TV-Series
Description
Caster, whose true identity is Gilles de Rais, is a summoned Servant of the Caster class in the Fourth Holy Grail War. His physical appearance is striking and unsettling; he is tall and slender, draped in an ornate, wide ceremonial robe adorned with lavish precious metal jewelry. He possesses a smooth, youthful face with large, perpetually active eyes set against a tanned complexion, a combination that has been compared to figures in the paintings of Edvard Munch.
The background of Gilles de Rais is rooted in historical tragedy. In life, he was a revered French military commander and a companion-in-arms to the national heroine, Jeanne d'Arc during the Hundred Years' War. He was devastated by her execution, an event that shattered his faith in God and led him to retire from public life. Consumed by a desire to resurrect Jeanne, he delved into the study of alchemy and black magic under the tutelage of the sorcerer François Prelati. This descent into obsession culminated in the brutal torture and murder of an estimated hundreds of children, a crime for which he was executed. The legend of his atrocities serves as one of the primary sources for the fairy tale character, Bluebeard, a name he uses as an alias.
His personality is that of a sadistic and amoral being who has lost all grasp on sanity. He derives profound pleasure from killing, but his methodology is specific; he believes in granting his victims a glimmer of hope or a momentary respite before their death, as the sudden plunge from hope to utter despair produces, in his philosophy, the purest form of terror and the most exquisite beauty in death. This mania is not born from a simple love of violence but from a deep-seated, fractured devotion. His sole motivation for entering the Holy Grail War is to obtain the Grail's power to resurrect Jeanne d'Arc, believing that a miracle is the only way to undo her unjust death.
In the story, Caster and his master, the serial killer Ryuunosuke Uryuu, form a terrifyingly compatible duo, as both share an artistic appreciation for murder and torture. Caster quickly disregards the rules of the Holy Grail War, instead embarking on a kidnapping spree of children from the city of Fuyuki to use in his rituals and for his master's amusement. He becomes obsessed with the Servant Saber, whom he immediately and fervently mistakes for his beloved Jeanne d'Arc. Despite Saber denying this identity, Caster deludes himself into believing her memories have been warped by the English, who he considered his and Jeanne's enemies. He shifts his goal from winning the Grail to capturing Saber and forcing her to remember her "true" past as a French holy maiden.
His most significant relationship is with his master, Ryuunosuke. Neither is interested in the prize of the Holy Grail, and in each other they find a profound understanding of their murderous aesthetics. When Caster is brought to the brink of despair, it is Ryuunosuke's heretical philosophy that God must love the spectacle of human suffering that reignites Caster’s fanaticism, leading to their most destructive act. In his final moments, as he is consumed by the light of Saber's holy sword, he experiences a fleeting moment of lucidity, recalling the days of his honor and faith fighting alongside the real Jeanne d'Arc, a memory that brings him to tears before his destruction.
Regarding his development, Caster undergoes a journey from a hidden serial killer to a rampaging public monster. Initially, he operates from a secret workshop, abducting children to fuel his summons. After his lair is destroyed, he reaches an epiphany with his master and forgoes subtlety entirely. He performs a massive ritual in the Mion River, merging his summoned demonic creatures into a colossal, grotesque sea monster, the Gigantic Horror, with himself at its core. This act forces the entire War to pause as all remaining Servants unite to defeat the abomination, marking the climax of his role as a major antagonist.
Caster possesses several notable abilities, largely derived from his grimoire, the Prelati's Spellbook. This A+ ranked anti-army Noble Phantasm is a tome bound in human skin that contains forbidden knowledge of primordial evil gods. The book itself functions as an independent magical reactor, allowing Caster to perform high-level thaumaturgy and summoning rituals far beyond his own natural capabilities. He primarily uses it to summon and control swarms of sea demons; these creatures are masses of tentacled flesh that can overwhelm enemies with sheer numbers and possess regenerative abilities. His final and most devastating feat is using the spellbook as a catalyst to summon the Gigantic Horror, a building-sized entity from another dimension that is nearly impervious to physical damage and can only be destroyed by an anti-fortress Noble Phantasm of the highest order. His own skills are limited, including a high rank in Mental Pollution, which shields his mind from interference but also makes rational communication with him impossible, and a low rank in Artistic Appreciation, which rarely allows him to identify aesthetically significant treasures.
The background of Gilles de Rais is rooted in historical tragedy. In life, he was a revered French military commander and a companion-in-arms to the national heroine, Jeanne d'Arc during the Hundred Years' War. He was devastated by her execution, an event that shattered his faith in God and led him to retire from public life. Consumed by a desire to resurrect Jeanne, he delved into the study of alchemy and black magic under the tutelage of the sorcerer François Prelati. This descent into obsession culminated in the brutal torture and murder of an estimated hundreds of children, a crime for which he was executed. The legend of his atrocities serves as one of the primary sources for the fairy tale character, Bluebeard, a name he uses as an alias.
His personality is that of a sadistic and amoral being who has lost all grasp on sanity. He derives profound pleasure from killing, but his methodology is specific; he believes in granting his victims a glimmer of hope or a momentary respite before their death, as the sudden plunge from hope to utter despair produces, in his philosophy, the purest form of terror and the most exquisite beauty in death. This mania is not born from a simple love of violence but from a deep-seated, fractured devotion. His sole motivation for entering the Holy Grail War is to obtain the Grail's power to resurrect Jeanne d'Arc, believing that a miracle is the only way to undo her unjust death.
In the story, Caster and his master, the serial killer Ryuunosuke Uryuu, form a terrifyingly compatible duo, as both share an artistic appreciation for murder and torture. Caster quickly disregards the rules of the Holy Grail War, instead embarking on a kidnapping spree of children from the city of Fuyuki to use in his rituals and for his master's amusement. He becomes obsessed with the Servant Saber, whom he immediately and fervently mistakes for his beloved Jeanne d'Arc. Despite Saber denying this identity, Caster deludes himself into believing her memories have been warped by the English, who he considered his and Jeanne's enemies. He shifts his goal from winning the Grail to capturing Saber and forcing her to remember her "true" past as a French holy maiden.
His most significant relationship is with his master, Ryuunosuke. Neither is interested in the prize of the Holy Grail, and in each other they find a profound understanding of their murderous aesthetics. When Caster is brought to the brink of despair, it is Ryuunosuke's heretical philosophy that God must love the spectacle of human suffering that reignites Caster’s fanaticism, leading to their most destructive act. In his final moments, as he is consumed by the light of Saber's holy sword, he experiences a fleeting moment of lucidity, recalling the days of his honor and faith fighting alongside the real Jeanne d'Arc, a memory that brings him to tears before his destruction.
Regarding his development, Caster undergoes a journey from a hidden serial killer to a rampaging public monster. Initially, he operates from a secret workshop, abducting children to fuel his summons. After his lair is destroyed, he reaches an epiphany with his master and forgoes subtlety entirely. He performs a massive ritual in the Mion River, merging his summoned demonic creatures into a colossal, grotesque sea monster, the Gigantic Horror, with himself at its core. This act forces the entire War to pause as all remaining Servants unite to defeat the abomination, marking the climax of his role as a major antagonist.
Caster possesses several notable abilities, largely derived from his grimoire, the Prelati's Spellbook. This A+ ranked anti-army Noble Phantasm is a tome bound in human skin that contains forbidden knowledge of primordial evil gods. The book itself functions as an independent magical reactor, allowing Caster to perform high-level thaumaturgy and summoning rituals far beyond his own natural capabilities. He primarily uses it to summon and control swarms of sea demons; these creatures are masses of tentacled flesh that can overwhelm enemies with sheer numbers and possess regenerative abilities. His final and most devastating feat is using the spellbook as a catalyst to summon the Gigantic Horror, a building-sized entity from another dimension that is nearly impervious to physical damage and can only be destroyed by an anti-fortress Noble Phantasm of the highest order. His own skills are limited, including a high rank in Mental Pollution, which shields his mind from interference but also makes rational communication with him impossible, and a low rank in Artistic Appreciation, which rarely allows him to identify aesthetically significant treasures.