Summary[]
Berserker is the Berserker-class Servant of Illyasviel von Einzbern during the Fifth Holy Grail War.
His true name is Heracles, the greatest hero of Greek mythology. A demigod, the son of Zeus and a mortal woman, he was plagued by rage all his life despite his exceptional skills. He became a great hero, but Hera, jealous of her husband's infidelity, inflicted Heracles with madness, which led him to murder his own family. Troubled with his sins, he took on his legendary Twelve Labors to atone for them. He was gifted with immortality after he completed them all. After his eventual death, he ascended to Olympus as a god.
Powers and Stats[]
Dimensionality: 3D
Threat Level: Dragon
Powers and Abilities:
- Berserk Mode via Madness Enhancement
- Precognition (Has an innate sixth sense that allows him to sense and avoid danger in combat)
- Invulnerability (His skin is a conceptual defense that nullifies all but the highest-ranked attacks, rendering sheer power irrelevant)
- Reactive Evolution (Grows resistant to anything that injures him), Can temporarily fight on even with lethal injuries (Kept on fighting briefly after being killed time and time again by the Gate of Babylon and even after an eighth of his body was destroyed by Shirou's Nine Lives)
- Immortality
- Type 3 and Regeneration (Mid-Low normally; Can heal any non-fatal wounds within minutes. Mid with God Hand; Regenerated and kept on going even after Fragarach crushed his brain)
- Type 4 and Resurrection (Has a stock of eleven extra lives that enables him to resurrect upon death)
- Minor Fate Manipulation (Servants with B-rank Luck or higher can change their fates to evade inevitable outcomes such as having their hearts destroyed by Gáe Bolg)
Physical Strength: Mountain Class Striking Strength with Class K Lifting Strength (Has A+ Rank strength, making him the physically most powerful Servant of the Fifth Holy Grail War. His strength was further noted to be one of the highest among those that can be summoned in Chaldea, making him superior to the likes of Summer Martha who could stop a train in its tracks, and Achilles who could stop a jumbo plane with a kick)
Attack Potency: Mountain (Deflected a weakened Excalibur, Archer's Caladbolg II after intercepting it mid-flight, and numerous high-rank weapons from the Gate of Babylon that were powerful enough to kill him and shatter Caster's barriers which are as strong as his skin. Was stated by Saber that even she doubted she would have been able to fight Heracles at her best, nor would any of the other Servants of the 5th Holy Grail War.)
Durability: Mountain (Has A-rank durability, and thus should be comparable to his AP. A barrage from Atalanta, Kiyohime, Drake, and David's attacks did nothing to Heracles, only slowing him down at best. Can block blows from Asterios, who possess A++ rank strength and thus physically stronger than him)
Speed: At least Supersonic (Easily kept pace with Saber and overwhelmed her during their fight, even stated to be faster than the latter and too fast for Saber to dodge his attacks, only parry them. Was indirectly stated to have fought Lancer, one of the fastest among the Fifth Holy Grail War who also fought everyone else though it was noted that was when he was held back by command. In Turas Realta, he was able to react to an arrow shot by Atalanta, whose arrows can surpass the speed of sound.)
Intelligence: Low. Berserker is almost entirely insane, reckless, and has little regard for his own safety thanks to God Hand. However, despite his madness, he still retains some of his combat skills; he competitively fought Saber and her magical sword. Later, he was also capable of repelling several of Gilgamesh's weapons from the Gate of Babylon to protect himself and Illya. He also used Pankration (a Greek martial art, basically a combination of wrestling and boxing) when his Axe Sword was restrained. Due to his Eye of the Mind (False) skill, he is also unhindered by visual obstructions, enabling him to follow Saber's invisible sword, showing that his battle instincts are still ingrained within him despite his maddened state. Also, he's highly protective of Illya. He will go to any length to protect her, managing to accomplish feats like snapping Enkidu to reach Gilgamesh and save her.
Stamina: Very high (Was able to continue fighting against Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon barrages in Unlimited Blade Works, even when losing all of his lives. He kept on fighting against Saber Alter while being consumed by the Shadow, and later in his battle against Shirou after the latter took off an eighth of his body in Heaven's Feel).
Range: Extended melee range with axe sword.
Weakness: Standard weaknesses of Servant Physiology. Berserker is insane and protects Illya at any cost. Sufficiently powerful attacks can bypass God Hand and take off multiple lives at once, potentially even killing him twelve times over instantly. The lives provided by God Hand can be used up and not replenished, requiring Berserker's master to carefully strategize in making sure not to use them up (however, this can be subverted through a master with a level of mana on Illya's level of capacity, allowing them to help Berserker regenerate those lives overtime)
Arsenal[]
His axe sword.
Noteworthy Techniques and Abilities[]
Mad Enhancement: The source of the Berserker class's power, raising their statistics in exchange for a loss of sanity. It can seal away certain fighting techniques, individual skills, or even Noble Phantasms in some cases. Usually, only weak Servants get summoned as Berserkers, but the Einzberns summoned Heracles, one of the greatest heroes. Unfortunately, as a hero famous for his heroism and sense of justice, the traits were only a hindrance to Einzberns' pragmatism. At his rank of B, this means most of his reason has been lost. Thus he has lost access to several abilities, such as Bravery skill and his greatest Noble Phantasm, Nine Lives. Even with these setbacks, it still boosts physical characteristics significantly, comparable to his Bravery enhancement.
Battle Continuation: A skill that reflects one's exceptional vitality and endurance, allowing the user to fight on despite grievous wounds and escape safely even when defeated. Berserker has an A-rank in this skill, allowing him to continue fighting despite suffering mortal injuries. He remained alive to briefly fight even after receiving gruesome wounds such as having an eighth of his body destroyed at once or having all of his lives taken off by the Gate of Babylon.
Bravery: An ability that negates mental interference and increases physical capabilities. Due to Heracles' brave and daring spirit, he gains an A+ rank in this skill. It allows him to neutralize mind interference such as pressure, confusion, fascination, and charms and kill several monsters empty-handed. However, Mad Enhancement's influence sealed this ability.
Divinity: The measure of one's Divine Spirit aptitude, reflected in high ranks by the user becoming part Divine Spirit. At A-rank, it is an indicator of one who has reached godhood. Additionally, it possesses another effect that allows one to reduce "Anti-Purge defense" in proportion to the rank of their Divinity, allowing them to break through defensive abilities such as Protection of the Faith and Saver's Enlightenment of the Sacred Fig. As the most famous son of Zeus, who ascended from a demigod to become a full god himself after his death, Heracles has A-rank Divinity.
Eye of the Mind (False): Berserker has the natural ability to avoid danger based on an innate sixth sense refined through combat experience, a gift he gained through his many adventures and ordeals in his legend. Despite his loss of sanity, this ability remains intact as it is just an instinct. He can also disregard visual obstructions such as Invisible Air, battling as if it were not there and expertly blocking Saber's invisible blade.
God Hand: Twelve Labors: A hidden ability of Berserker's, a blessing (and yet also a curse) from the gods that grants immortality, bestowed upon him after he completed the Twelve Labors that gave him a body so durable virtually nobody in the Age of Gods could scratch him unless it was of the highest grade. It is a continuously-active Noble Phantasm that converts his skin into armor that is likened to a Conceptual Weapon, a conceptual defense that nullifies all attacks below A-rank even for those that can "destroy the world" if they're B rank or less, thus only the mightiest of attacks (A-rank or above) can bypass this and harm him. On top of this, it grants him automatic regeneration that allows him to recover from anything that manages to hurt him. He has a stock of eleven extra lives, allowing him to resurrect after lethal injuries, so he has to be killed twelve times to put him down permanently. These additional lives slowly replenish themselves over time if provided with mana on the level of Illya's, who is a Lesser Grail designed to take the place of the Holy Grail which provides nigh-limitless amounts of mana. To make things even more complicated, whenever an attack injures him, he becomes resistant to it once he heals, rendering even a Noble Phantasm useless after it draws his blood once. Therefore, to kill him permanently, one must have twelve different methods or be strong enough to take multiple lives at once.
Nine Lives: Shooting the Hundred Heads: Heracles' greatest Noble Phantasm, the combat technique he devised and used to slay the Hydra in life. It is a technique that "exterminates no matter how many times his opponent resurrects." Used initially with his bow, he could emulate it with other weapons, allowing him to use it in any form, depending on the circumstances. It can be delivered with any instrument he has on hand, displaying power on a Noble Phantasm level regardless of the specifics. It can demonstrate a scope ranging from Anti-Unit to even Anti-Fortress. No matter what, it is, at its essence, a high-speed attack consisting of nine, near-simultaneous consecutive strikes. Under the Fuyuki system, due to being summoned as a Berserker, he cannot utilize this Noble Phantasm. But under the FATE system of Chaldea, he can use it without issue.
- Anti-Unit Great Sword Version: The version he utilizes under the FATE system, his most exceptional technique that's performed with a great sword. Instead of nine near-simultaneous consecutive strikes like it usually should perform, a rush attack consists of a hundred strikes within a single breath. It starts as a series of strong slashes that quickly speed up until he hits an opponent up to a hundred times. The final strike is a jump slash that smashes the target.
Notable Matches[]
Notes[]
1) Due to its unusual mechanics, it is quite difficult to apply God Hand's negating effects outside of Type Moon in versus threads, as there is no way to judge the "rank" of attacks due to following its own rules and mechanics unique to the setting. Thus, God Hand's negating effects apply only up to how much Heracles has shown to endure.
3) Though noted as his Noble Phantasm, Heracles is unable to utilize Nine Lives depending on his summoning and whether his Madness Enhancement is being active or not, and whether his "motor skills" are functioning properly enough to utilize it or not. While under Illyasviel in the Fifth Grail War, he could not use it due to his sheer prowess and strength being prioritized. When summoned by Chaldea, due to the protagonist master not having the skill and power to use his madness enhancement at its maximum potential, it allows Heracles to retain what little he has of his motor functions and sanity to use a variant of his Nine Lives. In other words, it should be noted if Heracles is able to use Nine Lives or not when making vs matches with the character.