Summary[]
Assassin is the Assassin-class Servant of Caster, an irregularity that shouldn't exist under the Assassin class, yet summoned through Caster's machinations. His true name is ostensibly Kojirou Sasaki, a legendary Japanese swordsman, theorized to have the true name of Tsuda. However, Sasaki Kojirou never existed; instead, the Servant summoned is a nameless samurai who dedicated his entire life to the mastery of swordsmanship, his sheer skill becoming a legend on the level of a Noble Phantasm on its own. His life resembles the legend of Sasaki Kojirou, and so he is summoned under his name and with his legend.
He appears in Fate/Grand Order as both his original summoning as an Assassin able to be summoned by Chaldea to assist in resolving the singularities and as a Nameless Saber who duels Musashi Miyamoto in The Tournament of the Seven Blade-Master Heroic Spirits during the events of the Shimosa sub-singularity.
Powers and Stats[]
Dimensionality: 3D
Threat Level: At least Demon+
Powers and Abilities:
- Enhanced Senses (He has exceptional eyesight due to his Eye of the Mind being superior to Archer, allowing him to discern the dimensions of Excalibur through Invisible Air. Is able to hear heartbeats. Was able to tell Saber was a swordsman despite not drawing her sword out yet)
- Regeneration (Low-Mid over time; Can regenerate from a serious wound that blasted open his chest and exposed his ribs)
- Presence Concealment and Invisibility (Can conceal himself with Vitrification)
- Precognition (Has an innate sixth sense that allows him to sense and avoid danger in combat)
- Master Swordsman (His swordsmanship is so refined that it has reached the level of a Mystery beyond human possibility, allowing him to launch three perfectly simultaneous slashes from three different directions in the form of his Tsubame Gaeshi)
- Limited Spatial Manipulation with Tsubame Gaeshi
- Minor Fate Manipulation (Has A-rank luck, and Servants with B-rank Luck or higher can change their own fates to evade inevitable outcomes such as having their hearts destroyed by Gáe Bolg.)
Resistance to:
- Information Analysis and Precognition (Knowledge of Respect and Harmony makes his attacks "unreadable" and prevents his opponents from ever analyzing or getting used to his attacks. This works against those with precognition such as Artoria's who A-rank Instinct can enable her such an ability and yet she was unable to ever get used to them despite fighting Sasaki many times)
- Mind Manipulation (His Vitrification Skill notes him as being resistant to mental effects such as charm and fear magecraft, allowing him to keep a calm and cool mind even during combat)
Physical Strength: At least City level, likely higher
Attack Potency: At least City, likely higher (With Caster's support, he was able to beat back Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, and even Berserker. His Tsubame Gaeshi is on the level of a Noble Phantasm, and it would have killed Saber if not for the blind spot she exploited and had his blade not been bent)
Durability: At least City, likely higher (Was able to block an attack from Saber's sword, but doing so started to chip and break his sword)
Speed: At least Supersonic (Can easily keep up with and trade blows with Saber and Archer, and has likely done the same with Lancer, Rider, and Berserker.)
Intelligence: High. Assassin is a peerless swordsman, having reached a realm transcending the realm of men through nothing but hard work and single-minded dedication, and has reached a level to be compared to a Noble Phantasm. He is stated to have the greatest swordsmanship amongst all of the Servants in the Fifth Grail War, far surpassing Berserker, who is more than qualified for the Saber class, and Saber, who is renowned in life for being one of Britain's finest knights. His skill in swordsmanship goes as far as to have other warriors like Lancer and Gilgamesh opt not to fight him directly and instead attack from a distance. Furthermore, he can clash evenly with his chief rival, Musashi Miyamoto, who had also reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship and could collapse all possibilities into a single outcome, with their respective skills being stated to transcend time and space itself. As such, his skill as a swordsman is stated to have reached the state of true emptiness, reaching the unreachable existence of Infinity. Personality-wise he is also serene and calculating, rarely losing his composure and allowing him to easily perceive even the slightest weaknesses in the target with his keen eyesight, even outmatching the similarly perceptive Archer in close combat. He was also able to achieve a technique on the level of True Magic, something that many Mage families work for generations just to approach obtaining, melding it into his signature Tsubame Gaeshi to create multiple slashes in one move simply by swinging his sword many times.
Stamina: High. Due to his irregular nature, he can survive for twenty days without a Master, and even if he had his heart destroyed, he'd be able to continue fighting for a brief period of time.
Range: Extended melee range (His sword is 150 cm long, and its reach is akin to a spear. Tsubame Gaeshi's range is explicitly 3 meters)
Weakness: Standard weaknesses associated with Servant Physiology. Cannot leave the Ryuukou Temple grounds, and only has around 20 days worth of energy to keep him around (FSN version only, not applicable to his Chaldea/GO self). Has to be on level ground and take up a stance in order to use Tsubame Gaeshi. Despite his skills, his sword is still a mundane weapon and thus can be damaged if used for blocking instead of parrying. Additionally, said weapon being damaged can affect Tsubame Gaeshi's performance even when done properly by leaving a "small gap".
Arsenal[]
His nodachi, Monohoshi Zao
Noteworthy Techniques and Abilities[]
Presence Concealment: The capacity to hide one's presence as a Servant. It is a common skill for the Assassin class. Suitable for spying, though low enough that other Servants would easily detect him if he was nearby. He does not have it by virtue of being an Assassin, but it is an intrinsic ability of his as a martial artist that allows him to cut himself off from the world.
Eye of the Mind (False): Assassin has the natural ability to avoid danger based on an innate sixth sense refined through combat experience, so much so that it borders on precognition. Assassin's rank is A, meaning that it is so refined that the effects of visual obstructions are reduced, allowing him to gauge the exact length and width of Excalibur despite being rendered invisible by Invisible Air. He is said to have the best eyesight amongst the Servants summoned for the Fifth Holy Grail War.
Knowledge of Respect and Harmony: Assassin's techniques cannot be properly perceived by his opponents no matter how many times they're demonstrated. As a result, it is impossible for an opponent to get used to them. Thus the tenth, hundredth, or even thousandth encounter against him will feel the same as the first, so his techniques will always retain their effectiveness against his opponents.
Vitrification: Having gone through rigorous training in sharpining his sword skills, Sasaki gained a serene state of mind that keeps him calm and cool even in the face of his own death. This make him resistant to mental inteferences such as fear and charm-based sorceries which are completely neutralized. In addition, his B+ Rank in this skill allows him to conceal his presence if he pleases, allowing him to simulate the True Assassin's Presence Concealment skill to a limited extent, making it difficult for even Servants to detect along with his lack of mana and a true Noble Phantasm.
Hiken: Tsubame Gaeshi: The legendary technique of the swordsman Sasaki Kojirou, who is said to be capable of cutting down a swallow mid-flight. Through human means, he achieved a Mystery on the level of a Noble Phantasm, a skill mindlessly refined to the point that it has become a legend in itself. Under the Fuyuki system in most timelines, it is not acknowledged as a Noble Phantasm but is instead a skill. However, it is registered as such under the FATE system in Chaldea in the Grand Order timeline. The technique, through an application of the Second Magic which involves the Operation of Parallel Worlds, bends the laws of physics to make three perfectly simultaneous slashes from three separate directions. It is a sword of infinity that renders the finite existence of a single slash into multiple possibilities to create a future that not even the gods can escape from. In Fate/Unlimited Codes, Assassin can use a technique called Hikan: Tsubami Mai, which is a series of six high-speed slashes he performs on his enemy before getting into position and ending it with Tsubami Gaeshi.
It is Assassin's most important technique. He never normally takes a stance but does so for Tsubame Gaeshi. The technique is complemented by the range offered by Monohoshi Zao, allowing him to cut off escape. Even if one strike is blocked, the other two will land. As it is just a skill refined to the level of a Mystery, Assassin can use it without expending any more magical energy than he needs to move. The only requirement for its execution is level ground, as performing it on an improper level ground will only cause it to form two slashes rather than the three it normally should make.
At the peak of this technique, when used by his Nameless Saber self, instead of just attacking with three overlapping possibilities, he attacks with infinite answers. Normally, within the limits and laws of Space and Time, one would be bound to a single attack existing at any given time, but his skills have long surpassed Space, Time, Existence, Essence, etc. Using Infinity, his blade has become one with Endlessness. Accepting countless possibilities at once, and creating many more. This is the ultimate purpose of Kojiro's Swallow Reversal, to create a future that not even the gods nor the Buddha can avoid.