Saber (Fate/Crossover - Zero (MMX))

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

*"Even if we Reploids are destined to join the scrap heap when that evolutionary step does come about...We still have to fight... Not only against Mavericks, but against our own destiny as well."* ― Zero

## Profile

### Identity

Saber's true identity is **Zero**, the deuteragonist of the Mega Man X series alongside X. He is the successor of Bass and the greatest creation of Doctor Albert W. Wily. Now a high-ranking Maverick Hunter, Zero is a die-hard warrior who doesn't hesitate to take action. However, behind his cold and emotionless attitude lies a wounded soul.

### Appearance

n Zero's first appearance, his armor's design had a distinct red color with white highlights along his knees, toes, abdomen, and shoulders. One of his shoulders was emblazoned with a stylized "Z" insignia, and his helmet had extended face guards around his cheeks and curved ridges on top that resembled horns. His forehead was white with a deep blue lens on the front. He possessed two green lenses on his chest, arm guards on his wrists, and a flowing blond head of hair that extended from the back of his helmet. He also stood slightly taller than X. This version of Zero was apparently an incomplete prototype, since his upgraded design is shown in his blueprints in Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters.

When Zero was reconstructed by Serges of the X-Hunters, his body received several upgrades that completed his design. His shoulders gained reinforced shoulder plates, along with improved arm guards, new dash thrusters and golden designs on his legs, and thicker chest armor. A small "backpack" device is also added as both storage and recharging unit for the Z-Saber.

Like X, Zero's power source is solar energy. His body material is comprised of a Titanium Z alloy, and is equipped with peculiar mechanisms called the Z-Brain (the head lens) and the Z-Heart (the chest lens), which conceal an unknown power. In addition, Wily claimed that Zero was powered by a power source that was even stronger than Bassnium. When he was briefly disabled during his fight with Sigma, Zero manifested a "W" emblem in his forehead lens.

### Personality

Outwardly, Zero is a somewhat cold individual, and a ruthless Maverick Hunter. He constantly keeps his cool, even in times of crisis. He is also very straightforward and down-to-earth, often sarcastically snapping back at the unpleasantries of Mavericks and destroying them without entertaining their philosophies or taunts.

Despite this, Zero truly does have the capacity to care for others. He is very protective of his allies, such as X and the Maverick Hunters, going to great lengths to ensure their safety. He has a great distaste for the deaths of innocents. He will even disregard his own safety, sacrificing himself, to save others, such as during the battle with Vile in Mega Man X and willingly piloting the shuttle into the Eurasia colony in Mega Man X5. His care for others was detrimental during the Great Repliforce War, where he was forced to face his friends, Iris and Colonel, and their deaths at his hands caused him great emotional turmoil.

Even though Zero does not openly show it, he too seems to long for peace between humans and Reploids. However, he has said that he doesn't have any problems fighting, unlike his more pacifistic friend, X. Zero initially acted as something like a mentor to X, understanding his latent potential and even helping him unleash it. As X grew stronger, Zero gained more respect for him, seeing him as an even greater Maverick Hunter than himself. Even then, he still remains a voice of reason who helps ground X and overcome his doubts. Zero again acted the mentor upon meeting Axl. Though their relationship was tenuous at first, due to Zero being exasperated by Axl's enthusiasm and criminal background, he came to respect him as well while still playfully teasing him.

Zero's original persona was much different. He was a violent, disobedient, and uncontrollable Maverick, which was the original reason his creator Dr. Wily sealed him away in a capsule. Upon being released from his capsule, Zero went on a rampage; he often made feral screams and laughed psychotically, and took great pleasure in tearing apart Sigma and his comrades. In the non-canon ending of Mega Man X2, Zero briefly becomes a Maverick again and attacks X in a rage. However, Zero also has an even darker persona, the one that Dr. Wily intended for him, and which can be awakened in Zero through sufficient exposure to Maverick Viruses capable of doing so. In the bad ending of Mega Man X5, Zero's "true self" awakens, which is just as misanthropic as his Maverick self but with a degree more self-control and absolute obedience to Wily's will.

## Abilities

Zero is a very adept combatant on the battlefield. Originally, his power far exceeded X's (until X himself grew in power). His power as a robot from a past age is considerably exceptional in the Maverick Wars. In Mega Man X, Zero was equipped with a powerful buster weapon known as the Zero Buster, but from X2 and onward, Zero wields a melee weapon known as the Z-Saber, a sword with a blade composed of pure destructive energy, modeled after the lightsaber of Star Wars fame. It is for this reason that Zero is often used for seasoned players as he is required to fight up close rather than at a distance. His first playable appearance in Mega Man X3 is more or less essentially a future representation of how X will turn out, unleashing double charged shots and the almighty Z-Saber which fells bosses with a few mere swipes. His physical blows are also powerful enough that a well-timed punch is capable of easily amputating a foe upon contact, which is best demonstrated with his initial fight with Sigma back when the latter was still the commander of the Maverick Hunters.

Unlike his comrades, Zero does not copy the powers/weapons of defeated Mavericks, but instead, his Learning allows him to acquire special attacks known as Techniques (必殺技 Hissatsu Waza, lit. Coup de grâce or "Sure-killing arts; a generic Japanese term for a special move") in the X series and as EX Skills in the Zero series, which are attacks based on techniques utilized by bosses. He does not require the use of a buster weapon as the attacks often utilize his hands or enhances his Z-Saber power by empowering the blade with elemental properties. The Zero Buster can be utilized from both arms, as evidenced by some gameplay and cutscene representations interchangeably showing the buster arm as being his left or right.

Unlike X, Zero cannot obtain performance-enhancing armors, with a few exceptions. This is due to the fact that during the time Zero was created, Dr. Wily could not prepare any future armor enhancing upgrades for him like Light had done for X, thus Zero's durability stayed consistent, making him a traditional Glass Cannon. Defined in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (more so in terms of his bio), Zero appears to not be so overly strong (unless he wasn't infected first with the Sigma Virus when he was first found, as he was uncontrollable or in his Awakened Boss fight in X5) as his Marvel vs Capcom 3 power grid statistics gives his Stamina rating a 3/7, but his other stats (Strength, Speed, Intelligence and Energy Projection) a 5/7, with his Fighting Ability as a 7/7. This shows that what Zero lacks in raw strength with the absence of the virus he makes up for extreme fighting ability and skills in many other fields, enabling to out-duel/wear down nearly any foe, along with showing extreme adaptation to much of his battles (which also plays in hand with his versatile move list as of late). This is expressed in the aforementioned fighting games where Zero has low health and average damage output, he makes up for this with the bulk of his damage coming from surprisingly long combos (albeit with some hefty execution involved).

The original X games, however, have Zero's Z-Saber be capable of destroying several normal enemies in a few blows. The fighting games seem to decrease it to give more balance, and coincidentally give a possible accurate description of Zero's statistics. Zero may also be aware of his low durability (in comparison to his comrades), and may also have enough skill to last in a scuffle to fight/parry off any hit that comes to him, describing more of his skill as a master swordsman. This makes him a rather unique glass cannon as he not only he's weak on defense and strong on offense like the other kinds in fiction, but Zero has skills in several other fields of battle with great ability to adapt to practically any opponent he fights; glass cannons usually have raw power, which Zero seems to lack often, putting him in the category of a "Gradual Grinder". And like the "Fragile Speedster" archetype of characters, Zero also has solid mobility options given abilities such as his Hienkyaku.

Thus in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Zero like several characters from the original version to the revision, has had his power grid changed. His Stamina and Strength are now 2/7, his Intelligence a 3/7, and all the rest of his other stats are now 5/7. This shows that not only Zero puts more than just skill into his fighting ability, and that he uses all his speed and knowledge to back up his fighting prowess. His "Learned" intelligence also shows Zero tends to clear his mind during fights to prevent anything from swaying him, and his 5/7 fighting ability while brought down to a reasonable level shows that while Zero only knows a single form of combat, he is no doubt a pure master of it.

Zero's aforementioned long combos in fighting games seems to nod at his personality and overall fighting approach, showing he always fights to the best of his ability with long relentless offense and having no-holds barred with it comes to shredding his opposition with little breathing room. This shows that Zero is somewhat more powerful than he lets on in-universe.

### Parameters

* Strength (B(A) Rank): Saber is a top-class combat reploid and fights with great strength and does his offensive power is immense.

* Endurance (A Rank): While designed for power and speed over defense Saber has been greatly damaged in his many battles and still functioned at peak efficiency.

* Agility (A+ Rank): Saber was designed for speed and grace and his inbuilt thrusters allow him to temporarily accelerate even further.

* Mana (E Rank): Saber is a machine thus his Mana exists only because he's become a spiritual being.

* Luck (A+ Rank): Zero was created to be the Heroic Spirit Dr. Wily's greatest weapon designed to destroy his rivals and get revenge, Zero did the opposite becoming the greatest of friends with his destined archenemy Heroic Spirit Megaman X and accomplished the dream of human-robot peace where X failed.

### Skills

#### Class Skills

* Magic Resistance (C Rank): Magecraft does not exist in Saber's time, technology having long destroyed it if it once existed. Saber only has this Skill because of his Class

* Riding (A Rank): All creatures but those of Phantasmal Beast and Divine Beast-rank can be used as mounts. This rank is high enough to have aptitude for the Rider Class.

#### Personal Skills

Eternal Arms Mastery (A+ Rank): Saber was designed to be the greatest warrior to ever live and he proved it upon his reactivation fighting on par with the Maverick Hunter Commander Sigma in a swordfight with just a pipe while driven insane by programming errors. Saber refined his skills even further after regaining his sanity becoming renowned as the greatest warrior of two eras. No matter what, Saber's peerless skills shall never fade.

Perfect Body (A Rank): Saber is a combat android of the highest caliber created by one of the greatest geniuses to ever live in his world. As such it comes to no surprise that his body is perfect in every regard for combat. His Strength is always ranked up.

Battle Continuation (B Rank): As a reploid Saber endures damage better than a human but his greatest feat of endurance and determination was during the final battle with Maverick Leader Sigma during the Fifth Marverick Uprising Saber was hit by Sigma's explosion at point-blank range, was bisected, and suffered fatal damage to his systems but was able to force himself up to kill Sigma.

Eye of the Mind (True) (A Rank): Saber already had superior senses thanks to being a Reploid but its been truly been refined through centuries of battles and wars against impossible odds. If something is impossible expect Saber to be able to do it anyway.

### Noble Phantasm

#### **Z-Saber: "Blade of Zero"**

Saber's most trusted and longest used weapon, it's been in service for over two centuries giving it great Mystery and power as many wondered how it stayed relevant with so much technological advancements. A truly versatile weapon it can transform into a shield, a lance, a whip, and tonfas. It can add the elemental attributes of Fire, Ice, and Lightning to its configuration to empower attacks of Saber's choice. It can also be 'charged' guaranteeing that it will do an extra '+' modifier of damage while unleashing a burst of energy.

#### **The Three Lives of Zero: "Three Lifes Lived, Three Laws Broken"**

Saber has been destroyed three times in his legend and has been revived three times after it had been declared impossible for him to be rebuilt. These returns from death have been crystallized as a revival Noble Phantasm, Saber needs to be killed three times for him to stay dead.

#### **EX Skills: "The Certain Kill Techniques of Zero"**

Saber's most subtle but dangerous Noble Phantasm. As Zero fights his opponent his body 'learns' from them and adapts. If his enemy uses electric attacks the EX Skill system will either give Saber the capability to do so as well or Saber will develop a technique or weapon based on his opponents fighting style. As Saber's potential was designed to be infinite he can even 'learn' how to mimic their Noble Phantasms to an extent. For example if Saber fought Heracles God Hand would offer an armor upgrade that rendered attacks ranked B and below useless, but would not receive more extra lives but Nine Lives could be replicated perfectly. If Saber faced Diarmuid's Gae Buidhe he would create a technique that makes unhealable wounds while Gae Dearg would be harder to replicate as the EX Skills haven't had the time to properly analyze Magecraft. Demon Hand Assassin's odd Noble Phantasm would most likely create a technique that is completely unrecognizable to the Zabanya while Kojirou Sasaki's Tsubame Gaeshi could be used perfectly. In the Holy Grail War the EX Skills are truly a gamble.

## References

https://megaman.fandom.com/wiki/Zero

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero\_%28Mega\_Man%29

https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Zero\_(Mega\_Man\_X)

https://characterprofile.fandom.com/wiki/Zero\_(Mega\_Man\_X\_era)

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/summon-a-servant-mark-vi-the-dark-six-f-sn-crossover-servants.370875/page-13#post-20512355