Well, my dear colleagues, by now I believe all of us should be familiar with the concept of ‘Extra Classes’ as well as ‘Variant Classes’. After all, the excessive use of these typically impossible classes is the very reason we, Novum Chaldea, are being repelled by Pan-Human History.
Now, for those brave souls who may propose that we halt all summonings of Extra Classes and sever our contracts with such Servants, allow me to remind you with the utmost courtesy that this ship set sail long ago.
Even if we somehow decide to do that, with our current perception, it is going to be impossible for us to approach The Celestial Sphere of Human Order Assurance CHALDEAS.
It should also be crystal clear by now that neither I, nor our esteemed Director, have any intention of unilaterally terminating our contracts with the Heroic Spirits who have stood side by side with us in our tireless efforts to restore the Human Order. Nor do we plan to put a halt to this delightful exploration into the realm of Extra Class Servants, many of whom wield incredible power—an invaluable asset for ensuring the continued survival of Novum Chaldea with as few casualties as possible.
Why, just yesterday, The Last Master of Chaldea successfully summoned Draco, a Servant belonging to the Beast Class, merely a week after we were debarred from Human History for excessive summoning of Extra Class Servants!
Consequently, we find ourselves with but one option to gain access to Proper Human History. As per the insightful analysis of Trismegistus II:
“The barrier surrounding the Antarctic is close to a self-purification function, and the cause of it lies within ourselves.”
Hence, the sole path to breaking into Proper Human History lies in altering our perception. But now, you may ask, how can one possibly hope to shift their perspective when they don't even comprehend the essence of what they are altering?
Why, the answer is as straightforward and brilliant as entrusting everything to our resident universal genius, Leonardo Da Vinci~ ☆
And so, let us embark on this foray into Extra Classes, starting with the most fundamental of foundations. |
Question
What is a Heroic Spirit?
Answer
Heroic Spirits are Spirits of Heroes who achieved great deeds in life, having become objects of worship after their deaths. They are beings of a higher existence, becoming categorically closer to Elementals than Wraiths. Unlike Elementals, which are the crystallized embodiment of ‘power’ born from human imagination, Heroic Spirits are woven from the colorful tapestry of human ideals and aspirations.
Now, allow me to set the record straight: Heroic Spirits are not Servants.
Consider Lancelot, for instance. As a Servant, Lancelot qualifies for a large number of classes. And yet, the Heroic Spirit of Lancelot is qualitatively different from Lancelot the Servant. Even if one were to attempt amalgamating all available classes of Lancelot into a single High Servant, it still would not transmute him into a Heroic Spirit. The constraints of a mere seven or so classes could never encapsulate the entirety of a Heroic Spirit's essence.
To further emphasize my point, I'd like to draw upon an analogy from this paper by Random Kana Tenou Metanovae
Imagine that you have several jars, an empty cup, and a well.
This empty cup here, is Lancelot.
 This empty cup here, is Lancelot. Now, imagine we are summoning Lancelot as a Saber.
 This empty cup here, is Lancelot. And now we summon Shielder Lancelot.
Can you figure out what I am trying to say here?
To illustrate, recall the metaphorical jars I mentioned earlier— these are the various classes available to a particular Heroic Spirit as a Servant. Meanwhile, a Heroic Spirit would be akin to a well from which all of its possible Classes are derived. No matter how much water each jar scoops out, it is inevitable for at least some water to be still left in the well. Ah, that is only the case for proper classes though. Remember, as much of a sham they are, Variant Classes are still infinitely more of a Proper Class than a Stranger.
So, you may wonder, what's the deal with that cup in the metaphor?
The Stranger Class serves as the empty cup, untouched by the legends of any specific class. It is a quirky, artificial class that's a bit like an Alter Ego, yet even closer to the idea of a Classless Servant that an Alter Ego is. In theory, this class should be capable of summoning any and all Servants, holding what is contained by every class and by no class, but nothing in between.
Instead of taking in water from one of the jugs, you scoop water directly from the well, allowing it to take hidden attributes not present in any of the proper class. Its identity is defined by what it isn't, in contrast to most classes, which are defined by a singular, coherent concept. By filling less of the Stats and Class Skills, Stranger lets the Heroic Spirit have more Personal Skills as well as Noble Phantasms.
Paradoxically, the Stranger stands farthest from the archetype of a Heroic Spirit while also being the closest.
Now that we have a basic understanding of the Stranger Class, it is time to ask ourselves: Why Stranger? What exactly are the qualifications needed to summon a Servant in the Stranger Class?
To answer this question adequately, we must explore the origins of the term ‘stranger’.
extraneus| ] |
The most obvious case, the one we have been mainly talking about this whole time. The Servant is summoned as a composite of extraneous data either because they have either been stopped from manifesting as any of their regular classes, or because they simply cannot do so.
One reason for this to happen is that the Servant simply does not have the Legends necessary in order to be summoned as one of the regular classes and is just naturally summoned as a Stranger, like Thais or Santa Claus. Essentially, there are no jars for the Servant to fill their container with, so they take the water directly from the well.
Usually though, this is not a natural state of their being, but a result of meddling from either their Master, or the Servant themselves is attempting to purge themselves of their data, like 'Farmer'.
Here, this class is a result of something preventing the empty glass from filling up, either the Servant's own skills or meddling because of their master.
Either way, this results in the Servant being summoned as a Stranger. |
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estrangier |
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Servants estranged from Pan-Human History.
These are Servants who have been cursed to be forgotten, erased from the annals of history. Or something close to it anyway, considering that we have managed to summon them, they were obviously not too successful.
Because of this, they have been summoned in the Stranger Class with the Class damnatio memoriae, symbolizing the efforts to erase their existance from History. This curse too seeks to constantly erode away the Heroic Spirit's
Here, it primarily does so by trying to interrupt their summoning as a Servant, trying to change the Class they were meant to be summoned with to Stranger. Whether the Heroic Spirit can even be summoned as Servants in a ‘Proper Class’ is entirely dependent on the rank of this Skill.
For someone like Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, whose damnatio memoriae by Galba was laughable at best and easily overturned by her allies after a rebellion would have this Skill at a rather low rank, and thus rarely be summoned as a Stranger.
Meanwhile, it would be near impossible to summon someone like Hatshepsut, who was successfully removed for a large portion of history as anything other than a Stranger.
At EX-Rank, it should theoretically be impossible for a Servant to be summoned but exceptions are the norm, really, when it comes to Heroic Spirits. |
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stranger |
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As of now, there is no direct proof of this class's existence, so I will be going off what I believe to be possible.
These are Heroic Spirits that belong to History, and yet do not belong to the Regular Pan-Human History. Strangers to Pan-Human History, if you will.
According to the White Princess, Arcuied, there is a world line out there where Humans cannot really be considered the Prime Species of the Planet. Because of the weakened Human Order Foundation, it is not even possible for Heroic Spirits to be summoned in that world.
It is possible for Heroic Spirits summoned from that world to have the designation of Stranger Class, as they simply do not belong to Pan-Human History. They cannot be foreigners, as despite not belonging to the Human Order, they still are of a Human Order.
It is possible that this is one of the reasons the Shiki Tohno is a Stranger, as he too seems to be from one such timeline.
One more concrete way of such a summon being possible is when a Servant is a phantom, comprised of multiple conflicting narratives while remaining fused in a single Saint Graph, affirming the existence of multiple absolute, objective truths while leaving the Servant a Stranger to their own life.
You do not need to look further than Judas of Iscariot to find an example. |
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Now, with all this talk of Stranger as a blank canvas - as an empty vessel, I have been practically begging the question: What happens when a Stranger tries to forcibly fill that empty cup?
Does their class change like a chameleon depending on what they pour into it? Do they become Alter Egos if they sip from various wells? Do they undergo a transformation akin to one experienced with the help of Class Card if they try filling themselves with the data of other servants?
As of now, we have no way of satisfactorily satisfying my curiosity regarding such question. The whole debacle with Alter-Ego has been enough to convince me not to be too hands-on with my experimentation on Extra Classes.
But still, I can't help but be curious. But alas, there is just no way we are going to see something like this anytime soon, is it? |
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