Zouken Matou

is the Master of True Assassin in the Fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail War of Fate/stay night's Heaven's Feel scenario. Head of the Matou family, he is the "grandfather" of Shinji Matou and Sakura Matou.
==Profile==
===Background===
Originally known as , he was the patriarch of the Zolgen family five hundred years before the Fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail War. They were a noble family that originated in , later driven out of their homeland.Fate/strange Fake Volume 3 - Prologue IX: "The Star Performers' Feast (Part 2)" The family later became known as Makiri when he changed his name to . The family gained ties to both the Einzbern and Tohsaka families through his friendship with Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern and Nagato Tohsaka, and he had enough of a relationship with Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg to be considered a potential inheritor of the Jeweled Sword of Zelretch if not for Zelretch appraising the family as fundamentally evil. Zouken knew Leonardo da Vinci and Paracelsus von Hohenheim in life.
Zouken had the dream of creating a utopia, having pursued it since he was around two hundred years old. He wanted to eliminate and cure all hatred and suffering. He felt grief upon finding that "paradise" did not exist in the world and its creation was impossible with a human body, and he instead wished to go to a place where it could be accomplished. Humanity has set limits, so he wished for it to go outside the spiral of the brain and the limits of the body to reach the infinity called the soul. Obtaining all creation and knowledge where no human can reach, it was not to make a new world, but to change his human life.
He sought the Holy Grail to be reborn and reach the ideal utopia, the unimaginable land. With a miracle beyond human reach, he sought to eliminate all of the evils of the world, risking his life for an ideal that could not be fulfilled. Though his enemies died, he kept seeking it despite knowing it was meaningless. He believed it was his reason to exist, all while hoping that his existence would bring about a successor. In order to overthrow his youthful anguish, he came up with that answer even if his life should not be compensated.
Young Zouken.jpg|Zouken when he was a young man.
Justeaze arriving in Japan alongside Zolgen.jpg|A young Zouken arriving in Japan alongside Justeaze. 
Nagato.jpg|Nagato (center) with Zouken (left) and Justeaze
He was around three hundred years old as of the establishment of the Holy Grail War to fulfill his dream along with the Tohsaka and Einzbern families. He moved his family to Japan under the name Matou, and while it was to hide the family's identity, they needed something tying into their real name and used a play on words. Zouken proposed the system of "Master" and "Servant", while Nagato provided his property Fuyuki City and Justeaze developed the Heaven's Feel system, offered the homunculi vessels for the Grail, and became the core of the Great Grail. Justeaze utilized her own body to become the magic circuit of the Grail.
At the time, Zouken admired and loved her deeply, and was devastated to see her sacrifice. He had decided to ensure that her sacrifice would not be in vain by keeping himself alive long enough to witness the moment the Grail becomes completed and reaches the gate. However, as the time went on, the frustration due to the incomplete Grail and the deterioration of his body over such long period had slowly caused him to forget his original intention, and had left him only the abnormal obsession about obtaining immortality.
Shrewd, powerful, and ancient, he is known as the grandfather of Shinji and Sakura and the father of Kariya and his brother Byakuya To conceal his status as the Matous' ancestor, he masquerades as a relative to his descendants, though some members of his family have long suspected he is much older than he appears given how Zouken's name has repeatedly appeared in the family tree. He has amassed a large and extensive library of sorcerous knowledge, yet his lessons are strict and harsh. Zouken considers Shinji to be a disgrace of a sorcerer, and believes Sakura may have more potential than her brother.
Because the Matou blood has thinned and no longer produces heirs naturally capable of sorcery, Shinji was incapable of becoming a true sorcerer so Zouken offered to adopt Tohsaka Sakura into the Matou when her father, Tokiomi, decided to train only his older daughter, Rin, to become his successor. Sakura was implanted with Zouken's magical worms to prepare her as a vessel for Angra Mainyu in the fifth Holy Grail War.
===Appearance===
In his youth, Zouken was a pale, but handsome man who possessed red eyes and the same blue hair as Byakuya and Shinji. In his current, old appearance, Zouken is completely bald and hunched over, making him shorter than even his grandchildren. He wears plain robes and is often depicted with a walking stick. 
Makiri Zolgen Paper Moon.png|Young Makiri Zolgen in Fate/Grand Order, illustrated by Takashi Takeuchi.
Makiri_Zolgen_FGO.png|Makiri Zolgen in Fate/Grand Order, illustrated by Takashi Takeuchi.
Matou Zouken Fate Accel Zero Order.png|Matou Zouken in Fate/Grand Order, illustrated by Takashi Takeuchi.
FGOZoukenMatou.png| in Fate/Grand Order, illustrated by Azusa.
CE2031.png| in Fate/Grand Order, illustrated by Peperon.
Zouken Himuro no Tenchi.png|Matou Zouken in Fate/school life, illustrated by Eiichirou Mashin.
===Personality===
Zouken is a shrewd old man with plenty of knowledge on magecraft due to the several centuries he has been alive. He is shown to be strict and harsh in the training of magi within his family and is becoming increasingly frustrated with the thinning bloodline of the Matou family preventing the birth of any natural-born magi.
Originally an idealistic young man, Zouken became cynical and ruthless as the years passed. He holds no affection for anyone apart from himself, happily manipulating and disposing members of his own family while laughing heartily. This paints Zouken as another example of idealism being corrupted by time and failure. Ironically, this makes him a shadow archetype to both Shirou and Kiritsugu Emiya, someone who stubbornly chases after an impossible goal. However, being a typical mage, he toyed with things beyond his control, leading to unexpected betrayal. Despite his age and experience, Zouken feared death and sought immortality for a higher forgotten purpose. In the Heaven's Feel route, he remembered that purpose was the salvation of mankind. The loss of the woman he loved. All he could do after being reminded of it was accept his death with dignity.
==Role==
===Fate/Zero===
In Fate/Zero, Zouken adopted Sakura Tohsaka into the Matou family approximately one year before the Fourth Holy Grail War after requesting Sakura's father Tokiomi for one of his daughters to become the heir to the Matou family. A few days after her adoption, Kariya Matou returns to Fuyuki City to visit his childhood friend Aoi Tohsaka and her two daughters and is horrified to learn that Aoi's younger daughter has been sent to the Matou family. Kariya, who had previously left the Matou family ten years prior to the 4th Holy Grail War out of disgust for his own family, confronts Zouken over the girl's adoption and learns that Sakura has already been subjected to the brutal training required to learn the Matou family's magecraft.
Disappointed with the lack of sorceric potential in Shinji and Byakuya, Shinji's father, Zouken blames Kariya for allowing the Matou's magical lineage decline since Kariya is the first in many generations to be naturally capable of sorcery. However, Kariya formulates a deal with Zouken where should Kariya obtain the Holy Grail, Zouken must allow Sakura to return to her family. Due to his lack of formal training, Kariya is implanted with the same magical worms as Sakura. However, Zouken does not truly expect Kariya to succeed, merely accepting Kariya's bargain on the whim that Kariya surpasses his expectations.
Normally he observes the Holy Grail War from a distance, but when Kirei Kotomine rescued Kariya and returned him to the Matou mansion, Zouken was intrigued by his action and later kept a close eye on him. Zouken uses his worms to heal Kariya's external injuries, and admits to Kariya that he surpassed his expectation on survival and gifted him a Crest Worm as a fatherly gift. The crest worm gave Kariya more magical energy boost, he revealed that the crest worm was the same worm that claimed Sakura's virginity. As Kariya cries and becomes disgusted by his statement, Zouken enjoys his suffering.
Towards the end of the war, Zouken lurks in the shadows while observing Kariya successfully abducting Irisviel von Einzbern and handing her to Kirei. During this fateful meeting, Zouken reveals to Kotomine that he has enjoyed watching Kariya's suffering and knows that Kariya's chance of winning is zero. When he goes on to comment to Kirei that they have the same scent, an aggravated Kotomine throws his black keys at him. Zouken disappears, remarking that they will meet again and he expects to witness Kirei's development.
At the end of the Fourth War, Zouken acquired the fragments of the destroyed Grail. He combined the fragments with his Crest worms, which he put inside Sakura's body. Though she was incomplete, this turned her into a second Lesser Grail.
===Fate/stay night===
Zouken only appears in the Heaven's Feel route, so his fate in the Fate route and Unlimited Blade Works route is unknown, though it is possible he was killed off-screen by Gilgamesh at the behest of Shinji Matou in the anime adaptation of Unlimited Blade Works. Zouken's original intentions are to wait until the next Holy Grail War to make his bid to win the Grail, only taking action in Heaven's Feel due to noticing Sakura's attraction to Shirou as a means of furthering her development as a Lesser Grail.
====Heaven's Feel====
Zouken is first encountered when Shirou walks Sakura back to her home and is greeted by Zouken.
After witnessing Rider lose to Saber, enraged at Shinji's incompetence as a Master, as well as noticing Shirou's potential in stirring Sakura's emotions to develop the Black Grail, Zouken summons True Assassin from the body of Assassin and becomes a Master in the 5th Holy Grail War. Using Sakura as a vessel for Angra Mainyu, the dark spirit that resides within the Holy Grail, he sets out with True Assassin to eliminate the other Masters and Servants.
Once Caster has been defeated by Saber and devoured by the Shadow, Zouken uses his worms to reanimate Caster's corpse. Zouken and "Caster" are confronted by Rin and Archer sometime later. Zouken is nearly killed by Archer while Saber dispatches the remains of Caster. Only by the appearance of the Shadow does Zouken gain the opportunity to flee the scene. To recover from his injuries, Zouken devours a woman using his worms.
Zouken and True Assassin confront Shirou and Saber respectively at Ryuudou Temple. Once True Assassin has tricked Saber into being swallowed by the Shadow, he rejoins Zouken, who orders him to kill Shirou before departing. True Assassin fails due to the intervention of Rider.
Zouken attacks the Einzbern castle with the help of True Assassin and Saber Alter. The Shadow also joins them and devours Berserker.
Sakura soon gives into her dark side and Zouken loses control over her and his plans to acquire the Holy Grail. He is subsequently killed when Kirei Kotomine exorcises his bodyFate/stay night - Heaven's Feel route - Day 15: limited. - Interlude 15-3: over load and Sakura destroys the remaining remnant of his heart.Fate/stay night - Heaven's Feel route - Day 16: FINAL - Interlude 16-1: Zouken's end
However, Zouken's presence still remains. As the final battle for the Grail ensues, the last remaining worm of Zouken attempts to reach the Grail, before being interrupted by Illyasviel von Einzbern in her Dress of Heaven. This prompts the long-buried memory in Zouken, and why he has stayed alive for so long. Seeing Ilya in the Dress of Heaven, just like Justeaze 300 years ago, reminds him of everything, and Zouken finally accepts his end.Fate/stay night - Heaven's Feel route - Day 16: FINAL - At the end of the dearest wish
===Fate/hollow ataraxia===
In Fate/hollow ataraxia, Zouken is alive alongside Shinji and has a minor relevance. It is eventually revealed that Sakura assumed control of the Matou household, and both Zouken and Shinji are terrified of her.Fate/hollow ataraxia - 10/08 - Streets - Matou residents
===Fate/Grand Order===
====Fourth Singularity: London====
Commanded by Solomon, Makiri, Paracelsus von Hohenheim, and Charles Babbage join together to destroy the era regardless of their lamentations towards the incineration of humanity.Fate/Grand Order - London: The Death World in the City of Demonic Fog, Section 11: Angrboda They invaded the Clock Tower through its entrance in the British Museum, which was destroyed in the process, and kill all the mages there to remove any opposition.Fate/Grand Order - London: The Death World in the City of Demonic Fog, Section 7: One More Mystery After his group created a chamber deeper underground, Babbage constructed a massive steam engine dubbed Angrboda, which uses the Holy Grail as its power source. Angrboda then released the Demonic Fog on to the city to eventually destroy the era. Babbage's Dimension of Steam is responsible for the Helter Skelter robots that roam London.Fate/Grand Order - London: The Death World in the City of Demonic Fog, Section 10: At the End of Brilliant Steam
He is present alongside Babbage when Paracelsus returns to Angrboda's chamber to report Jack the Ripper's loss. He merely responds that the project's advancement remains unaffected.Fate/Grand Order - London: The Death World in the City of Demonic Fog, Section 5: Helter Skelter Later, he uses the Grail to make Babbage go berserk against Ritsuka's party when Babbage prepares to surrender. 
Makiri is soon confronted by the group when they come to Angrboda’s chamber. He reveals the Demonic Fog was created to destroy all of England, as commanded by his king. He continues that a Heroic Spirit able to fully activate the Demonic Fog will soon materialize from the fog. Mash asks him why he is trying to destroy the era he lives. Makiri confesses that he tried to resist until he realized it was useless because everything has already been incinerated. He continues that his king decided not to allow the past, present, and future to exist, whom proclaimed to be tired of seeing more of ugliness and existence. Then, stopping himself from saying more, Makiri incarnates himself into Barbatos and attacks the group. After Barbatos is defeated, Makiri attempts to summon a Servant, but Mordred kills him before he can finish the incantation. However, serving as both the summoning circle and the remaining incantation, the Demonic Fog completes the ritual. Still alive, Makiri reveals the power of the fog will concentrate onto the Servant.
====Fate/Accel Zero Order====
Zouken finds his mansion burning, along with a lone Lancelot about to disappear. Upon seeing Kariya's right hand Command Spells on the ground, he surmises what happened to Lancelot. He's angry Kariya for abandoning the war, but he also knows his "son" isn't the type to sever his own hand. He then contracts with Lancelot to get revenge.Fate/Grand Order - Fate/Accel Zero Order, ACT-15: To the Greater Grail
At the Grail's Chamber, after Iskandar disappeared, Lancelot ambushes El-Melloi II on Zouken's orders. Because she is helping to dismantle the Grail, Zouken accuses Irsviel of having forgotten the wish of the Three Founders. Irisviel responds that it's obvious the ritual failed long ago, adding Heaven's Feel will never be achieved with the Grail corrupted. Zouken doesn't care as long as he can witness the fruits of his and the other Founders' labor after 500 years. He then sends Lancelot to kill the group.Fate/Grand Order - Fate/Accel Zero Order, ACT-17: Wish of the Three Founding Families
Ritsuka's party kills Lancelot, but that, unfortunately, triggers the Grail's activation. Zouken uses Irisviel's magical energy to hasten the process. A figure resembling Irisviel called Black Iri then emerges from the Greater Grail. Seeing her as Justeaze, Zouken compliments her beauty and realizes his role was only to recall her visage. Black Iri devours him after telling him to dream of the ideals that will never be fulfilled then die.Fate/Grand Order - Fate/Accel Zero Order, ACT-18: The Fallen Grail
====Ordeal Call I: Paper Moon====
===Carnival Phantasm===
Zouken has a minor role in Carnival Phantasm, only having appeared in two scenes (in which he tries to enter to the Ahnenerbe bathroom to no avail). He has been reduced to a gag character, and even Shinji mistreats him.
===Other appearances===
In the Apocrypha universe, Zouken fought fiercely against Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia during the Third Holy Grail War, but became practically crippled due to the shock of the Greater Grail being stolen. The family wasn’t blessed with a successor either, so their future as magi has been completely shut.
In Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA 3rei!!, it is mentioned that Zouken is dead in Miyu's universe, having died along with the rest of the Matou at the end of the Fourth Ainsworth Grail War, with the exception of Sakura. 
During the events of Fate/strange Fake, its been stated by Francesca Prelati, that despite her having a strong interest in the Fuyuki Holy Grail Wars, she was never able to participate due to Zouken's presence. Hinting to her having a hostile, antagonistic relationship with the Matou Head.
Later as revealed by Francesca, during the events of the Fourth Holy Grail War of the events of Fate/Zero, Francesca had attempted to go to Fuyuki in order to meet up with her old friend, Gilles de Rais, who had been summoned as a Caster Class Servant. However, Zouken had stopped her before she could meet up with him, resulting in them battling with each other that ended with Francesca dying and losing her previous reincarnation due to her illusions not working against Zouken's insects.
==Abilities==
He is a powerful Magus who had altered his body through Familiar Magecraft so much that he is now more of a monster than human. In his prime before he met the Einzberns, Zouken was equivalent to ten times an average third-tier noble Magus (such as Goredolf Musik) and could even win against a Servant if he were under ideal conditions. He is a Pride around level 70.
Crest Worm that houses Zouken's Soul.jpg|Zouken's true Body in the shape of a worm.
Zoukenregeneration.jpg|Zouken´s durability
He cannot be killed by normal physical means because his body became a swarm of worms. Fatal wounds can easily be shrugged off, and even if his body is destroyed, he can easily reform it by devouring a human. But according to Faldeus Dioland, it is possible to kill Zouken by using a precision missile strike.Fate/strange Fake Volume 1 - Extra Chapter: "Betrayer" Zouken himself can eat normal food but it’s more efficient for him to directly leech life force for nourishment. Then as long as his soul in his main body is intact, which he changed into a small worm, he could regenerate his former self. His main body resides next to the heart of Sakura Matou in Fate/stay night, from there he controls his Worms, his Worm body and tampers with the world. Yet as time went on, his method of immortality caused his soul to decay, due to him being a Wraith, causing him to appear as a wizened old man.Fate/stay night - Heaven's Feel route - Day 7: dialogue lost loop - Interlude 7-2: Madness
===Magecraft===
He was the one that came up with the Command Spells for the Master and Servant in the Holy Grail system. As such, Zouken was capable of creating an item by combining the Matou family Crest Worms with the command spells of Rider's true Master known as the Book of False Attendant for his descendant Shinji Matou. The book, which acts as a provisionary command spell, allows Shinji to control Rider and, due to Shinji's incompetence, was made twice by Rider's original Master. Because it is not a true command spell, it burns if it is used beyond its limits or if Rider is destroyed. are the unique kind of Magic Crest of the Matou family and their Thaumaturgical Attribute Absorption allows them to have absolute effects on the body and can be used to bind and control others. He was also capable of combining the fragments of the destroyed Holy Grail with his Crest Worms, which he put inside Sakura's body. Though she was incomplete, this turned her into a second Lesser Grail.
====Worms====
Worm FGO Paper Moon.png||As seen in Fate/Grand Order.
Zoukens Blood Worms .jpg|Blood Worms - Original design and Realta Nua design
Crest Worms inside Caster.jpg|Crest worms inside Caster.
Crest Worms are Zouken's personal familiars. Anyone implanted with Crest Worms becomes Zouken’s puppet, physically incapable of defying him, even spirits such as Servants. He let his worms rip out the dead Casters vertebrae and replaced it with a Worm that mimics a spinal cord in order to control the body. They can also evolve into several other types and it is known that illusions are not working against Zouken's insects. For example the unnamed worms he used to heal Kariya's external injuries or the worm he turned his main body into.
;Lust Worms
: love feasting on the energy of humans. When the host is a male, they consume their bone marrow and part of the brain after shattering his spine, making him crippled in the process. When it is a female, they absorb the mental energy created after sexual stimulation is made through the nervous system. Usually don't consume the flesh of women, but the uterus is their favorite meals. Will eat the placenta after giving its victim sexual pleasure strong enough to fry the nerves of the brain.Fate/stay night - Heaven's Feel route - Day 7: dialogue lost loop - Interlude 7-1: Re-contract
;Blood Worms
: are the creatures that have come to make up the body of Matou Zouken in his attempt to prolong his life. His existence is essentially a conglomerate of Crest Worms with a special appetite for human flesh and blood that combine themselves to take a human form. Despite the blood-sucking habits and weakness against sunlight he is not considered to be an actual vampire that the Church would hunt.
;Blade Wing Worms
:An evolution of Crest Worms, are carnivorous flying insects with sharp teeth, bladed tails and legs and completely covered in armor. They can be hatched from regular Crest Worms after entering a short cocoon period, where they discard their old bodies and become Blade Wing Worms, ready to fight.
;"Giant Worms"
:An unnamed variant of Crest Worm, these creatures are giant, chitinous, spider-like and the size of a car. Their creation is unknown, only that they are made in the Matou Worm pit and seemingly have their body parts individually made in cocoons.Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel I. presage flower
==Development==
===Creation and Conception===
Kinoko Nasu was quite fond of him, and he would get carried away typing every time he appeared.
===Reception===
*In the first Popularity polls of Fate/stay night in 2004, Zouken was ranked 36th.
*In the second Popularity polls of Fate/stay night in 2006, Zouken was ranked 29th.
*In the Type-Moon's 10th Anniversary Character Poll, Zouken was ranked 122nd.
==References==
Category:Characters in Fate/stay night
Category:Characters in Fate/Zero
Category:Magi
Category:Masters
Category:Heads of household
Category:Humans
Category:Characters in Fate/Grand Order (Part 1)
Category:Wraiths
Category:Matous
Category:Pride-rank magi
Category:Introduced in 2004
Category:Fourth Singularity Inhabitants
Category:Residents of Fuyuki City
Category:Insects
Category:Russians