Saber is one of the main heroines featured in Type-Moon's 2004 visual novel Fate/stay night. First appearing in the Winter 2006 anime adaptation, Saber is one of the oldest active competitors in the saimoe contests, with her longevity being attributed to her status as the face of the Fate franchise. She is the only contestant to have appeared in all International Saimoe League main tournaments since its inception in 2008; she once shared this distinction with Haruhi Suzumiya until the latter failed to qualify for the 2021 regular season.
Saber's power arguably reached its peak in the mid-2010's, a period where the Unlimited Blade Works adaptation was aired. In 2015, she finished runner-up in r/anime's Best Girl 2 after losing to Yukino Yukinoshita by 78 votes. Later that year, she won her first major championship in the inaugural edition of China's Bilibili Moe contest, blowing out same-series rival Rin Tohsaka in the final match. Saber's best finish in ISML happened in 2016; securing third place through the consolation matches despite getting knocked out by Prisma Illya in the quarter-finals.
Contents
Background & history[]
Character profile[]
Icons
Wiki icon
ISML
The premise of Fate/stay night revolves around a free-for-all battle royale called the "Holy Grail War", which is contested by seven "Masters" and their "Servants", which represent various mythological and historical figures, in order to obtain the eponymous Holy Grail that is said to grant any wish to the winner. In the beginning of the story, Saber appears in front of protagonist Shirou Emiya during the fifth Holy Grail War and becomes his Servant. As one of the main characters, Saber is prominently featured in all three routes of the visual novel, but she serves as the main heroine and love interest of its first route titled simply as Fate.
Saber also appears in the prequel light novel and 2011-2012 anime Fate/Zero as an ally of Shirou's foster father Kiritsugu Emiya and his wife Irisviel von Einzbern during the fourth Grail War. Much of the story involves Saber fighting other Servants while Kiritsugu seeks to kill other Masters using military weapons.
Saber has proved to become so popular that her likeness is used for the design of many other Servants in later installments of the Fate franchise; these characters were dubbed Saberfaces. Examples include Nero, Mordred, Joan of Arc, Okita Souji, and Miyamoto Musashi.
F/SN Spoilers for all three routes
A painting of King Arthur by Charles Ernest Butler.
Saber's true identity is Artoria Pendragon, better known as the legendary English literary figure King Arthur. Her "Noble Phantasm" --- basically an ultimate ability which also gives away a servant's true identity --- is her sword Excalibur, which is invisible whenever she fights, and can be activated to unleash a powerful and damaging beam of light.
ISML record[]
Main Tournament[]
| ISML Main Tournament Record | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season, playoffs, and consolation 1v1 matches only. Preliminaries, gems, exhibitions, and approval / range voting rounds are NOT included. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Edition | Eliminated in | Final pos. | W | L | RS Record | ||||||||||||||
| ISML 2008 | Regular season | 20th | 43 | 20 | 43-20 | ||||||||||||||
| ISML 2009 | Regular season | 21st | 45 | 18 | 45-18 | ||||||||||||||
| ISML 2010 | Lower Bracket R2 | 12th | 42 | 12 | 41-8 | ||||||||||||||
| ISML 2011 | Regular season | 18th | 32 | 17 | 32-17 | ||||||||||||||
| ISML 2012 | Round of 16 | 12th | 33 | 10 | 30-5 | ||||||||||||||
| ISML 2013 | Division Playoffs | Ste. 14th | 22 | 14 | 22-13 | ||||||||||||||
| ISML 2014 | Division Playoffs | Ste. 13th | 21 | 18 | 20-15 | ||||||||||||||
| ISML 2015 | Round of 16 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ISML 2016 | Quarter-finals | 3rd | 14 | 1 | 9-0 | ||||||||||||||
| ISML 2017 | Diamond Groups | ||||||||||||||||||
| ISML 2018 | Round of 16 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ISML 2019 | Sapphire WC | ||||||||||||||||||
| ISML 2020 | Split 3 Groups (Top 32) | ||||||||||||||||||
| ISML 2021 | TBD (Qualified) | ||||||||||||||||||
| ISML 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ISML 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ISML 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total W-L: ??? | Postseason: ??? | RS Record: ??? | |||||||||||||||||
| Opponents played:
??? | |||||||||||||||||||
20th (43-1-20)
| |
2009[]
- 21st (45-0-0-18)
| |
2010[]
- 8th (41-0-8)
| |
- Haruhi Suzumiya > Saber (3966-3262)
- Saber > Hitagi Senjougahara (3107-2893)
- Hinagiku Katsura > Saber (3696-2538)
- Yui Hirasawa > Saber (3961-3619)
- Tomoyo Sakagami > Saber (5171-4611)
2011[]
- 18th (32-0-17)
| |
2012[]
- Stella 7th (30-0-5)
| |
- Post Season Phase 1 (Stella Division Finals)
- Saber > Senjōgahara Hitagi (4804-3504)
- Saber > Shana (5029-4818)
- Aisaka Taiga > Saber (6524-3648)
- Post Season Phase 2 (League Finals)
- Nakamura Yuri > Saber (5127-4128)
- Saber > Suzumiya Haruhi (5270-4970)
- Nagato Yuki > Saber (5741-4972)
- Yui > Saber (5253-5024)
- Nakamura Yuri > Saber (6829-6492)
- Exhibition Match
- Kirigaya Kazuto + Yūki Asuna > Emiya Kiritsugu + Saber (8140-3097)
2013[]
- Stella 14th (22-0-13)
| |
- Postseason Phase 1 Stella Division
- Misaka Mikoto > Saber (5752-4127)
2014[]
- Stella 15th (20-0-15)
| |
- Postseason Phase 1 Stella Division
- Tachibana Kanade > Saber (3794-2125)
- Akiyama Mio > Saber (3105-2924)
- Saber > Nakamura Yuri (3013-2758)
- Nakano Azusa > Saber (3465-3261)
Other Tournaments[]
Anime Saimoe Tournament[]
- Saber > Touka > Mama (494-297-292)
- Suigintou > Saber > Akira E. Ferrari (778-632-277)
- Fate Testarossa > Saber > Yuuko Kinoshita > Koyomi Morishita (428-125-118-71)
- Saber > Touka Ryuumonbuchi > Agiri Goshiki (262-236-160)
- Louise Vallière > Makoto Kikuchi > Saber (224-204-97)
Korea Best Moe Tournament[]
- Saber > Sawako Kuronuma > Kagura (Inuyasha) (663-533-524)
- Nadeko Sengoku > Saber (933-731)
- Saber > Tsumugi Kotobuki > Maria Takayama (130-58-39)
- Saber > Azusa Nakano (131-125)
- Saber > Yin (106-76)
- Eru Chitanda > Saber (123-117)
Honours[]
International Saimoe League
Others
Tiangshidongman Moe 2015/16 - Winner
Bilibili Moe 2015 - Champion
- Best playoff finish: Quarter-finals (2016)
- Highest final position: 3rd place (2016)
Chronological list[]
Total Wins : 11 (
)
- DM123 AnimeFans Saimoe 2012 [1]
- Baidu Harem Moe 2012
- Facebook @Jishuzhai (lit. TechnologyHouse) Saimoe 2012 [2]
- Xinzhi Moe 2012 [3]
- Facebook Kuwanjia(@cool-gamer) Moe 2013 [4]
- Tiangshidongman Moe 2015/16
- Bilibili Moe 2015 ★
- Facebook Waifu Awards 2020 [5]
- Facebook Battle of the Moe 2020 [6]
- FACEBOOK El Rincón De Las Waifus 2021 [7]
- 1ra Campona Torneo de waifu Anime en casa 2021 [8]
External links[]
Beware of spoilers and pop-ups.
| ISML Necklace Winners | |
|---|---|
| First year of necklace win only. Circlets from 2012-2015 included (if applicable). | |
| 2008 |  Shana •  Setsuna S. •  Kagami •  Kyou •  Haruhi
|
| 2009 |  Tomoyo S. •  Yuki N. •  Suigintou •  Suiseiseki •  Hinagiku •  Shinku
|
| 2010 |  Mio •  Taiga •  Mikoto
|
| 2011 |  Kanade •  Ruri •  Hellscythe
|
| 2012 | No new winners. |
| 2013 |  Mashiro •  Rikka •  Asuna
|
| 2014 |  Kuroyukihime
|
| 2015 |  Yukino •  Kosaki •  Chitoge •  Chiyo •  Ayase
|
| 2016 |  Nao •  Tohsaka •  Saber •  Kurisu
|
| 2017 |  Rem •  Emilia •  Katou
|
| 2018 |  Chtholly •  Azunyan •  Kanna
|
| 2019 |  Violet •  Sagiri •  Kurumi •  Mai-san
|
| 2020 |  Kaguya
|
