(Check out the stickied post for the full bracket.)

Apologies for the lateness. We’re back on track for now, and the rest of round 1 should be completed without any problems. On a side note, I’m expanding the polls to weekly ones, though there’ll still be a new post every day.

Today’s matchup is all about war at varying degrees of honor. Our second 1-seeded character fights for honor and country, and the scrappy upstart gleefully (and successfully) facilitates conflict for profit.

Saber

How is this character great in their own universe?

Saber’s character is a study in of duality; she’s tough but fragile, honor-bound yet emotional. Her past is filled with regret, but she stays tough in spite of that. She’s dedicated to her master’s goals, even when she starts to disagree with them. What makes Saber stand out in Fate/Zero is her relationship with Kiritsugu, and her being the barometer which measures Kiritsugu’s moral descent. Her conflicts with him lend a lot of weight to their roles in the war itself, as we see her struggle to keep somebody she respects from going off the deep end.

How would they be great in the other’s universe?

Saber’s idealism would likely clash with the bloody, morally ambiguous world of weapons trading. I expect we’d see more attempts to make things better for bystanders and civilians wherever the team went, and while they are equipped to pull off a lot of awesome stunts, it’s likely they’d fail more often then not. Considering the soul-crushing effect the holy grail war had on her, I don’t see her lasting an all-expense paid tour of the Balkan peninsula. The point of such a story is not whether she would break down, but what would come of it.

Koko Hektmatyar

How is this character great in their own universe?

Koko stands out for her surface-level “loco” behavior; her blithe attitude towards life and death situations. That attitude comes from three central facets of her personality: one, she’s got ice water running through her veins, two, she’s ambitious to the tune of world-conquest, and three, she’s very good at hiding number two. Which results in her acting like this while breeding supervillain-tier havoc.

How would they be great in the other’s universe?

Koko’s no-nonsense businesswoman’s approach to warfare would mesh nicely with Kiritsugu’s no-nonsense businessman’s approach to mage combat, resulting in a ruthless and fearsome master-servant pair. Beyond that, she’d also be interesting to see bounce off Rider in the once scene where he, she, and Gilgamesh are gorging on fine wine. Her and Kiritsugu teaming up would push the two much closer to villain protagonist territory, adding to the moral quagmire that is all of Fate/Zero.