"Fate/Zero" depicts the events of the Fourth Holy Grail War, which took place 10 years before the main story of "Fate/stay night," and features eight Masters and eight Servants. Today, we'll be introducing Tohsaka Tokiomi, his true identity, and how he's portrayed in the story.
Profile of Tohsaka Tokiomi
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The fifth head of the Tohsaka family, one of the three great families that created the Holy Grail War, and the master of Archer in the Fourth Holy Grail War. He is a magician (in the world of the extraordinary), and as a proper magician, he enters the Holy Grail War with the aim of reaching the roots.
What kind of personality is he?
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Although he is a cunning and ruthless magician, he also has a deep love as a father, which is rare for a magician. He was troubled by the fact that his two daughters have such rare qualities that they "will only be able to choose the life of a magician." (Tokiomi himself considers the fact that he was given the "choice" of whether or not to inherit the family headship from his predecessor to be "the greatest gift from his father," and sincerely hopes that he can give the same treasure to his own daughters.)
Daughter of a potential successor
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The girls, born with a talent that is like a curse, have no way to survive other than to master magic, and in the society of magicians where the tradition is passed down from father to son, there is only one successor who can be given the protection of the Tohsaka family. If they cannot become a successor, they will be kept away from magic and live as an ordinary human, but Sakura is not allowed to do this because she was born with a rare ability as a magician, and she fears that she will eventually be protected or abducted by the Magic Society and turned into a specimen preserved in formalin for research.
Alliance with the Matou Family
At that time, the Matou family, who are allies with Tokiomi, offered to adopt a child. Tokiomi saw this as a blessing and decided to adopt the child in order to gain the means to "carve out their own lives." This was in accordance with the long-standing alliance between Tohsaka and Matou, and the agreement that "if there is no successor, each will adopt a child from the other."
Sakura's Attributes
In addition, Sakura's attribute is the extremely rare "imaginary element, imaginary number," which is completely outside the Tohsaka's expertise in magic, and there was no way Tokiomi could be taught imaginary attribute magic. Even if he were to adopt her, there was no way Tokiomi could rely on a family that deals with sealed items such as imaginary elements, so in that respect Matou's proposal was a blessing.
Placenta with an eye on the Holy Grail War
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However, as a result of this education, Sakura's rare talent for imaginary numbers was not utilized at all, and she was forcibly dyed with water attributes. Furthermore, since she was not properly educated in magic, she was poorly informed about magic and it is difficult to say that she was a successful magician. In the first place, Zouken only wanted her to be used as a placenta with an eye on the Holy Grail War 60 years later, so it is extremely questionable whether his goal of raising Sakura as a magician was achieved.
Values as a magician
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It is ironic that the actions he took as a father and magician, thinking of Sakura's future, were only a misfortune for Sakura herself. However, from her assertion that in the future, when the sisters fight each other for the source and whoever wins, her daughters and their descendants will be happy, from her assertion that Kariya, who ran away because he hated Matou magic, is an irresponsible and cowardly person, and from her concern over keeping magic secret over the lives of the citizens when Caster goes berserk, we can see that she lives by her values as a magician.
The Unknown Tohsaka Family
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He was not originally a particularly talented magician, and was a mediocre character among the Tohsakas of all time. However, his self-control and self-discipline were strong, and he approached things with several times the training and multiple layers of preparation required, and always produced results. He is faithful to the family motto "Always be graceful" and puts it into practice, but at the same time, he also has the "carelessness" that is unique to the Tohsaka family.
Making Money with Patents
He is also blessed with business acumen, and as the second owner of Fuyuki City, he actively rents out land that he held as a key spiritual link for commercial use. His thorough spiritual link management has protected him from bad luck, disaster, and spiritual disturbances, and all of his businesses have been successful, earning him huge rents. He has also registered a patent for a "magic formula that simplifies magic" with the association, and the royalties from this regularly come into the Tohsaka family.
Disadvantages of Gem Magic
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However, since the gem magic inherited from the Tohsaka family is a hardcore money-eating magic, even if they make this much in one or two generations, the financial situation of the Matou family, which has been managed for a long time by the solid landowner Matou Zouken, seems to be more stable (on the other hand, they cannot maintain the magic lineage unless they make this much. Gem magic is fearsome). Therefore, the heir to the Tohsaka family must become a successful magician and save money for the next generation before eating away at the assets of the previous generation.
Fundamentally challenged
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Tokiomi should have fulfilled his duties well, but due to his early death, the majority of his estate that should have been passed on to his successor, Rin, was left in the hands of others due to the careless management of her guardian, and most of the important land was lost to others. Even after that, the royalties from the magic formula patents came in every month, and became an important source of income for Rin, but even though Tokiomi was called a genius, his magic formulas seem to be becoming outdated in Rin's generation. Even so, the income from magic patents accumulated by the successive heads of the Tohsaka family, including Tokiomi, amounted to tens of millions of yen per year, but the expenses for jewel magic were still high, and the Tohsaka family fell into financial difficulties in Rin's generation.
Tohsaka Tokiomi's abilities
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After much training, he has become a magician who is highly regarded even at the Clock Tower, and he shows his outstanding skills (in an unnoticeable way) throughout the story. His magic attribute is fire (which is the most normal, or ordinary, attribute), and his origin is unknown.
She also has intelligence
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The magical outfit is an extra-large ruby that contains the magical power that Tokiomi has spent his life refining, and is inlaid in the grip of his oak walking stick. By the way, it does not seem to be a disposable gem magic. For this Holy Grail War, he has come into contact with Kotomine Ryusei, who is the supervisor, and has plotted many schemes, such as recruiting Assassin's master Kotomine Kirei as his subordinate. He then summons the Hero King as a Servant, and is fully prepared to take on the challenge.
Even Heroic Spirits Treated as Tools
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He has the utmost respect for the "King of Heroes Gilgamesh", but as a mere replica of Gilgamesh, the "Servant of Archer", he is on the same level as an idol, and although he does show a certain amount of respect to Gilgamesh, he treats him as a tool to achieve his own goals, just like a thorough magician.
Tohsaka Tokiomi's achievements in "Fate/Zero"
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As mentioned above, he teams up with the director Kotomine Risei and Assassin's master Kotomine Kirei, summons the Hero King Gilgamesh, and takes on the Holy Grail War in top condition. He also feels anger towards people like Emiya Kiritsugu, who is an honest magician but has no pride as a magician, and Uryuu Ryuunosuke, who takes conspicuous actions such as kidnapping children with Caster and sacrificing them, even though the Holy Grail War is supposed to be conducted in secrecy.
Evaluation of Gilgamesh
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However, his servant Gilgamesh criticizes Tokiomi for being "too proper as a magician" as a "terribly boring man", and is rather interested in Tokiomi's disciple, Kotomine Kirei, who is a priest but is conflicted about his own malice-filled heart.
A Tragic Ending
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Tokiomi proposes an alliance with the Saber camp, but one of the two conditions is that Kotomine Kirei must be removed from the country until the end of the Holy Grail War, and Kirei will leave Fuyuki City, but as Gilgamesh persuades him, Kirei also gets over it. He was then stabbed in the back with the Azoth Sword, a magical outfit he had given to Kirei, and died from excessive bleeding. Gilgamesh was nearby at the time and immediately afterwards Kirei and Gilgamesh made a contract to form a new faction. It could also be said to be a tragic end, being betrayed by his own disciple and Servant.
Summary
Source: Fate Zero ©Nitroplus TYPE-MOON・ufotable・FSNPC
Although he is treated poorly in the story, in reality, Tokiomi is said to be the only one of the Fourth Masters who can compete with Kayneth other than Kiritsugu. He also has the conviction and pride to never doubt himself, and is now said to be one of the few "true surviving aristocrats." By the way, the purpose of using the Holy Grail is to reach the source of omnipotent power, which is the greatest wish of any magician. Please watch the anime and other media to see the exploits of this unfortunate Tohsaka Tokiomi.
