What is an Origin in the fate Series?
Article at a glance:
- Origins aren’t just some random lore trivia—they’re the core concept that defines a character’s soul, powers, and even their magecraft. Think of it like their cosmic ‘DNA’ straight from the Root.
- Kiritsugu’s ‘cutting and tying’ Origin bullets? Shirou’s whole ‘sword’ obsession? Yeah, those aren’t quirks—they’re literal manifestations of their Souls’ deepest nature.
- Forget mana transfers and waifu wars—today, we’re diving into one of Fate’s most slept-on lore gems. And trust me, it gets wilder than Heaven’s Feel’s plot twists.
The Fate series is known for many things, from waifus and “mana transfer” to intense action and cool characters. But I don’t think a lot of people really appreciate how deep the Fate lore iceberg really goes. Even just in Fate Stay/Night, there is a lot of lore. And no, I don’t mean the Heaven’s Feel route. Today, I thought it would be cool to look at one of the more obscure pieces of lore in the Fate Series, what exactly is an “Origin”? And this concept isn’t limited to the Fate series, by the way. The concept of Origin pops up throughout the Nasuverse.
God, I swear I am not on my 3rd Fate series arc lol. But I thought it would be cool to appreciate some of the interesting lore of the Fate series. So welcome to another article, today we will be going over what is an Origin in the Fate series and the Nasuverse, in general. So let’s get started.
What exactly is an Origin in the Fate Series?
Before I explain what the Origin is, let’s go over another important term: The Root. The Root in the Nasuverse is the birthplace of concepts, it contains the knowledge for everything including the past and the future. It is a dimension beyond time and space but it is possible to reach the Root. A Magus’s ultimate goal is to reach the Root so that they may acquire ultimate knowledge and/or a True Magic. What a True Magic entails is beyond the scope of this article. But the Root is also where Souls are created and returned to after their deaths.
The Soul is eternal and cannot exist outside of the Root for long without a physical body. Fun fact, the ever-so-important Magic Circuits are also part of the Soul. They only materialize physically when in use. The body is a vessel for the Soul and allows the soul to experience the physical world. What does all this have to do with an Origin? Well, you remember how the Root contains all concepts? Well, turns out that every Soul embodies a particular concept. This is their Origin.
The Origin can materialize as anything from a personality trait to a specific power. For a Magus, their Origin usually defines what elements they align to. For example, Kiritsugu’s Origin is the concept of “cutting and tying” so whenever he uses his Origin bullets (made from his bones) he is essentially forcing a part of his Origin into someone else. When a Magus is hit by Kiritsugu’s Origin Bullet, their Magic Circuits are cut apart and tied together randomly, completely destroying their ability to use Magecraft.
Similarly, Shirou’s Origin is the concept of a Sword. I don’t think I need to explain this one. We all know Unlimited Blade Works.
That is all for now
I hope you understood what I was trying to say there. The Fate series is filled with a lot of obscure concepts like this and the Origin is just the tip of the iceberg. In the future, I’d like to make more articles like this, exploring lore topics like this for different anime. I want to do one on the True Magic in Nasuverse next but that will be a long one since the True Magics are kind of a complex topic. But yeah, with that said, I will take my leave here. See ya!
