Noble Phantasms

Noble Phantasms are "crystallized mysteries", powerful armaments made using the imagination of humans as their core, and weapons or abilities owned by Heroic Spirits. They are the embodiment of the ultimate mysteries of a hero that symbolizes one's existence through historical facts and anecdotes. They can be physical weapons, such as swords, lances, and bows, or support items, such as rings and crowns. They can also be abstract concepts, like unique abilities, unique means of attacks, curses, and changes to the environment and its physical properties. When summoned as Servants in the Holy Grail War, they are the trump cards of the heroes that allow them to overcome others in battle.

The Noble Phantasms on Vervara Online are inspired, for the most part, by The Fate Series by TYPE-MOON.

Origins
The Noble Phantasms of all Heroic Spirits are said to have originated from the Gate of Babylon, the treasury of Gilgamesh. They were the greatest treasures of the world collected throughout his lifetime, nameless, splendid weapons, that acted as the Noble Phantasms' prototypes before becoming the objects of faith that act as the foundations for their legends. They spread throughout the world after his death, eventually becoming Noble Phantasms. Even though it can be considered a paradox, unless Gilgamesh as the original hero possesses them, they cannot be handed down as the Noble Phantasms possessed by the later heroes derived from his legend. Some abilities solely wielded by Divine Spirits like Sarasvati Meltout and Eightfold Blessing of Amaterasu are called Noble Phantasms, so it is unknown if they also fall into that categorization.

It is impossible for myths and legends to start from nothing, so they all have common points acting as the foundations that became the model for the legend. Those like demonic swords and holy swords were granted names and abilities once such legends begin to flourish in their lands of origination, but those within Gilgamesh's treasury are their forms before they were granted such through myths and legends. Those possessed by Gilgamesh are the true original models, different than those that have been renewed from older Noble Phantasms over the millennia. Though differing in appearance, renewed weapons hold similar true natures, concepts for their creation, and souls. As with the progression of Merodach, Gram, and Caliburn, all carrying the "foundation of the sacred right to select the king", each cycle of transmigration causes the weapon to become weaker. Gilgamesh claims that the "children cannot defeat their parents", with each new incarnation simply being a deteriorated imitation that cannot match the original model.

There are cases where the nature of the Noble Phantasm is not actually a true crystallized mystery, such as Archer's Unlimited Blade Works, which is magecraft that symbolizes him, and Li Shu Wen's No Second Strike, which is the quintessence of his martial arts. Sasaki Kojiro is a case of a Servant without a Noble Phantasm due to his status as a wraith, but his technique, Tsubame Gaeshi, has managed to be on par with Noble Phantasms without the use of magecraft. Enkidu is described more as a "Noble Phantasm of the gods" than a Heroic Spirit, and Kingprotea is a being whose self can be treated as a Noble Phantasm.

Characteristics
Noble Phantasms make up part of the existence of Heroic Spirits, the anecdotes about their prowess and weaponry all becoming part of the very "symbol" of their existence. As the "ultimate mysteries" and embodiment of the heroes, they are trump cards carried by each to be used at an appropriate time. Most Noble Phantasms will belong only to a single hero, activated only by them, their true owners, by channeling magical energy into them and releasing their True Names. There are cases as with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon which is possessed by multiple heroes, Nebuchadnezzar II possessing it by deed and Semiramis possessing it by distortion of fact. They each possess a great amount of magical energy that show them being things "outside of normality", miracles exceeding both humanity and magecraft.

Noble Phantasms represents the legends of Heroic Spirit, in other words, it would most likely reveal the identity to other Masters if used. It can be said that a Master winning without the use of a Noble Phantasm(s) is an excellent Master. They are brought into the world with Servants upon their summoning, normally complied out of magical energy and granted the ability to materialize and dematerialize at the wielder's will. Compared to the Servants who sometimes also possesses normal weapons as well, they give off a clear level of magical energy that shows that they are Noble Phantasms.

Most Heroic Spirits will only possess one Noble Phantasm, while those who sometimes obtain two or three would normally be the absolute limit, and it may be possible for some to have treasured three or four extraordinary weapons in their life. Medusa, with three, is noted to be exceptional among other Servants, and Perseus being granted five during his lifetime is the most given to a single hero in Greek mythology. Gilgamesh is unique in possessing an unlimited amount within his treasury due to having all of them. No Name Assassin possesses eighteen of the nineteen Zabaniya Noble Phantasms. Perseus possesses six with the inclusion of Bellerophon in his legend, Achilles possesses five, and others like Astolfo, Saint George, and Karna possess four each. It is possible that Noble Phantasms will be granted to heroes even if they had nothing to do with them in life, such as the misunderstandings of countless people thinking Semiramis had some connection to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, causing it to become her Noble Phantasm.

Noble Phantasms are ranked by their strength and mystery. Those called "extremely average" are around the level of B Rank which have strength able to be represented through numbers and show only output of pure physical damage. Gáe Bolg's thrown strike is a pure destructive attack, while its piercing version carries a conceptual effect, a "destiny interference type", that falls into a special category. Differing from regular attacks, even a C Rank Noble Phantasm is the equivalent of an A or A+ ranked normal attack. It is possible for the ranks to be increased or decreased depending upon certain circumstances. Gáe Bolg can temporarily be strengthened to A Rank through the use of Runes, while Clarent loses ranks from having been obtained and used improperly. Defensive Noble Phantasms like God Hand and Armor of Fafnir use the concept of ranks as a means of defense rather than the relative power the ranks represent.

Fortress Noble Phantasms are very rare, fewer in number than even the rare Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasms. Even those that own them like Cú Chulainn can only use it within his homeland of Ireland. Floating fortresses like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are close to zero. The ability to kill hundreds and thousands of people is a trait possessed by Anti-Army and Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasms, but those capable of killing over ten thousand like Kazikli Bey are few in number.

Normally limited to the exclusive usage of their owners due to being tied directly into their legends, the Noble Phantasms of heroes being wielded by other heroes will not normally be able to be wielded properly by them or activated with their True Names, whether stolen or freely borrowed. There are specific Noble Phantasms like Knight of Owner and Sword Hunt that can temporarily transfer the ownership of armament Noble Phantasms, allowing Lancelot to wield them with great skill and Toyotomi Hideyoshi to handle them with less skill than the original wielder but also be able to unleash their True Names under certain conditions. Under certain exceptions, it may be possible for a Heroic Spirit to freely grant usage of the Noble Phantasm, requiring the conditions of “being where he is making a contract, instead of being in opposition, of his own volition" and "the Noble Phantasm not requiring considerable skill and power to invoke its True Name.”

The most common Noble Phantasms are holy swords and demonic swords used by heroes during their lives. There is no specific form into which they must fit. They can be the weapons the hero used in life, and they can be famous anecdotes about the hero given form upon their ascension. While they can be physical weapons, the act of throwing many weapons at once or a "sword that splits into an infinite number" could be Noble Phantasms in themselves. There are those like Ionioi Hetairoi that is Alexander the Great's life sublimated into a Noble Phantasm due to having been acknowledged by all as the King of Conquerors, and there are those like Zabaniya that are Noble Phantasms because of their status as that which establishes their users as Hassan-i-Sabbah rather than having been recorded in history.

D:
D class Noble Phantasms are any common place item found or created naturally within the world. Your basic diamond sword or wooden sword, both fall into this category of power. D class items are defined by both being common in the world, and without and particular abilities or enchantments.

C:
C class Noble Phantasms are also extremely common and can be created naturally within the world. However the difference between D and C class power is enchantments or abilities. For example a diamond sword with a simple sharpness enchantment, would raise it to C class quality. Typically C class Noble Phantasms are still wielded by common non-heroes.

B:
B class Noble Phantasms are the first distinction of item, weapon, or place which can truly be considered the crystallization of a Heroic Spirit. Those such things existing within the B class can also transcend just physical items and includes places, abilities, skills, spells, or summons (such as animals). These Noble Phantasms will always improve the hero wielding them, in some fashion suited for their Hero Class.

A:
A class Noble Phantasms are particularly powerful and truly mark the strength of a Heroic Spirit. Typically those heroes which wield Phantasms at this scale of power, or greater, are those who have made great impact in history and therefore have significantly more concentrated skills or abilities aligned with them.

S:
S class Noble Phantasms are considered the top tier of Noble Phantasm and few others push forward beyond this point in strength. These are the Noble Phantasms of Heroic Spirits that can be considered battle changing and world altering. At this scale Noble Phantasms have the potential to be anti-divine and/or anti-world which is a rare breed of Phantasms to wield. Heroic Spirits wielding Noble Phantasms at this level will also typically have more than 1 in their possession, as a symbol of their strength.

S+:
Noble Phantasms at this scale level are just insanely powerful... They can tear apart the ground, wipe out armies, decimate massive monsters and more. The rare Infinity Stones fall under the category of S+ as do several of the Elemental Swords and the Armaments of Gilgamesh.