Illyasviel von Einzbern is a major character debuting in Type-Moon's 2004 visual novel Fate/stay night. Appearing as a child, Illya is a homunculus and a participant in the story's "Fifth Holy Grail War". Her Servant is Berserker, a giant hulking warrior whose signature ability is having multiple lives. Outside of the visual novel, Illya serves as the title character in the lighter, cuter, and raunchier magical girl spin-off series named Fate/Kaleid liner Prisma Illya.
Illya is a fairly strong middle-tier character in the saimoe contests owing to her status as the original loli character in the massively popular Fate franchise. She is a regular contestant in International Saimoe League, peaking in the ISML 2016 contest where she placed second overall. The magus has seen support in r/anime's Best Girl as well, regularly reaching the fourth round in all of its editions (except the first). However, she is overshadowed by her mother who is more successful in the contest.
In the Bilibili Moe 2015 contest, Illya was separated into two entrants: her F/SN version and the Prisma Illya incarnation, because the organizers deemed their personalities to be very different from each other enough to warrant the split. Only the original version advanced past the group stage. Prisma Illya appeared again in 2016 but was eliminated in the round of 72, while the original Einzbern returned in 2018, advancing as far as the quarter-finals where she lost to Nero from Fate/Extra.
Since Fate/stay night is a visual novel (which technically counts as video game material), Illya is eligible in 4chan's Queen of /v/ contest. She has made two straight appearances since 2020, and made a splash in 2021 when she upset the #5 seed Fang to advance into the second round.
Illyasviel von Einzbern hates the cold and loves the snow.
Her existence was to be of use to the Einzbern family in the war for the Holy Grail. Her body was crafted to allow for maximum magical capacity, and she was taught how to kill without second thoughts. When her role is over, she will cease to be as a human being and become a vessel for the Holy Grail. She is a child who found herself in the middle of a battle of treason and horrible bloodshed.
But for Illya, as she likes to be called, the war also brought tantalizing glimpses of freedom. With the summoned spirit of a great ancient warrior by her side, Illya fights the enemies of her family, but also makes her first friends and rivalries. It is her chance to break free from the suffocating loneliness that rules her life.
Illya’s destiny unveils between stolen moments of happiness and her inescapable duty. It appears that whatever she might do, the Holy Grail War will take everything away from her. However, she is a strong and relentless child who won’t give in until the very end.
Overall Record[]
ISML Main Tournament Record
Regular season, playoffs, and consolation matches only. Preliminaries, gem rounds, and wildcard rounds are NOT included.