Berserker (Fate/Crossover - Alexander Anderson)

**Berserker** (バーサーカー, *Bāsākā*) is the servant of ??? in the ??? Holy Grail War.

"*You will be cut down like a straw, trembling before my wrath! AAAAAAAAMEN!*" — Alexander Anderson

## Profile

### Identity

Berserker's true identity is **Alexander Anderson**, a Vatican priest, working as a vampire hunter and agent of the Iscariot branch of the Vatican. He is also the arch-rival of Alucard. In the English dub of the anime and OVA, he is portrayed as having a Scottish accent, though canonically his nationality is unknown. He lives in Italy, operating an orphanage outside Vatican City. He serves as the foil to Alucard as both an antagonist and type of anti-villain in the series, both in the TV anime and the OVA series.

### Personality

Alexander Anderson is an ardent Catholic. He carries an obsession for what appears to be his "crusade", and compulsively quotes passages of the Holy Bible as he speaks. He is extremely determined to achieve his end, usually by whatever means necessary. His words and his constant quoting of scripture indicate a clear, almost fanatical obedience towards "the word of God". His behavior in the first volume was depicted as an intense Catholic priest, who went as far as calling Integra "Babylon", as a reference to the Whore of Babylon, and displayed an immense hatred for Protestants (like Integra) as a reference to the long history of hatred between the two.

In the first episode of Hellsing Ultimate, some of Anderson's statements heavily imply a hatred for all non-Catholics. Anderson tells a pair of young boys that they should only engage in violence against "monsters and non-believers," and comments to his superiors that it is fortunate that a large vampire population must be killing many English Protestants. Anderson resents the control of England over Northern Ireland, which he believes is Catholic territory, and states that it is his mission to kill non-believers. Despite this, it is shown that he will become angry when innocent people are killed, despite their beliefs.

In Order 3: Sword Dancer of Hellsing (anime), Paladin Alexander Anderson's actions are vaguely relativist. He ignores his true mission, and instead focuses on the basic requirements of his crusade; thus, attacking Seras Victoria, Alucard and killing Captain Gareth of the Hellsing Organization, though Gareth was a human being and attempting to exterminate the same target as Alexander Anderson. While his orders from Iscariot specified the extermination of a single rogue vampire, he engages in combat with Alucard as well.

In the manga (and by extension, the OVA, which is closer to the manga than the TV series), however, his character is much more complex. In battle, he is merciless and almost unstoppable due to his abilities. He has a habit of hissing during fights and often loses all control of himself much like Alucard. Despite this, he can stop himself and focus on his mission. He shows a greater sense of morality both in his treatment of the orphans under his care and his eventual assistance to Integra and betrayal of Enrico Maxwell (who becomes drunk with power and starts killing innocent humans), quite unlike the TV series Anderson who is portrayed as little more than a mindless, psychotic killer.

In the Manga he normally appears as a calm and collected priest; he works at an orphanage in the manga and OVA and acts very kindly towards the children under his care. His complexity in the manga is later demonstrated by his respect for Integra's conviction and for Seras' bravery. Specifically, he agrees to escort Integra to Hellsing HQ, because it would be impolite to leave a lady to walk there alone. Anderson tells the members of Iscariot to retreat from battle when Alucard releases his familiars, wanting them to live on and protect the Catholic religion; as he believed there are already enough souls in limbo.

## Abilities

As Iscariot's "trump card", he is the single greatest warrior the Vatican can bring to bear, and the only known being who can match Alucard's power (albeit when augmented by Helena's Nail). Alucard noted that he was the only one who he'd let defeat him (in accordance to Alucard's own belief that only a man can slay a monster). Anderson possesses extraordinary strength, speed, senses, balance, coordination, and stamina, far above what is considered normal for a human. It is unknown if these abilities are a result of artificial, biotechnological enhancement or a combination of his natural skill and fighting experience, similar to Walter.

Superhuman Strength: He has fought Alucard, who is unfazed from taking high-caliber bullets to the chest, to a standstill with his bare hands, staggering him and bleeding his nose with a single punch. With his immense strength, he threw his bayonets through a tektite composite panel protecting Maxwell and bisected artificial vampires with one blow. In the first anime series, Anderson slices a subway car in two using only his bayonets.

Superhuman Speed and Reactions: His reflexes are sufficient to allow him to react to bullets, although he prefers to take them head-on thanks to his regeneration. He has caught Alucard off guard with his speed during their first fight and blitzed Millennium’s artificial vampires with his bayonets. During the Battle of London, he clashed with Alucard equally and sliced through his army of ghouls at a great speed.

Superhuman Durability: Enhanced by his regeneration, Anderson is very durable. He effortlessly shrugged off shots from a dozen automatic rifles (none of which pierced through his flesh), while Alucard has often been ripped apart by such weaponry, as well as from Alucard’s Casull - even a point-blank bullet was lodged in his skull. He could take several blows from Alucard who can easily tear apart human soldiers and vampires with single hits.

Superhuman Endurance: Anderson’s incredible endurance allowed him to keep on plowing through Alucard’s massive army of ghouls despite having his arm nearly shot off by the Jackal and taking damage from Rip’s magic bullet and Alhambra’s anti-regeneration magic cards. This is all a testament to Anderson’s fighting spirit which made Alucard deem him as the worthy rival who can kill him.

Scripture Manipulation: Anderson can summon a horde of scripture pages and use them for a variety of purposes:
Holy Barriers: Anderson can affix scriptures pages onto the walls of a building to erect a barrier to ward off vampires. Specifically, Seras was blocked from escaping as if there was a physical wall. In the Hellsing Ultimate OVA, Anderson used the scriptures to erect a divine barrier around himself when clashing with Alucard, which set all of the pages on fire. In the first anime series, Anderson can use the scriptures to purify the house and prevent the use of black magic.

Transportation: Anderson can use Bible pages to seemingly teleport. He used this to leave his first fight with Alucard after realizing he did not have the equipment to kill him, and again when trying to ambush Alucard in their final fight. He also used this to appear before Integra when she was attacked by Millennium’s vampires.

Ensnaring: In the first anime series, Anderson was shown to use Bible pages in order to trap Alucard. Specifically, he used them to entangle Alucard's arms before slicing his head off.

### Noble Phantasm

#### **Bayonet Mastery**

Alexander Anderson uses scores of blessed bayonets presumably made of silver. The blessed nature of the bayonets can sting vampires and negate their regeneration. He skillfully wields the bayonets with great dexterity in close-combat like swords and can also throw them with extreme accuracy (especially considering that he often throws the bayonets in large numbers, usually holding them between his fingers). The type of he uses most appear to be Austrian sword bayonets, with custom hand grips for an easier hold. The bayonets could originally be destroyed by a well placed amount of shots (done so by Integra), but later could withstand shots from the Casull, indicating that Anderson had their durability greatly increased for later use. During the Battle of London, Anderson prepared a chain holding dozens of bayonets which can explode and destroy swarms of Alucard’s familiars. He calls this the “Exploding Chain”. Anderson can throw his bayonets with great intensity. He could crack hardened tektite glass and has skewered vampires from Millennium’s foot soldiers to Alucard himself. He could throw the bayonets so fast that an entire squad of Millennium’s artificial vampires could not react to them at all. In the Hellsing Ultimate OVA, the bayonets caused sonic booms that shatter windows. He can throw bayonets with an impossible level of accuracy. In the Hellsing Ultimate OVA, in his first encounter with Alucard and Seras, he accurately stabbed and incapacitated Seras with multiple well-placed bayonets, and set up a spiritual barrier across multiple floors before he had even made it down the stairs. Granted, this could have been a trap he had previously set up, but it is highly unlikely as it is implied he prefers to face his prey. Anderson seems to have a limitless supply of bayonets that he can pull from, suggesting that he benefits from Hammerspace. It is unknown if the bayonets are concealed with some sort of holy power or can be generated by nano-technology in his clothing or body. Hirano claims something among the lines of Anderson being '4th-dimensional”.

#### **Nail of Helena**

The Nail of Helena was Anderson’s trump card in his fight against Alucard, and he called it a weapon capable of genocide. As one of the nails that pierced the body of Jesus Christ himself, it is the epitome of holy weaponry and deemed to be sufficient to kill a vampire as powerful as Alucard. By imbuing himself with the Nail’s power, Anderson gained peculiar plant-like powers, becoming a monster like Alucard. Alexander Anderson receives "Helena's Nail" from Section III Matthew, the Vatican's relic retrieval division. Discovered by Helena, Constantine's mother, it is said to be one of the nails of the True Cross that crucified Jesus Christ. Anderson stabs himself in the heart with it and he became, in the words of Alucard, 'one of God's monsters.' The use of the Nail prompted Alucard to officially label Anderson a monster rather than a human, and therefore must be destroyed.

## References

https://hellsing.fandom.com/wiki/Alexander\_Anderson

https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Alexander\_Anderson

https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/Alexander\_Anderson