Saber (Fate/Crossover - Bishamon)

**Saber** (セイバー, *Seibā*) is the servant of ??? in the ??? Holy Grail War.

*"How could you expect to defeat me! The immortal spirit of bushido."* - Bishamon

## Profile

### Identity

Saber's true identity is **Oboro Bishamon**, a cursed samurai who first appeared in Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors (Vampire: The Night Warriors in Japan). He dons the demonic armor Hannya and uses the blood thirsty sword Kien and has a wife named Orin.

He was just a normal man, until the day he found an armor and a sword while visiting an antique shop. Bishamon aggressively forced the shop owner to give the items to him and returned home, losing memory of what he had done. He spent the following days staring obsessively the two objects, ignoring his wife's worries, and two weeks later he finally donned the armor. In that moment, he realized the error he made while his mind was getting full of hatred and evil, and he barely managed to tell his wife to run away. Possessed by the cursed armor Hannya and the sword Kien, Bishamon went through countless days of killing, to consume the souls and blood of humans and Darkstalkers. He eventually found Pyron and engaged him in combat, losing badly and ending separated by the items due to the alien's energies. Caught by the horror of his actions, Bishamon was reached by his wife Orin. Swearing to fight the forces of darkness wherever they were and make up for his sins, he and Orin became monks. Through the practice of Roppoudou, Bishamon cleansed his mind and heart.

Years later, after finding writings about Makai in an old temple, Bishamon secluded himself in a snowy mountain and meditated until he reached his peak spiritual strength. Bishamon was decided to end the threat of Hannya and Kien and prevent others to commit his same errors. He then departed to Majigen, reaching the monsters who had started moving again, and sealed their will with his newly acquired powers. After these events, Bishamon had disappeared and is thought to have led a peaceful life.

### Personality

Due to the sword and armor's influence, Bishamon's mind is plagued with darkness as he lusts for more destruction. Despite this accursed power, Bishamon still cares for his beloved wife, Orin, so much that he used every last bit of his strength to stall the armor from striking his wife, giving her the chance to escape with her life.

As a noble and honorable samurai, Bishamon feels shamefully responsible for the countless kills that the cursed sword and armor made him do to innocents. To atone for this. he and Orin became ascetic monks to seek redemption.

He is determined to prevent a repeat of what happened to him, and seeks out to seal Hannya and Kien in Makai to prevent the accursed articles from plaguing the world.

## Abilities

Bishamon is one of the few characters in Darkstalkers to wield a weapon. It is likely he was a skilled swordsmen before donning Hannya.

The armor gives the user many supernatural abilities such as the power to make many versions of oneself, sensing different energies from afar, absorbing the souls of humans through combat, and enhancing a user's strength and speed.

His walking speed is normal but his dash is impressive. Using Kien, he can cut enemies in half easily with his Tsuji Hayate attack. He can also channel ki energy through Kien and expel it for a short distance with his slashes. He can also project ghostly energies for distant attacks and can disorient his opponents with them. He can also summon evil spirts, such as the samurai ghosts in his Tsurane Giri and a ghostly hand with a crushing grasp in Oni Kubi Hineri.

### Noble Phantasm

#### **Hannya; "The Cursed Armor"**

Hannya was once a Makai beast who has been turned into an armor through unknwon methods and for unknown reasons. Roughly 600 years ago, it came to the human world and started possessing humans to sate its hunger for souls. Among its hosts, there was also Oda Nobunaga.

#### **Kien; "The Blood Thirsty Sword"**

Kien is a sword that was forget in the 1580's and had the name "Onikiri". Swords normally dull overtime due to the fat and blood contained in the human body, but Kien's edge was made in a way that allowed it to absorb the blood from the victims and become sharper. People started fearing the sword, which ended up in Makai, where it developed self-awareness due to being influenced by the aura of that world, and took its current name.

## Trivia

* The demonic armor Hannya and sword Kien are likely based on Tsukumogami, artifacts and items that have remained intact for 100 years, and have come to life. Depending on what kind of item they are, they can be good natured or outright evil.
* Bishamon's spirits are merely burning souls. As of Vampire Savior and onwards, the souls have ominous faces, making it appear much more menacing.
	+ One of Bishamon's win poses involves the spirits materializing into a single entity of a lady. The spirit lady is often identified as Orin, his wife. She restrains the enemy when the souls successfully hits its standing or crouching target.

## References

https://darkstalkers.fandom.com/wiki/Bishamon

https://capcom.fandom.com/wiki/Bishamon

https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/Bishamon