Wielder of Excalibur

[untilavalon]

PLAYER

Name: Luciano
Personal Journal: pocketprince
E-mail: puppyfacemccall@gmail.com
AIM/MSN/etc: colibriprince

CHARACTER

Name: Arturia Pendragon, Saber Class ; known in legend as King Arthur
Canon: Fate/Zero
Timeline: Directly after the events of Episode 25

Personality:

To understand Arturia Pendragon truly, one must bear in mind that above all, Arturia is King (though it is notable that there exist differences in her character in /Zero and /Stay Night due to different writers). From the day she was born she understood that to become king was indeed her destiny and accepted it with grace; unfortunately, she also accepted and never questioned a fair number of ideals that would lead to her fall. Rather than be raised by her father, Uther Pendragon, Arturia was raised as a squire by Sir Ector alongside foster brother Kay. Disregarding her sex, which Uthur had believed to be the reason she could not be raised as heir, Arturia was taught to be a knight and Merlin himself knew that the signs pointed to Arturia’s becoming king-- the king Britain had been promised. Arturia would eventually choose to pull the sword from the stone despite Merlin’s warnings that her life would never be the same; she knew that to be the king was her destiny no matter her sex and she would do all in her power to be the king that Britain then needed.

Her response to gender as a king can very easily be interpreted as Arthur accepting alternate gender roles (such as the idea of Knight or king as a gender role), or even shedding roles to be king. Without outright objecting to her female physical form or believing it to be of any detriment, Arturia adopted the masculine role of king and became so in spirit, ‘posing’ as male during her rule. She believed that, were she a good king, her people would be loyal to her no matter if they thought her to be the male king Arthur or the female king known by the same name. Arturia, then, is used to being referred to both as male or female and will not make grand efforts to change the perception of others. Her concentration is on the respect they give her as King. At the end of Arturia's canon she seems to prefer masculine clothing, is rather androgynous due to physical age, and has an androgynous vocal quality as she stopped ageing at the time she pulled Caliburn from the stone. She is uncomfortable in /Zero with people treating her as one would traditionally a girl, likely because she was raised as a squire and king and is not used to such actions. The fact that so many react as though she is a joke (or other bad reactions; see the next paragraph) once they learn that King Arthur’s biological sex was female bothers her intensely. She is not afraid to resort to harsh words and actions to prove her worth as king, as seen when she challenges Alexander when he gleefully exclaims “who would have thought that the king of knights was a little girl?”

Notable to this tie in is her master Kiritsugu's reaction to her sex; he distances himself from her at first and has an unrevealed reaction that Arturia seems to think is disrespectful. Irisveil explains that Kiritsugu doesn't believe that it is fair for a 'young girl' to have been forced into the position of king, but Arturia responds that she was not forced. She chose to draw the sword from the stone, believing it to be her destiny. Later, in Fate/Stay Night, she tells the protagonist that her existence as male or female did not matter; only her duty as king. Both events help to show that Arturia barely believes herself human; her response to Merlin before pulling the sword from the stone only helps to solidify it. He warns her that upon drawing Caliburn from the stone, she will no longer be human, and Arturia assures him she has been prepared for this fact her whole life.

During Arturia's stay as Uthur's son, only Merlin, the king, and her adoptive brother Kay were aware of her identity. Though she covered herself in steel to protect this idea, those who knew the king's son blamed the youth in her face on the protection of the fairies and the immortality brought to her from the sword. She was honoured as an immortal and mighty warrior, ruled better than any other king of her people, and all of her decisions were considered correct. She threw herself into the idea that a king must not be human, however, and showed no grief or emotion-- this would be what drove her people from her.

They began to believe that a king who was not human could not rule over humans, and some left her and betrayed her. One of her own knights even believed that "King Arthur does not understand human feelings" and many knights left Camelot because of this. However, engrossed in her role, there was no right or wrong to the King; if they left her, feared her, or abandoned her, it was trivial. Her own feelings did not matter; as something not human, those feelings shouldn't have existed. All that mattered was the good of Britannia. Still, she won a brief period of peace for her country until her death, when she bargained with the Throne of Heroes for the chance to win the grail.

“King of Knights” seems to be the favoured title of Arturia in Fate/Zero, and she certainly does take her role as king very seriously. Alexander the Great says of her:

"You saved them, but you never led them. You never showed them what a king should be. You abandoned your men when they lost their way. Then, alone and untroubled, you followed your own petty little ideals. Thus, you are no true king. You are only a little girl, enraptured by a false idol of the king who serves others, but not themselves."

His assessment of her is not far from the truth. Though she has a heart dedicated to Britannia and the people, her ideals keep her from being the king she could have been. She expects people to act honourably and seems disappointed when they don’t, as though no cynicism has had the common sense to enter her mind. She believes in chivalry and honour and seems not to understand that such ideals are not the top of everyone’s agenda. Arturia abandons herself as a human when she becomes king and takes on the persona in full, but does not truly understand that she must both serve and be served as king. She does not understand that the King cannot rule as something not human, nor can they rule alone; she even tells Alexander that the king must be alone, and it is clear she believes this. The selflessness she shows becomes selfish; rather than work for a real Britannia, she worked only toward an ideal one-- one that could never be. This, along with distrust among the Knights of the Round Table, only contributed to their fall, a mistake Arturia believes herself responsible for fixing and at complete fault for. She can be and often is a machine of her own guilt.

On a lighter note, Arturia’s personality isn’t entirely insufferably chivalric. She tends not to get the sexual implications of jokes, but can sometimes poke fun at her peers. She had a very close friendship with Lancelot as well as her foster-brother Kay. In /Stay Night it appears that she loosens up on the tightness of her emotions, following the pattern implied by her grieving after killing Berserker in /Zero; this means it is logical for her to develop to become more expressive, though she has not yet reached it at her canon point. For someone so kingly she can be surprisingly sassy at times as well, but is usually genuine in her intentions and optimism. There are also a number of things she likes, so it isn’t as though her dedication to kinghood left her devoid of personality, and food is definitely one of Arturia’s favourite things. She has an absolutely voracious appetite and a seemingly infallible metabolism, likely one of the effects of Caliburn's magic.

In canon Arturia is usually referred to by her fighting class, “saber” (referring to her position as swordsman) to protect her identity, as identities can be used in battles during the Holy Grail War to reveal weapons as well as any fallibilities. She is likely to avoid using her real name at first in Ruby City (and will likely use earlier translations of the name) as she won’t know the status of the Grail War and does not expect most to know all translations of the name of the legend.

In the beginning of her stay in Ruby City, Arthur will be dealing with the final events of the Fourth Grail War. It is revealed to Arturia that the servant summoned to be driven mad, Berserker, is actually Arturia's dearest friend Lancelot. After she defeats him he explains that he went mad because though Arturia knew of his affair with Gwenivere, she never raised a hand to punish him:

"Because I could not stop myself from loving Gwenivere, I was unable to forgive myself. But King Arthur, you never so much as questioned me or sought recompense. You simply stood before us in your righteousness. But I wished for judgement at your hand. Had your anger punished me, I might not have fallen into madness in my quest for atonement."

He continues on to tell her that though this occurred, he could say with certainty that Arturia was the greatest of kings. This statement does not stay with her; she still feels the need to fight for the grail and fix the mistakes she has made. When her master orders her to destroy the grail, she is unable to do so, instead perishing before the grail is destroyed. As she delivers the attack of her Noble Phantasm, she states

"What could [my master] have learned about me from issuing a mere three orders? After all, I never even knew my closest companions. Perhaps this is my punishment for being the king who could not understand the feelings of others."

And upon Arturia's return to her place at the lost battlefield at Camlenn, she weeps heavily for her loss and believes herself unworthy, stating that she was never meant to become king. This is where Arturia's canonpoint will be taken, at a time when she is beyond recompense herself and believes herself to be unworthy. She still believes she must redeem herself for the sake of her people and fight for the grail.

It's a shame for her, honestly, as she is not completely to blame. Lancelot says of her again in a post-death short,

"One of the knights left the castle for good, saying the king did not understand how others felt. I believe those words were what triggered my madness. Who was the one unable to understand? Did he not know she loved her people until the end, even as it isolated her people in Camelot? Who really was the one who nobody loved, from beginning to end?"

In this and a prior assessment from Arturia's dearest companion we learn that though as King Arthur she struggled to understand the feelings of others, she loved her people regardless of any fault and to the point it isolated her. She wished only to be the perfect king for them, but in her drive to do so, lost sight of what was needed; not solely to lead, but to understand. In her selflessness she lost herself, becoming less than human and more of a tool, doing all she could for everyone else and taking nothing for herself. This brings about her isolated end at Camlann, and a selflessness that becomes selfishness at the end of the fourth grail war. By forfeiting any blame from any of her people and taking it all upon herself, she incites the almost frenzied pain she experiences after losing the grail war.

First Person:

[It's been a few weeks since Arturia found herself in the city now, but it hasn't been a thrilling stay. Regardless, she's learned by now-- the ways in which she's been thinking will not work.
For the sake of... for the sake of memory, for the sake of someone, and maybe for the sake of herself, she has things to do. Things to learn.

Sitting on her bed for a few moments, she dangles the watch before her and leans against the sheets, pulling absentmindedly at the knee-high socks under her black slacks. Think of yourself as human, they'd told her. Consider the things you enjoy. Learn these things, for the sakes of the knights who stayed by your side.

After a moment's contemplation, Arturia sits up straight and turns on the video feed.]

I beg pardon for the sudden request; however, it has come to my attention that it is... vital for me to engage in certain activities.

Does anyone know where I can come across a motorcycle, if possible?

Third Person:

"The sword drawn from the stone wasn't Excalibur," Arturia told her present company, shaking her head only slightly. She couldn't help but be very fond of her swords, and was rather surprised the legends could be mixed up in so many ways.

Then again, it had been a long, long time.

"The name of the sword was Caliburn. It was destroyed not long after, however," she explained, carefully materialising Excalibur in her hands. "Excalibur was given to me by the Lady of the Lake."

Arturia let her finger tips glide over the blade for a moment and, with one look at her present companion, let him know he was not to touch it. "I'd prefer you not hurt yourself in my company," she explained, and did not let herself laugh when the teenager began to pout.

"What can it do, then?" She heard him ask, and that is when Arturia began to smile almost haughtily.

"What can it do?" She repeated, letting the blade dematerialise. "Though you'd better hope you'd never need to find out, should the time come, I will have no qualms in allowing you to see."

She was, after all, very fond of her blade.