Alexander the Great

Divinity: A     The propaganda of Alexander’s war machine posited him as the son of Zeus. As he ventured further and further upon his war of conquest, the claims of divinity grew, exploiting deities of dozens of cultures to legitimize his rule from Greece to Persia.     Charisma: A     Shameless, conniving, and eager to inspire, Alexander’s charisma was one of many tools prepared during his time as a prince that he used along the war path. His sweet talking could easily seduce even the wisest of comrades, but take heed — his word is not the reliable bond he would love for you to believe it is.     Tactics: A     Alexander’s cunning on the battlefield was his greatest weapon. From the adaptive strategy that allowed him to cut down the first Persian army at the River Granicus to his inspired erection of a bridge from which to destroy the island of Tyre, his mastery of warfare was matched only by his advisors.     Battle Continuation: C     Though his battles rarely resulted in hardship for Alexander and his forces, their march home from the edges of the Indian kingdoms was marked with hardship. Stone missiles damaged his shoulder, an arrow tore into his lung, and the march through the Gedrosian Desert left their toll on Alexander. As a Heroic Spirit, however, the ability to withstand this pain as a mortal offers him greater endurance as a Heroic Spirit.  

Rage of my Dying Brother     Rank: A   Type: Anti-Unit   Range: Within Sight   Max. Targets: One  It takes courage to deny the king his respect. Courage and foolishness.     By denying the king his respect, one denies the steps taken to become king. One denies the sacrifices made to maintain order. One denies the lies necessary to keep the well oiled machine of imperialism going. One denies the right of rule itself.     Defiance of the right to be ruled is denial of one’s right to exist. By denying Alexander’s ideals, morals, abilities, or any other such metric of kingship, one opens themselves up to the true power of the king. They lose control of their body and weapon as he inflicts his chosen punishment on them, their body unable to resist his order. If by some strength of will they break free, they are stripped of all defenses, free for Alexander to kill as he pleases.

There were always rumors about young Alexander. How could there not be, when his father was Philip the One-Eyed, warrior and conqueror? All wished to know who was intended to succeed him, for their own means and for no means whatsoever. After his suppression of Thebes, many were satisfied by his tenacity and strategy.     Then, Philip was assassinated by his own guard, his brothers-in-arms cutting the assassin down before a statement could be made. Of course it was tragic for young Alexander, though very convenient as well. After all, his ascent was quick, and his siblings were taken care of. His brother, Arrhinaeus, simply couldn’t take the throne. He was…ill prepared.     And it was a shame what happened to Thebes in the end. But their resistance simply couldn’t be allowed, not when Alexander was about to lead a league of fellow Greeks to take revenge upon the Persians for all their sakes. Still, the Sacred Band put up a good fight. He’d remember their ferocity, if nothing else.     The armies of the northern Satraps folded at Granicus, unprepared to face his organized army. The people of Tyre, unwilling to bend the knee, saw that same knee shattered and their throat cut for their insolence. Alexander was here to liberate them, after all. What use was resistance? They should have acted as the Babylonians and the Egyptians did, happy to be liberated from Persian tyranny, and with handsome young warriors for their daughters to marry.     The debacle at Persepolis was regrettable, truly. A beautiful palace of the Persian king, burned down at the behest of an Athenian noblewoman. Still, it was only the Athenians’ right, was it not, when their Acropolis had been so cruelly looted and torn to shreds?     The descendants of the Branchidae, priests of Miletus who sold out their home to the Persians, were living in Bactria. Some would say that these descendants ought not be judged on the sins of their fathers. But those men knew not the pain Persia had inflicted on Greece. The Branchidae’s bastard children were slaugthered to the last man, woman, and child. There was no shame in cutting the head off a rat.     And now, as governor of Persia, his own advisors talked down to him. Cleitus the Black, an old commander of his father, his savior at the Battle of Granicus, claimed that he was soft. That he was Persian. Cleitus, his own friend, claiming that he would reject his own identity so easily, believing this was for anything but the convenience of rule. His fingers closed around that spear in his tent, tigehtening with rage as his friend boasted, and then—     He ran Cleitus the Black through, and that was that.     Motives and Attitude Towards Master     Alexander the Great was as colossal in life as he is in death. Charm, intellect, administrative ability, and martial prowess contributed to a respect that his officers, all master classes in warfare, could never earn. His “Master” may be a Master in name, but will never hold that title in spirit. Any attempt to usurp his authority will be met by cold Damascus steel.     Alexander’s wish for the grail is simple. He wishes to enjoy a longer life. Not one of conquest, but one enjoying the fruit he sacrificed so much to earn. All war is simply to further his own ends, and as of his failure in India, he is satisfied with his conquest.     General Armaments     Alexander wields the weapons of a Macedonian warrior. A long pike stands unmanifested as he fights with a sarissa spear in one hand and a xiphos shortsword in the other. At his waist hangs a sling of a Macedonian peltast. He wears the bronze of a Greek Hoplite, and underneath, the linothorax of a Macedonian light infantryman to protect from arrows and the like.

Historical Depiction     Alexander the Great is the conqueror of the Persian Empire, and his conquests marked the beginning of the Hellenistic Period of Greek history. His legacy trickled down all the way until Rome conquered Greece, Palestine, and Egypt, and his status as a legendary conqueror makes him an inspiration today.     Depiction in F/GO     Alexander is a bastard. He cares for his comrades, but his goals always come first. Treason is met with death, usurption of any kind with execution, and collateral damage is an afterthought in his eyes. He represents the cunning, ruthless, and killer instinct required to slaugther and enslave a city, to kill advisors for criticism, and to massacre a village of innocents for the crimes of their ancestors.     Comments from the Author     Alexander the Great is a fascinating character, especially in Fate Zero. There, he is characterized as a constant dreamer, a larger than life hero who cares little for the consequences of his actions and holds those who stood by his side in the highest esteem even while being apathetic to the infighting and hatred that plagued them after his death. He is proud, he is loud, and he is everything you want to see in a King, so long as he is fictional.     History’s seen him differently. At different periods, Alexander has represented the Great Man idea, of a single powerful individual averting the course of history (not an impossible idea, but one that ignores the efforts of others and context of their existence). He has represented imperialism in its greatest triumphs, and imperialism in its most terrible forms. Depending on the time he is studied, the way he is judged can differ dramatically.     Here, I wanted to lean into the negative attributes of Alexander. Not Iskander’s negative attributes, which are plenty, but the historical figure we’ve been left to interpret. From massacre to the killing of an advisor, to the destruction of a palace full of art and gold before it could even be looted, to the sparing of his older brother and his siblings despite their potential threat to his throne, his actions can be interpreted in many ways, and often are interpreted positively. But I thought it would be a lot of fun to just have an absolute bastard man, so here he is.