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Hawkeye

No Name Assassin and the Kouga Ninja Scrolls

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Hawkeye
, March 26th, 2015 at 04:05 PM (4999 Views)
Shockingly enough, the No Name Assassin has provided me with more topics of thought than I imagined she would, and in this latest one, I'm going to address the possiblity that she, or at least one of her abilities, takes influence from the novel The Kouga Ninja Scrolls by Futaro Yamada.
The original teaser chapter made mention of one of No Name's Noble Phantasms, called Ichor of Reverie, which is remarked as having caused several magus, actively preparing spells to stop her, to incinerate themselves instead. This left the whole thing rather ambiguous as to what it actually did, but even then, I had an inkling.

Later still however, when the first manga for Fate/strange fake was published, we got this image.


In this, we can see the magus actively attacking her, and a focus on Assassin's eyes, one becoming differently shaded, and then the attacking magus are suddenly on the ground, half burnt to death.
Now for anyone not familiar with the Kouga Ninja Scrolls, I'm sure your asking "What has the ability of a Middle-Eastern Assassin got to do with Ninjas?" Well the answer is simple.
In the Kouga Ninja Scrolls, one of the primary characters possesses an ability called Doujutsu, which basically translates to Eye Technique. So popular and widespread was this concept, that not only did the Kouga Ninja Scrolls recieve a Manga, Anime and Movie adaptation, but has inspired several works of Japanese Fiction, including the Film and Series Ninja Scroll, the Naruto Franchise and others.
Given this widespread reception, it's not unreasonable to assume that this idea could have influenced the Nasuverse, especially when one considers what the Doujutsu in the Ninja Scrolls does.
The Doujutsu's effect, is, in essense, to turn the aggressive intent of others back on itself, causing attackers to assault themselves instead of the target.
Considering that Assassin seemingly took no physical action against the magus, they were actively preparing to attack her, and when seen in the manga, are actually attacking her and that upon the use of her ability, specific focus is given to the eyes, it seems entirely likely, that the Noble Phantasm, Ichor of Reverie, is based on the Doujutsu of the Kouga Ninja Scrolls.
This isn't even the first time the Nasuverse would have referenced Japanese culture through the Assassin characters either. The Hundred Faced Hassan, No Name's apparent rival for the title, was claimed, offhandedly, to have impersonated Hideyoshi Toyotomi.

So, there it is, my evidence laid out in full. I hope others find this as interesting and compelling as I do.

Updated March 26th, 2015 at 04:40 PM by Hawkeye

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Comments

  1. ItsaRandomUsername's Avatar
    Keep 'em coming, Hawkeye. This is interesting stuff.
  2. You's Avatar
    It seemed like she was allowing the magi time to flee—but they did
    not. In unison, they took a great leap backwards and unleashed the full
    force of their magical energies on the women.
    Witnessing this piteous sight, the black-robed Servant slowly shook
    her head, an almost-despondent look in her eye—
    And yet, without a trace of mercy, she spoke words of power.
    【......Illusional Ependyma......】
    And then—silence descended upon the chamber.
    The black-clad Servant was surrounded by the corpses of magi.
    All of the mages that had tried to release their magical energy upon
    her had, for some reason, been consumed by their own mighty flames.
    Their remains were strewn about the floor.
    Sounds like a prana-burn right now.
  3. Hawkeye's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by ItsaRandomUsername
    Keep 'em coming, Hawkeye. This is interesting stuff.
    Cheers. Unfortunately this might be the last for a bit until I find more data/stuff to investigate.

    Quote Originally Posted by You
    Sounds like a prana-burn right now.
    So she just straight up caused their own prana to burn them? That'd be cool too, but it doesn't seem like the sort of ability that'd be useful to an assassin, it'd only work on Magus, wouldn't it?

    Not saying it isn't possible, its just that a sort of 'Aggression rebound' seems more likely to me given what I've seen and heard on the matter, but I could very well be wrong, and with any luck, we'll find out sooner rather than later.
  4. You's Avatar
    [QUOTE=Hawkeye;bt25291
    So she just straight up caused their own prana to burn them? That'd be cool too, but it doesn't seem like the sort of ability that'd be useful to an assassin, it'd only work on Magus, wouldn't it?

    Not saying it isn't possible, its just that a sort of 'Aggression rebound' seems more likely to me given what I've seen and heard on the matter, but I could very well be wrong, and with any luck, we'll find out sooner rather than later.[/QUOTE]
    Humans have od to burn I guess.
  5. ItsaRandomUsername's Avatar
    Lifeforce = Od.

    It's just that Magi can convert it into magical energy properly.
  6. Hawkeye's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by ItsaRandomUsername
    Lifeforce = Od.

    It's just that Magi can convert it into magical energy properly.
    Fair enough, that's reasonable. Course if that is the case, that easily makes Ichor of Reverie the cheapest ability of any Assassin so far. XD

    "I looked at you, said two words, and you spontaneously combusted."

    I mean that would basically mean you'd either have to be another assassin and strike with surprise, or strike faster than it takes to activate. That'd be a pretty hellish ability to fight against.

    I'm not trying to disprove your theory or anything, cause let's face it, Strange Fake takes cheap abilities to a whole other level with the likes of Enkidu and some new Ecalibur user.

    I'll be quite intrigued to see what the actual mechanics turn out to be, cause either way, whether its turning aggression or life force back on their possessor, either way, a Grail War seems a very good place to make use of such a power.