Prelude: Aqua vs. Saber

Layne: Heroism isn’t just a man’s game, nor is it an excuse to have tough women in scanty outfits… Well, okay, not always, anyway, on that last one. Point is, there are some things that require…
*Layne genderswaps, becoming Lyn*
Lyn: A woman’s touch~!

Xander: Did you seriously write that line JUST for that?

Lyn: Would’ve been a wasted opportunity otherwise.

Xander: I--! Okay, gotta give that one to ya…

Lyn: Aqua, Keyblade Master…

Xander: And Arturia Pendragon, the Saber of Fate/Zero.

Lyn: I’m Lyn and he’s Xander. And it’s our jobs to analyze their weapons, skills, and tactics to determine the winner… of a Death Battle!

Lyn: One of the Keyblade Wielders of Birth By Sleep along with Terra and Ventus…

Xander: A naming system that’s as clever as it is conventional: It’s not.

Lyn: Aqua was the only one among her little trio to achieve the prestigious title of Keyblade Master, making her a warrior meant to combat darkness at every turn.

Xander: Meanwhile Terra ended up becoming Xemnas and Ventus became Roxas and, let’s face it, neither one ended up with a good ending no matter how you interpret a “good” ending. Who wrote this shit, Gen Urobouchi?

Lyn: That joke was about as clever and subtle as a bull: It wasn't.

Xander: Ooh! Catty~!

Lyn: As a Keyblade Master, Aqua has access to a Keyblade…

Xander: Go figure.

Lyn: A magical sword meant to fight Darkness, and enigmatic force that grants humans great power at the cost of their sanity and former self. Nasty stuff.

Xander: Aqua, in particular, is a Trickster. She’s quick, able to flash step, meaning she can move at speeds too fast for the human eye to see, and can even move so fast she leaves afterimages, which means she’s moving so fast that the eyes perceive her as being in more than one place at once. She’s even agile enough to do cartwheels and Goddamn pirouettes while attacking with her Keyblade! Ahahaha! Ah… Can’t say that with a straight face for some reason…

Lyn: She’s also able to call on magic for Final Fantasy-style spells involving Fire, Ice, and Thunder. But she can also use magic for telekinetic abilities, given that she can pirouette while her Keyblade is still attacking enemies. And she can even augment her jumping skills to the point of a double jump called Duobleflight. Handy when you need to jump up to a cliff.

Xander: Why would you need to--?

Lyn: She’s also a master of varying fighting styles, which she can switch between at will with attacks. With Spell Weaver, she spins around and around, attacking with her Keyblade all the while. With Ghost Drive, she quickly moves around foes in a circle, leaving afterimages and casting spells as she does, before the spells all come crashing in to the opponent.

Xander: Not gonna answer my question, are you? Fine. Her Shotlocks, projectile attacks which lock on to opponents, feature such gems as Prism Rain, which shatters and weaponizes the visible light spectrum, sending all of ROY G BIV at her opponents. Then there’s Bubble Blaster, which encases her in a bubble and sends smaller bubbles out. Whether it protects Aqua at the same time is… Debatable, at best. But her real killer Shotlock app is Lightbloom, in which she pirouettes while orbs of white light attack foes. Personally, I think the pirouettes are for show.

Trevor: As far as weapons go, Aqua’s really only bringing one to the table: Her personal Keyblade, Stormfall. This Keyblade augments her physical strength as well as her considerable magical ability. It can also assume a glider form allowing for flight.

She’s also bringing one item to the whole thing. Mainly for poetic reasons, but it does, supposedly, have one tangible effect. The Wayfinder Charm is meant to bring luck, but being made of Thalassa Shells makes it fragile indeed.

Lyn: Aqua doesn’t seem to have any really exploitable weakness. But her spells do have a cooldown and do draw on a finite pool of energy, no matter how quickly it recharges.

Xander: But Aqua’s selfless nature and heroism has earned her a permanent place in the hearts of JRPG fans… And contention for Ultimate Waifu status!

Lyn: Dammit, Xan--!

Lyn: Behold! The legendary King Arthur of Camelot.

Xander: Bullshit!

Lyn: She pulled a Mulan when she was made King.

Xander: Figures.

Lyn: As a Servant, Arturia is--…

Xander: Victim of a weird-ass JRPG Rank system. Seriously, this shit is just plain confusing sometimes! But, at least what's easy to understand is that Rank E alone is full-on superhuman, so there's that.

Lyn: She’s a master swordsman, able to match the likes of Berserker Lancelot, Rider Iskandar, and even Lancer Diarmuid. She’s strong enough to flip cars, tough enough to tank Gilgamesh’s Gate of Babylon, and untouchable by most magic due to the Rank A Skill Magic Resistance. It’s not weird that she should be considered a Mage Killer.

Xander: She’s even in possession of an acute instinct, so finely tuned that it’s almost to a point where she really can predict the future, but not quite.

Lyn: She makes use of a Noble Phantasm known as Invisible Air, which allows her to use the air around her for anything from a quick speed boost to distorting the refraction of light around her weapon, making it completely invisible. And why would she need to do that? Trevor, would you care to explain?

Trevor: Gladly. As with her opponent, Aqua, we’re only giving Saber one weapon: the legendary Sword of Promised Victory, Excalibur. This legendary blade is capable of causing a massive beam-like attack that basically obliterates everything in its path, which it accomplishes by converting the magical energy of the user in to raw attack power. The major downside here is that it drains the user of energy, meaning that, while it can still be used as a weapon, it cannot be fired twice in a row.

Saber also makes use of Avalon, Excalibur's scabbard. This Noble Phantasm heals it's owner's wounds, even lethal ones. Though, for the sake of competitive fairness, it's only getting a one-use with lethal blows.

Lyn: But even then, that might not be enough to carry the day. When desperate times call for desperate measures, Saber can tap in to dark energies within herself to become... Saber Alter.

Lyn: By succumbing to the dark power of the Avenger, Saber becomes Saber Alter. Although she's taken over by dark forces, she's... Not really a viallain, she's just really cynical and spiteful.

Xander: She also trades in some of her speed for a strength boost, and Excalibur changes, too. But it still retains its status as a holy sword. She can use Excalibur as normal or she can use her new attack, Vortigern, in which she charges the blade full of her power and can swing it in an arc over and over and over and over and over and over and--!

Lyn: We get it! But a big downside to Saber Alter is that, if she ever wants out of it, she needs an external anchor, namely Shirou Emiya. But, in Death Battle, there's no such thing as outside help.

Xander: And that’s not all she has to worry about. Healing herself and repairing her armor uses up her own energy. Considering that along with Excalibur’s tiring effects and one use, and she can be considered self-destructive.

Lyn: And her defenses have been penetrated before.

Xander: Ha-Ha! Innuendo…

Lyn: Especially in the face of prana-attacking weapons, like the aforementioned Gae Dearg.

Xander: Hardly a problem when you can slice giant tentacle monsters in half with a single swing!

Lyn: Saber may well be one of fiction's ultimate heroines.