that so? I’ll be honest with you: neither do I.”
“No, no, no! I don’t want to get all sudsy!”
“I-I don’t smell! I’ll have you know I get in the water to splash myself every day!”

Historical Image · Character Image

The serpent demon god or the evil dragon mentioned in a number of Indian texts, such as the “Rigveda” and “Mahabharata.” The name means “obstacle,” she they are believed to have the power to obstruct the flow of water to cause droughts. Indra was said to have defeated Vritra to put an end to the droughts they caused. Vritra is consistently depicted as Indra’s enemy, and the conflict between these two is often referenced in myth.

Indra’s other name, Vritrahan, literally means “slayer of Vritra.”

Character Image in “FateGO”

Vritra, the dragon of obstructed boundaries.
She’s the “dragon that dams (井堰) up the world”, or “the dragon that encloses (囲む) the world”. Being a dragon with this concept comes from the similar readings of the kanji¹.
She is a Divine Spirit and dragonkin who is the very personification of the concept of obstruction. An obstacle to the whole of the world. As a Servant, all of this is shrunk down to human size upon her manifestation.
Perhaps she’s imitating Rambha, a prominent beauty who was sent by Indra as a part of his scheme to entrance Vritra to the point of death, or perhaps she chose to become a beautiful woman to make a statement about never falling for Indra’s cowardly schemes.
She is often described as an evil god who causes droughts, but at times she is also interpreted as a “winter giant”.
The idea is that Vritra is the personification of “harsh winters when water is scarce” (its flow being obstructed). In contrast, Indra, the god of thunder, is the personification of the blessing of rain that “relieves the suffering of droughts and winter”.

Vritra is an “obstacle” who “damns things up” and “brings the world to a standstill”.
It is this very “power to obstruct things (seal them)” that Vritra, as a dragon, exercises authority over.
It could be called a variation of Bounded Fields, which “obstructs” concepts themselves from reaching the world.
For example, if water is obstructed, it will not appear in the world, and there will be droughts.
Blocking up something necessary like water would obviously bring agony to humans. It is a wicked and evil thing. Hence why she is an evil dragon.
Yet, what she does is necessary for the world to continue.
Just like water getting released from dams or the breath of a bud popping out from the ground, there are certain things in this world that cannot happen without first overcoming obstacles.
Being “dammed up” is definitely distressing, but once you overcome that obstacle, something else will await you.
In truth, what she really governs are the “obstacles beyond which evolution awaits” and “impediments that are a necessary evil for evolution”.

What she enjoys the most is watching the growth humans undergo after overcoming the hardships and obstacles that she prepared.
It is by no means due to affection; you can clearly feel the pleasure gained from her one-sided perspective (which is surely that of a god) of looking down on them from far above.
That’s why she doesn’t go easy on them. She has no restraint.
She prepares obstacles that could even be seen as absolute evil, but it’s not like she’s wishing for humanity’s destruction.
She simply wishes to see a stronger future, a stronger world, a stronger humanity.
In short, she’s extremely sadistic towards the world.
To put it another way, she is an overly strict trainer and audience of the world.
It means she believes in the strength of mankind as “someone from the side of evil”.
That said, it would be a pretty serious matter if the world really did end, so as a Servant, she’ll happily respond to summoning in order to protect her playground.

Originally, Ganesha was also a god of obstacles, but now, as a result of faith, for the most part, they possess the disposition of a “god of fortune who removes obstacles”. Vritra is nothing like that; they mainly create obstacles in a thoroughly stoic manner. She won’t go easy on others when it comes to this. She will show no mercy. However──that is only because she wants to selfishly indulge in watching mankind and the world as they overcome them and their appearance as they grow.

General Armaments

Vajra
Demonic underlings

Connections with Characters

Indra

Her eternal rival.
It’s not a matter of liking or disliking, but rather that she sees them as something like the most worthwhile plaything.
When he shows her just how much fun they can have, she watches on with a huge grin. When he does the opposite, though, she just clicks her tongue.

Arjuna

She’s curious to hear more about the son of Indra.

Karna

She’s curious to hear about the many ways Indra pestered the rival of his son.

Kama

Someone who, on orders of Indra, shot an arrow at Shiva and lost their life.
Simply put, a fellow Vajra-holder who was harrased.

Elizabeth

“I feel a sense of kindship with that little dragon girl. Oh, she’s fond of the arts? I would really like to hear more from her.”

Dragon-slayer Servants

She doesn’t fear them. She just keep grinning, treating them with a sense of “if you could do it, you would’ve tried already”.
The implication is that they’re just another thrilling plaything in this world.

Martha / Quetzalcoatl, etc.

She’s a bit cautious about those who can commandeer dragonkin just through specific terms of the Riding-skill.
She’s all for treating people as no more than toys, but she herself being toyed with by humans makes her sick to her stomach.

Translator’s Notes

1. ^ At the end it says she’s 囲(井)界竜. Both 囲 and 井 can be read as い so as far as I understand it they’re really just hammering home that “enclose” and “dam up” are read the same, and then they slap dragon on at the end to make Vritra.

The fundamental motif of her design is based on Rambha, the celestial nymph who was seduced by Vritra (not sure about that), so I made her beautiful, yet made her slightly mysterious by having her hide her mouth in the first ascension, which is a characteristic of Vritra. As long as she doesn’t open her mouth, she’s so beautiful! In that sense, my favorite part of her design is her expressions. Since she was originally an evil dragon, I gave her pretty blunt expressions. I also designed her with the intent that she would be even more attractive in motion. In fact, when she actually appeared in the story, she moved with such a carefree attitude and was more dazzling than I could have ever imagined. (La-na)