Gáe Bolg

is a cursed spear with an ominous design that was obtained from Scáthach in the Land of Shadows by Cú Chulainn and one of the many weapons inside Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon. Gáe Bolg was carved from the remains of Curruid's skull. Its name is derived from the term for "serrated throwing weapon", ga bool’ga, evoking an image of lightning. Scáthach had wished for him to slay her with the spear, but she had already ceased being mortal by the time he received it from her. It is a glory given to only the most gifted of warriors, and it was not utilized once after he left the Land of Shadows until his fight with his close friend, . He later used it again on his son, , when he was backed into a corner during their fight. The spear leaves behind but one regret: that it has only taken away the lives of his loved ones. It killed his one and only close friend and his son that grew up in a distant land, even though it was meant to have killed one woman before them.
It is unique in that it functions in two different ways, each different enough to have them be treated as separate Noble Phantasms. The Anti-Unit thrusting technique of the spear is the main offensive ability he utilizes, but the Anti-Army throwing ability is the spear's true function as a throwing weapon. It is descended from Gungnir, which belongs to Odin in Norse Mythology, and , the lance of the Celtic god of light and Cú Chulainn's father, Lugh. Due to its large size, it was said that no one but Cú Chulainn was powerful enough to wield it as a throwing weapon, and some stories say that he threw it from the fork of his toes to increase its power.
==Barbed Spear That Pierces with Death==
 is an attack focused on a single target, created by Cú Chulainn to suit his own style, that strikes a fatal blow that always pierces the opponent's heart and ruins their body from within with its thousand iron thorns. It literally freezes the mana in the air, and it can easily be perceived as a sure-kill technique by all those around simply from being charged with magical energy. Once Gáe Bolg's name has been called, the cursed spear reverses the nature of causality, the meaning of "cause and effect" in the order of things, to make it so the cause of the "lance being thrust" comes from the effect of the "opponent's heart being pierced" by it. It determines the opponent's fate simply through its use, an always fatal move that pierces the heart with one thrust. It is also possible for him to activate it without actively striking the heart.
 It is an attack on destiny itself, and while not a surprising fact due to its wielder's demi-god heritage, it is a top-notch power even with its seeming limitations in power due to being a step away from the Authority of the Gods.
The actual action of the thrust is merely a formality, as the lance has already pierced the opponent's heart before the attack has even started. The "result" of "the heart of the opponent has been pierced" is created earlier than it is thrust, while the "cause" that "the lance has pierced through the heart" is generated later. Aside from great luck, it is a technique that determines "if it is released, the opponent is dead." Its range of effectiveness and power are weak compared to its other ability, but it has a low energy cost. Even with its nature of interfering with destiny and effect of "almost certainly will destroy the enemy's heart", the attack only utilizes magical energy in the double digits compared to a single spell from Medea costing hundreds of units of magical energy, and each activation is a sure kill, making it one of the most efficient Noble Phantasms with extraordinary usability that can be used up to seven times before Cú Chulainn must obtain more magical energy from his Master.
Bolg.png|Gáe Bolg's strike
Gaebolgbending.jpg|Gáe Bolg moving at impossible angles in order to reach its target
The lance can move at impossible angles, signified by turning into a red beam of light, that always manages to reach its target. Even if he thrusts directly at the feet of the opponent, such as in the battle with Artoria, it will immediately point upwards towards the heart without growing or bending and without any movement from Lancer, and if it is thrown from a distance of ten meters, or rather than truly being a throw, "Cú Chulainn's own body is fused with his soaring spear", it will manage to reach the target without fail. This action looks completely normal to onlookers, as if it were already piercing the heart, because rather than truly changing its course, it changes the means to match the result simply as an action meant to prove the fact that the heart was pierced. It can only be used against living beings, so it would have no particular effect against inanimate objects like rocks or houses.
The lance curses the target upon striking them, delivering wounds that cannot be healed while Gáe Bolg still exists in the world. While Cú Chulainn mentions that even a regular thrust through his heart would be hard to heal, being struck by the Noble Phantasm gives the greatest effect. As the "lance of cause and effect", it curses them, leaving them unable to change their fate without great luck. Those who are cursed will bear the wound until they die unless Cú Chulainn is killed or the spear is destroyed. Saber is only able to heal her wound on the outside, and while she is able to fully heal a much greater wound from Heracles in a matter of hours, she is plagued by the wound delivered with Gáe Bolg for weeks afterward. Shirou is able to recover slightly with Avalon, but the wound still persists until Cú Chulainn's death. Its curse is no longer effective against him with the scabbard's protection, but it takes over half a day to heal even with its potent regenerative abilities.
The attack delivers damage equal to the opponent's own health limit plus the damage from the spear itself, so the wound will be fatal no matter the opponent once they are struck. If the target has "100 HP", the attack will deliver "the damage caused by the spear + 100." This makes it especially effective against those with high durability, even those who can survive being hit by Excalibur. Even someone like Arcueid Brunestud, who is very much superior in numbers compared to Cú Chulainn, would be killed as long as she wasn't saved by her luck. There is a small disadvantage against Servants who can move around even without their hearts like Heracles. The wounds from its attacks are rather clean, spilling only a small amount of blood compared to a regular wound of comparable size, and while a heart would normally explode from such a strike, it instead stops working with the single strike.
It is like Tsubame Gaeshi in that the best measure against it is to not allow it to begin. Unlike Tsubame Gaeshi, which there is no way to stop it once it has been used, it is possible to find a countermeasure for Gáe Bolg once it is found out that it will go for the heart. It is impossible to dodge the thrust of the lance, no matter how agile or well guarded. Even having EX Rank Agility would be useless, so the only benefit would be to allow the opponent to back out of the attack's range before it is initiated. While it would normally be ineffective against Heracles's God Hand, Cú Chulainn could take at least one of his lives by using his runes to power up the rank of the lance to A to bypass God Hand's nullification ability.
The only way to effectively defend against the attack is to have a high enough degree of luck as to be able to alter fate, which would be heightened by also having good reflexive instincts; Divine protection, an auto-resurrection ability, a shield that overwhelms the magical energy of the lance, or, as a countermeasure, knowing it will strike the heart, by following EMIYA's strategy of quickly backing out of the attack's range before it is initialized. Even if the opponent manages to avoid it with Luck, as with Artoria, it still leaves a heavy wound on her that takes a long time to fully heal. If it is used against someone whose death is not part of their fate (such as Scáthach herself), Gáe Bolg will not even touch them and instead will fly wildly off-course.Fate/Grand Order - Scáthach's Interlude - Kill Me If You Can
The conceptual strength behind it is strong, so it will clash with something like Fragarach. Even if Cú Chulainn is killed and the attack is nullified by returning it to before it was activated, such as when going against Fragarach's unavoidable counterattack, the lance's curse will wind back to the moment "Gáe Bolg" was chanted in order to carry out its purpose of striking the heart. Fragarach alters the order of events, but Gae Bolg reverses cause and effect. It has already pierced the heart as the result, so even its master's death will not impede it from fulfilling its duty. The two opposing laws clashing against each other leaves both Cú Chulainn and Bazett dead afterward.
==Soaring Spear That Strikes with Death==
, which is the true use of Gáe Bolg, is the largest and most powerful attack delivered using the spear. It is the “attack that unleashes countless darts at the enemy” that is spoken of in legends. It is the attack that made him a hero which utilizes the full potential of the lance's curse, converting all of Cú Chulainn's magical energy into raw energy and releasing the accumulated power after the spear is hurled, detonating on impact with enough power to blow away a multitude of enemies.
Cú Chulainn prepares to use this ability by backing one hundred meters away from his opponent, taking a crouching position on all fours, and accelerating through an approach run by dashing fifty meters before taking to the skies. He arches his back as if drawing a bow and hurls it towards the ground with all his might. It distorts space to create a "tapestry of action" that splits into numerous spearheads that pours down over the enemy. Compared to the very little usage of magical energy with the Anti-Unit technique, this ability has an intense consumption of energy.
FSN Gae Bolg1.png|
FSN Gae Bolg2.png|Gáe Bolg in flight
FSN Gae Bolg3.png|Gáe Bolg reaching the final layer of Rho Aias
Cu using Gae Bolg to hit Darius' Headless Giant King.jpg|Cu Darius' Headless Giant King with Gae Bolg.
Gae Bolg throw FUC 1.gif|F/UC Super Move
It does not carry the property or concept of “always pierces the opponent’s heart”, but both the power and the area of effect are increased. Rather than dispatching a single foe with absolute accuracy, its focus as a technique is to attack the enemies together with the surrounding area in a carpet bombing fashion to cause massive destruction. Due to being hurled with all of his energy, it cannot be dodged or blocked under normal circumstances. Even resilient bulwark or an agile body are not immune to its power, so Gáe Bolg will send the enemy horde flying. If it were to also have the ability to directly strike the heart, it would be closer to the level of Lugh's power as a higher level version of Fragarach. The idea that EMIYA is capable of blocking it with Rho Aias after the spear pierces through the first six layers seems impossible to him.
The form and damage caused come close to Lugh's Brionac, but having the ability "No matter how many times it is dodged, it will strike the enemy" makes it a Noble Phantasm closer in nature to Odin's Gungnir. EMIYA comments that it surpasses the original Gungnir in power, and that out of all the spears he knows, it is the only one able to pierce more than one layer of Rho Aias. The spear travels at Mach 2, and the farthest he has thrown it is forty kilometers. Shirou believes that his actual range could extend to the other side of the Earth. Cú Chulainn thinks only two other people in the world, three conditionally, could beat that record.Fate/hollow ataraxia - 10/11 - Streets - Blue Panther vs Black Panther
==Gouging Piercing Spear of Carnage==
 is the technique utilized by the Altered version of Cú Chulainn and his proper Noble Phantasm. The Noble Phantasm is nearly the same as "Soaring Spear that Strikes with Death" that his normally summoned counterpart has. It blows away a multitude of enemies by throwing this homing magic spear missile. By throwing the spear at such a force that would damage his own body, the attack gains power and range over one used by a normal Cú Chulainn. The spear inflicts area-of-effect instant death to the enemies, or great damage if instant death is avoided. The damage on the user's body is instantly healed by Rune Magecraft, though he still has to withstand great pain. Much like the other uses of Gáe Bolg, damage inflicted by this move is difficult to heal.Fate/Grand Order material III - Cú Chulainn (Alter), p.224-233
Rama's Damage Heart.jpg|thumb|Rama's Heart after being pierce by Cu Alter's Gae Bolg.
Cu's Gae Bolg kills Karna.jpg|Karna being fatally skewered by Cu Alter's Gae Bolg.
Ishtar being skewered by Gae Bolg.jpg|Ishtar being impaled and skewered by Cu Alter's Gae Bolg.
Whereas Scáthach waits until the destruction ends to begin regenerating herself, Cú Chulainn Alter repairs it as he throws his spear, enduring the immense pain. Its power is equal to that of Scáthach's Gáe Bolg Alternative, as seen during their fight. Both spears claim to deliver fatal blows, while at the same time evading them. With different Noble Phantasms, the clash would have ended in both of them dead, not a draw. However, because both their Noble Phantasms are forbidden magical spears, both thorns of death trace identical paths and clash. A curious phenomenon that may never occur again.Fate/Grand Order - E Pluribus Unum: The Grand Battle of Legends in North America, Section 20: North American Myth War (Middle) In his first fight against Rama, Cú used this attack to counter-attack after Rama used his Brahmastra at full power. It managed to destroy 80% of Rama's heart in a single shot.Fate/Grand Order - E Pluribus Unum: The Grand Battle of Legends in North America, Prelude He also used this Noble Phantasm to sneak attack Karna while he was fighting Arjuna, mortally wounding him in the process.Fate/Grand Order - E Pluribus Unum: The Grand Battle of Legends in North America, Section 19: North American Myth War (Beginning) 
==Piercing Scarlet Spear==
 is the spear of Proto Lancer. To differentiate from the Gáe Bolg in "stay night", Hanafuda calls the spear . It has two kind of attack methods; the Anti-Unit thrusting and the Anti-Army throwing. Even though it is not being sealed, for some reason, Cú Chulainn is not employing this when performing regular attacks. He wields this scarlet spear and fully releases its True Name only as a "last resort", when he is convinced that he can finish off the target.Fate/Grand Order material I: section on Cú Chulainn (Proto), translated by Master of Chaos at Beast's Lair.
==References==
pl:Gáe Bolg
vi:Gáe Bolg
Category:Noble Phantasms
Category:Anti-Unit Noble Phantasms
Category:Anti-Army Noble Phantasms
Category:B rank Noble Phantasms
Category:B+ rank Noble Phantasms
Category:Spears
Category:Techniques
Category:Conceptual Weapons
Category:Noble Phantasms in Unlimited Blade Works
Category:Noble Phantasms of Cu Chulainn
Category:Noble Phantasms of Scáthach
Category:Noble Phantasms in Gate of Babylon