AsclepiusWP (アスクレピオスWP, Asukurepiosu?), Class Name Caster (キャスター, Kyasutā?), is a Caster-class Servant summoned by Ritsuka Fujimaru in the Grand Orders of Fate/Grand Order.
Profile[]
Identity[]
A hero of Greek myth who studied under Chiron and later became known as the “God of Medicine”. He was also a member of the Argonauts led by Jason. Being a child of Apollo, he eventually gained the power to resurrect the dead, which was viewed as a problem, and thus he was struck down by godly thunder. Apollo consorted with a woman named Coronis and sired a son.[2]
However, a crow spoke to him of her infidelity (a lie it had made up), and in his rage, he killed her and changed the formerly white wings of the crow to black. But Apollo, regretting having killed Coronis, took the child (Asclepius) from her body which was on the verge of cremation, and entrusted him to the wise centaur Chiron to raise.
Asclepius studied medicine and hunting under Chiron, but eventually became more talented in medicine than him.
The healing art that came from the blood of Gorgon given by Athena gave rise to the medicine that was able to resuscitate the dead. However, if one is able to overcome death, the inherent value of the realm of the underworld becomes lost.
Feeling a sense of impending crisis, the God of the Underworld, Hades, went to Zeus to request a favor (as Asclepius was a child of Apollo and he could not interfere directly), and Zeus struck him down with a bolt of lightning. In order to quell the anger of Apollo, whose son was killed, Zeus pulled the dead Asclepius up into the seat of a god (Ophiuchus).
Appearance[]
Personality[]
A mad doctor who is only interested in advancing medicine. Conversely, he won’t give a damn about bothering others for the sake of his goal. (The reason for his goal is rooted in his love for humanity, his desire “to leave exceptional medicine for posterity” - something he himself has forgotten.)
He is typically a calm and quiet man. He won’t interact with others by choice except for medical reasons. Neither is he interested in others.
He considers himself an excellent doctor which is an absolute assessment rather than a relative assessment. He neither needlessly scorns nor looks down on others. But if the need arises, he would nonchalantly say, “I am far better than you. That’s a given.” And even if his words anger the other person, he would only add, “Why? It is a fact that I am better,” puzzled.
Although he is a quiet person, that doesn’t mean he has a lot of patience. He would suddenly snap when he’s furious. A mad doctor indeed.
Relationships[]
- Heracles (Berserker)
- "Still got the same admirable body as ever, huh. Keep up your penance and get scars and wounds like no one’s ever seen before. Then let me examine you."[3]
- Chiron
- "Oh, Master Chiron. Long time no see. Got any new medical ingredients? No? ...I see. Later."[3]
- Artemis
- "Well, well. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it, Auntie Artemis. ...heheh, so you don’t want me to call you “auntie”, huh? Well, this medicine is gonna need your power again..."[3]
- "She doesn’t want to get too deeply involved, yet she can’t seem to completely cut all ties. A goddess who doesn’t know how to keep her distance. I might as well make use of her. She is my **** after all. Hm…? I sense a goddess using her powers for jamming. I’d rather you help me recreate the resurrection medicine if you’re just going to waste your powers on something so foolish."[2]
- Super Orion
- "A hero who is like a relative, the lover of my ****. After he died due to that horrible, poor excuse of a god’s scheme, I may have accepted a request and tried to resurrect him. This man won’t die except under rare circumstances. His robust health reminds me of Heracles, so he’s secretly second in my “Patients I Can Expect to Get Unbelievably and Unusually Injured One Day Ranking”."[2]
- Argonauts Servants
- "When I see their faces, I can’t help but think of that voyage. I only went along as the ship’s doctor, but whether it was or wasn’t fun—- ...Well, I wasn’t bored."[3]
- "Familiar faces. I wish they would present all sorts of medical cases to me just like they did in that voyage."[2]
- Trojan War Servants
- "My children (fought) in the Trojan War? Hmm..."[2]
- Medusa (Rider) / Medusa (Saber) / Gorgon
- "—-what? Is that Gorgon...?! E-excuse me, Master, just give me a second. Syringe, where’s a syringe...!"[3]
- Underworld-Related Servants
- "Are you trying to protect death like Hades? How foolish."[2]
- Hippolytus
- "One of my very few successful cases. About your mother, you... no, nevermind."[2]
- Florence Nightingale
- "Nursing. Sterilization. A fairly interesting concept. ...? That so-called disinfection you knock into patients or whatever, give me more details on that novel medical technique!"[3]
- "Some of her words and actions do not quite make sense to me, but we are aiming for the same goal… That's the impression I get. Probably. Her skills as an assistant are impeccable."[2]
- Charles-Henri Sanson
- "I can tell that he is hesitant about something, but his skills as an assistant are impeccable."[2]
- Paracelsus von Hohenheim
- "A man knowledgeable about drugs. I want him to be my source of (what I consider) new pharmaceutical knowledge, but for some reason, that self-proclaimed Galaxy Police keeps shouting, “I smell crime!” and interrupting us even though we’re just talking."[2]
- Okita Souji
- "She coughs up blood at every opportunity and is practically at death’s door, yet she won’t die... I sense a pleasant, rare disease. Let me examine you."[2]
- Hans Christian Andersen
- "Unfortunately, I cannot heal your body. That’s because it’s not an illness, but you yourself. Your expression tells me you understand that. Not a case for a doctor, it seems."[2]
- Nikola Tesla
- "Kukuku! How gratifying, how marvelous! You’ve depreciated god’s lightning and claimed it for humans to use! Well done...That’s right. This means that one day, “death” will also certainly be—"[2]
Role[]
Fate/Grand Order[]
Yuga Kshetra: Samsara of Genesis and Terminus[]
As a Lokapala of God Arjuna, Asclepius is is charged with Indian's South-East to South-West. He uses a town in his territory for his medical experiments.
When the Kali Yuga comes, Asclepius and his fellow Lokapala accompany God Arjuna to Bichu after he became curious about Chaldea’s actions. Upon seeing them, however, he dismisses them and their allies as failures to be erased. Then after a charging period, he resets the world with Mahāpralaya.[4]
After Nezha brings him to the Vimana for a meeting, William Tell inform the others that there are fewer holy beasts in his territory. He and Nezha suspect Chaldea is responsible, and William deduces they have a way to survive Mahāpralaya. Nezha decides to go after Ritsuka’s party herself since she allowed them to escape before. Asclepius refuses to help, though Nezha wasn't expecting him to and leaves.[5]
God Arjuna later orders Asclepius to inform him when he locates Ritsuka's party. Hearing a plague appeared in the town he uses for his medical experiments, Asclepius returns there in hopes of study this plague. To his disappointment however, he finds it has been completely eradicated. Rama accuses him of spreading the plague, but Asclepius denies it as he explains his priotization of advancing medicine over everything else. He also agrees with God Arjuna removing everything defective or unnecessary from the world. Then, frustrated at Ritsuka's party for not understanding his desire to advance medicine, he uses Yama's power to summon the undead. The group fights the undead, but they’re constantly restored. But to their surprise, Asclepius stops and helps a boy who tripped and injured his knee. Soon afterwards, God Arjuna appears and defeats the group. He then leaves, and Asclepius prepares to finish them off. But Daybit Sem Void appears and his contracted Grand Servant destroys Asclepius' undead with a single strike. After Daybit and his Servant are gone, The group recovers and forces Asclepius to retreat.[6]
When the Kali Yuga comes again, Asclepius asks God Arjuna to grant him another divinity, saying Yama wasn't enough. God Arjuna agrees with his request and grants him Varuna.[7]
Asclepius later confronts Ritsuka’s party while they’re defending Bichu from the Kali. He raises the dead like before, then demonstrates Varuna’s power by enhancing the holy beasts with water. However, as the fight progresses, Asclepius’ body starts to break down from having two divinities. Scandinavia Peperoncino suspects God Arjuna granted Asclepius another divinity knowing what would happen. Asclepius wonders why God Arjuna would do that until he remembers God Arjuna sees everything as inconsequential. After Rama deals him a fatal blow, Asclepius chastises himself for forgetting something so fundamental as medicine can be harmful in excess. He then asks the group if he seems weird for wanting to advance medicine for the good of all mankind. He only wants a world where excelling doesn’t make someone an outcast. Mash tells him that his stance isn’t wrong, while Ganesha tells him he doesn’t get to talk about helping people when he was helping God Arjuna. Asclepius remarks how he should’ve treated his own lack of self-awareness and disappears.[7]
Unbeknownst to everyone else, though, he allowed himself to be killed to restore himself to his original state and free himself from God Arjuna. He also made use of delayed Emulated Medicine so he can resurrect later.[8]
Later he tries to kill Ashiya Douman at Fantasy Tree Spiral, having deduced that Douman manipulated God Arjuna to lead the world to its destruction.[8]
After Spiral is destroyed, Asclepius chastises himself for only removing the symptom that was Douman, but not the source of the Lostbelt’s “infection”. Collapsing, He nearly accepts the Lostbelt as having been treated upon noticing Spiral is gone until he realizes that is not enough. A crying boy then approaches him and tells him about his ailing mother. After hearing the symptoms, Asclepius gives the boy medicine to be given to his mother. When the body leaves, Asclepius admits to himself that he cannot remember what drove him to pursue the advancement of medicine so fervently. He then remarks how humans will eventually advance medicine to surpass death itself. He disappears, believing his mother will know how he feels when human medicine surpasses death.[9]
Other appearances[]
- Main article: Asclepius (Child)
In Fate/strange Fake Asclepius appears as one of the shadow apparitions of Watcher, taking the form of a young boy.[10]
In Fate/Apocrypha, Asclepius is briefly mentioned as an example of an Argonaut that a piece of the Argo could act as a catalyst to summon as a Servant.[11] In chapter 52 of the manga adaptation, he appears in a flashback when Achilles recalls other students of Chiron.[12]
Abilities[]
His armaments are Rod of AsclepiusWP, Snake, and Medicine. Asclepius primarily commands his mechanical snake, Aesculapius, to attack his enemies. It is capable of changing its size, duplicating itself, and spewing deadly mist. Caster himself uses his surgical knives like daggers; dual-wielding or throwing them with manipulated trajectory. He can also telekinetically manipulate his staff.
Skills[]
Class Skills[]
- Territory Creation (A Rank): As a Mage, he can create a “workshop”, a territory advantageous to him. Because he possesses an A-rank skill, it is also possible for him to create a “temple” which surpasses a “workshop”. Naturally, such a place is nothing but a consultation room, a treatment room, or an operating room for the sake of medical practice to him.[2]
- Item Construction (EX Rank): Although he can only create items related to medicine, the items he creates are of extremely high quality. These items are, in most cases, more or less effective on his target injuries or diseases. However, the same cannot be guaranteed for everything else.[2]
Personal Skills[]
- God of Medicine (EX Rank): A skill that proves his existence as the founder of the concept of “medical care”, which has been handed down until present times, and as the god of medicine. In one myth version, the first to use herbs for treatment was Chiron, but the one who studied and developed that knowledge and the first to practice clinical medicine was Asclepius.[2]
- Child of Apollo (A Rank): A skill that proves his lineage to the Greek god Apollo. Apollo is the god of many fields such as archery, performing arts, prophecies, and the sun. He is also the god of plagues as well as healing, a manifestation of duality. Asclepius would very much want to forget about this skill. However, if there are patients he can only save through the power of this blood… It’s likely that, while clicking his tongue, he will not hesitate to make use of this power.[2]
- Serpent Bearer (B→B+ Rank (Upgrade)): He employs a serpent which is a symbol of Immortality and also used in medical care. In Ancient Greece, serpents were regarded as sacred messengers of the gods. Asclepius, killed by a thunderbolt thrown by Zeus as punishment for resurrecting the dead, became the constellation Ophiuchus/Serpent Bearer after death—something he may or may not have wished for. “The Rod of Asclepius” has a serpent wrapped around it and is still used as a symbol of medicine today.[2]
Noble Phantasm[]
Asclepius's Noble Phantasm is Resurrection Fraught Hades.
Indian Lostbelt[]
When he was summoned to the Indian Lostbelt under God Arjuna as one of his Lōkapāla, Asclepius was granted the divinity of Yama, the Indian God of Death and the Underworld, granting him the ability to raise and command the dead. This also allows him to restore his undead no matter the damage they suffer, effectively granting him a near inexhaustible army.[6]
After his first confrontation against Chaldea, Asclepius was given the divinity of the Vedic God, Varuna, who is associated with Water, Rain and Medicine. Because this divinity was more compatible with him, his abilities were greatly enhanced. He was also granted a degree of water based healing powers, such instantly healing hordes of holy beasts, increase their powers and manipulate them biologically to merge them into a single monster.[7]
However, being hosts to two divinities puts an incredible strain on Asclepius as he is slowly destroyed by their immense power.[7]
Development[]
Creation and Conception[]
Asclepius was designed by Teita in Fate/Grand Order. His scenario writer is Hazuki Minase in Fate/Grand Order. [2]
Comment from Illustrator[]
“A gloomy introvert who, at a closer glance, is actually a beauty but doesn’t give off that vibe.” “A mad doctor.” With these orders, I drew his First Ascension design. I incorporated many elements of his anecdotes into it."
"In my first draft, I modified his 1st Ascension costume to be more combative for his 2nd Ascension, and designed his 3rd Ascension with the theme “god of medicine” and the same color scheme as his current design. But Takeuchi-san suggested an operating gown for his 2nd Ascension and to also give him longer sleeves for his 3rd Ascension since his pampered sleeves/amaenbo-sode is his charm point, so that’s how his current designs were finalized."
"For someone who seeks the advancement of medicine, I think his 2nd Ascension is perfect for him. Above all, it warms my heart to find out that his long sleeves are actually called “pampered sleeves/amaenbo-sode” (lol)." (Teita)[2]
Asclepius' design is based on him being the representation of Ophiuchus and god of medicine. His mechanical snake was initially smaller, but was adjusted for better visual appeal. His pants had to be adjusted several times in order to not ruin his silhouette, and other detail adjustments like that through the design process meant that he went through a lot of revisions for a 3-star Servant. At one point, his in-game model was accidentally animated holding his scalpel backwards.[13]
References[]
- ↑ Fate/Grand Order - Spotlight Lostbelt No.4
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.34 2.35 2.36 2.37 2.38 2.39 Fate/Grand Order material VIII - Asclepius, Profile translated by amplifiedscans
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Fate/Grand Order Asclepius' Lines
- ↑ Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 5: Kali Yuga/A Revolving World
- ↑ Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 10: Lokapala
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 11: Treta Yuga/Asclepius, the God of Medicine
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 13: Prince of Loss/Divine Judgement Looming
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 19: Final Dark God
- ↑ Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Yuga Kshetra: Genesis Destruction Cycle, Section 20: A World Where Samsara Is ⬜⬜
- ↑ Fate/strange Fake Volume 3 - Interlude: "The Passion of the Nameless Soldier"
- ↑ Fate/Apocrypha Volume 1: Apocrypha: Great Holy Grail War - Chapter 1
- ↑ Fate/Apocrypha Manga - Chapter 52: "The Final Night"
- ↑ Fate/Grand Order USA Twitter 10:00 AM PST Jan. 15, 2022 - "Introducing Chaldea Breakroom, an exclusive look at Servants and interviews with the staff behind Fate/Grand Order! This month, learn about Asclepius and read an exclusive interview with Kinoko Nasu!"