Wu Zetian (Caster)

Item Construction: A

Can create tools with magical energy. In terms of type, they are items such as talismans from the Taoist arts that she once learned.

Territory Creation: A

Allows for the creation of a workshop to create a favorable position for one’s self as a mage. The Empress’ summer residence, absolutely inviolable and comfortable, is naturally as sacred as a temple.

Heavenly Will/: EX

Even after losing the favor of Emperor Taizong, her first harem master she never gave up on her dream of ruling the world. Determined to give everything she had to achieve her dream, she worked greedily and continued to move forward with determination.

Consort’s Charisma (Summer): EX

Wu Zetian’s ability to sway hearts and minds, which she put to expert use as the consort for the Tang Dynasty’s Emperor Taizong. This charm is based on her beauty, intelligence, and skill in the performing arts It was so strong, it even kept the emperor’s son, Gaozong, under her spell. Though ill omens and prophecy warned of threats to her position, she managed to use her connections with China’s key figures, which she had made and maintained thanks once again to this skill, to successfully retain her position. While elements of this ability are present in the Charisma she possesses as an Assassin, they are far more effective now that she has gained a summer-ready swimsuit Spirit Origin and a body closer to the age she was back then to go with it.

“It just goes to show that no one can resist these perfect proportions!”

Cursed Princess Wu: A

When Wu Zetian was younger, there was a prophecy that said, “A woman by the name of ’Wu’ will destroy the Tang Dynasty and gain control of China.” This prophecy is believed to have led to Emperor Taizong growing suspicious of Wu Zetian, known at the time as Wu Zhao, which led him to attempt to distance himself from her.

While this skill may seem similar to Yang Guifei’s Ruinous Beauty, it is actually very different. Instead of just ruining a nation, this skill denotes a person destined to remake what once was after the fact.

Perhaps due in part to her third skill, there are some differences in this skill’s effects while she is in this Spirit Origin.

Emperor Taoism: EX

After the death of Emperor Taizong, Wu Zetian is said to have briefly entered a Taoist temple. Normally, she would have become a monk and never returned to the secular world, but at the request of Emperor Gaozong, the next emperor and son of Emperor Taizong, Wu Zetian returned to the palace. She was a hard worker and completely overflowing with talent and so in that short time seemed to master and understand almost everything about Taosim… (or so she says)

As a result, she obtained a Caster Spirit Origin and is able to use her Imperial Privilege to flawlessly utilize her own self taught adaptation of Taoist Arts, which for various reasons is specialized in fighting ghosts

Also as a result of acquiring more knowledge from the database, she ended up creating a method that involves her Torturers acting as if they were jiāngshī

In other words, this is a skill that demonstrates the technique and combat ability of a “professional in fighting the dead; a Taoist priest who controls Jiangshi.”

Lái Lái, My Jiāngshī Torturers

Come Forth, My Torturer Jiāngshī
A Taoist art in which Wu Zetian summons a small army of Torturers who have been transformed into jiāngshī thanks to the talismans placed on their foreheads. Forgetting their original purpose of being the best damn tormenters an empress could ask for, these Torturers hop around in a decidedly jiāngshī-esque fashion while following Wu Zetian’s orders, even as they find themselves wondering, “Why am I doing this again…?” Silently, of course. Oh, and for the record, they absolutely can walk around normally if they want.

Incidentally, anyone who wants to serve Wu Zetian can become an easily manipulatable jiāngshī just by having her place a talisman on their forehead and casting a spell, so new recruits are always welcome.

Attention, all you motivated, talented prospective jiāngshī! Come for the beautiful boss, stay for the fulfilling work, and as a bonus, enjoy a few rounds of refreshing torture when you foul up!

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Personality

While she’s mostly the same person she is as an Assassin, she does seem more confident in her position as empress now that she looks more grown-up. She was always good at torturing people, but now she’s developed a bit of a thing for killing undead.

Motivation · Attitude towards Master

Basically the same as her Caster self.

She takes the stance that she has to show Master that she isn’t scared of ghosts. Instead she wants to use the ghosts at her command to scared them.

Dialogue Examples

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Character Image in “FateGO”

Summer has arrived.

“Since the others are no doubt waiting for me, perhaps it is time I graced them with my beautiful swimsuited presence!”

And so Wu Zetian gained a swimsuit Spirit Origin (specifically, a Caster) in a physically older body.

“You know, I had forgotten that I once mastered Taoist arts. I wonder how that happened? Oh well. Now that I have remembered them, I have nothing to fear from ghosts OR spirits! I am invincible!”

Just like that, she took advantage of her Servant nature to acquire Imperial Taoist Arts (which is to say, regular Taoist arts that have been customized to dispose of any sort of dead thing or spirit, an idea she lifted almost entirely from a movie which featured creatures like jiāngshī) by way of Imperial Privilege. With them, she now commands her Torturers, essentially her familiars, as if they were jiāngshī.

Having overcome her one weakness has left her in a great mood pretty much all the time. Perhaps because she now has a means of handling the undead, she’s developed a tendency to put all who work for her through the ringer. It’s almost like she’s doing so to relieve the frustration she felt from before…

Wu Zetian’s newly rediscovered capacity for Taoist arts gives rise to an inherent contradiction: Why was she afraid of spirits all this time? The truth is, when she was alive, her Taoist arts didn’t work; they had no effect at all. No matter how many times she chanted, the ghosts of those she had poisoned still plagued her, and cats still looked down at her with spite in their eyes. Small wonder, then, that she could not make use of Taoist arts when she had seen for herself how poorly they worked. This trauma tremendously complicated the prospect of her becoming a Caster, which was necessary to stabilize her swimsuit Spirit Origin. Scáthach-Skadi’s solution to this problem was to employ her runes to seal away Wu Zetian’s memories of her failures with Taoist arts.

Now that she is able to trust her own abilities, the newly swimsuited Wu Zetian appears (emphasis on appears) to have forgotten all about her fear of the undead. This, however, is owed entirely to her being able to deal with spirits meaning there is no reason for her to fear them. Once summer ends and she once more recalls how completely ineffective her arts were, or, alternatively, if she ever begins to worry about the possibility of encountering a righteous ghost she is unable to exorcise even in her new Spirit Origin, her experiences from this summer will vanish as though waking from a dream.

That’s right. Deep down, in her heart of hearts, she still feels as though she can never escape the spirits cursing her for all the political assassinations she enacted, whether or not she did so for the greater good of China. However, that is not weakness. This feeling stems from her pride in protecting her country, and in spite of her fears, she would do it all again if she had to.

And so, naturally, hard worker that she is, Wu Zetian continues to try to overcome her fear of spirits (and cats) even after summer draws to a close…

General Armaments

Peach Sword

Coin Sword

Throwing Rice

Torturer Jiāngshī Attack

Jiāngshī Talisman

Connections with Characters

Swimsuit Scáthach-Skadi

You want me to help with the special theme park? You can leave it to me.

Yang Guifei

Stop, stop it. Don’t stand close to me. Our presences are too similar, and that might divide people’s attention. Well, I am the better one.

Swimsuit Medb and Swimsuit Yu Mei-ren

When someone already beautiful puts on a swimsuit they attract even more eyes, it’s quite troubling… I’m sure you two understand, yes? Being too beautiful is a sin hehehe!

Swimsuit Carmila

A friend in torture. Discussing summer torture methods unique to their swimsuit Spirit Origins.

Shuten-Douji

Seeing the Jiāngshī-style Shuten at Chaldea also gave her a hint for her current look. Shuten finds it amusing and sometimes joins in with the Torturer Jiāngshī in that form. Shuten isn’t an undead so she isn’t affected by Wu Zetian’s spells. It’s pretty obvious she’s pretending to be under Wu’s control and using that as an excuse to cause trouble.

Since this is the late teens version of Fuuyaa-chan(Nite Brite/Nightless) — Fuuyaa-san(Shyne Brite/Shining????) — naturally I gave her a mature body. Her hairstyle alternates between a side ponytail and short hair for variety, and for the Third Ascension I designed it to evoke her original look. For her weapon, I chose something fitting for a Taoist: a flexible sword that combines the peach sword and the coin sword. It’s fun how all kinds of little things pop out during her attacks in the game, isn’t it? (Takehito Harada)