#fgo pretender

[mochiobonio]

BLUD THINKS HE'S ARTS OBERON LMAOOO

[ameftowriter]

And so it is Goetia 😂

Well somewhat... He's actually Lev Lainur who is essentially Flauros who is impersonating as Goetia who then is pretending to be Solomon.

His welfare version is a Pretender and honestly it's perfect. This asshole deserves to be beaten to a pulp.

Also he's voiced by Tomokazu Sugita.

Lord Lorges is essentially like King Arthur's entire kingdom that includes Camelot btw

[yukisetsura]

Pretender-san.

Like, the class card dude.

Yes I think he deserves to be hot.

For certain people anyway.

[naps-n-coffee]

So I posted this a little over a month ago when Oberon was announced in FGO.

WELL

.....

I'd like to say... I do not believe in Fairies.

[300iqprower]

Would you mind telling us more about pretender Brutus

Oh boy. @smiteblast442 you’ve really gone and done it now.

Cracks knuckles

SO

We all know this guy

Marcus Junius Brutus, of Shakespearean "Et tu?" fame, Roman politician and one of the leaders of the coup against Julius Caesar that took place on this site's favorite holiday. I really don't need to explain who he is or why he'd be a servant, but I'd love to see him in Fate as a way to hail in Rider Caesar or to at least finally give a serious story to Saber Caesar. This image in question is his denarius (basically a commemorative coin).

Except that's a lie. That was all a lie, in fact. That's not Brutus at all. Well, except, it is. But not Marcus Junius Brutus, nor his denarius. The famous denarius of Brutus would be THIS

The first coin in fact doesn't even have Brutus's head, it was that of a consul at the time who isn't remotely important to any of this. No, the first coin was minted by one Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, the REAL leader of the coup against Caesar, and in many aspects the person many THINK Marcus was. Turns out, outside of Shakespeare Marcus wasn't that close to Caesar nor that important to the coup. Decimus, however, was both those things. There's this idea that Caesar saw Brutus as his own son, and that would be true...were it not people think that refers to Marcus. Caesar expressed both verbally and in writing on many occasions how he saw Decimus as his own son and possibly having formally adopted him. Caesar’s will even named Decimus as his second heir and guardian to any child of Caesar’s should he have left one behind. Not only did he know Decimus far longer than Shakespeare portrays Caesar and Marcus’s relationship, the real Caesar and Decimus were also even closer. What of the Shakespeare version IS accurate is that there were two key figures in the assassination of Caesar: Cassius, and [a] Brutus. In fact, it was Decimus who convinced Marcus to join the plot. And when Caesar had intended NOT to go to the forum due to his fear of the rumored conspiracy, who else but the man he saw as a son was arrived to put those fears at ease and convince him to attend that senate meeting? After the assassination, Marcus would in fact go on to be the one heralded as the usurper of Caesar, being a far better public speaker and quick to capitalize on a misconception that was present even at the time of the incident. But like in the rest of the story we all know, Brutus said a lot while doing nothing and achieved nothing of meaning as he trailed Cassius and both were eventually taken out of the picture by Antony (someone also particularly relevant to Fate Caesar btw...) meanwhile Decimus was made governor of Cisalpine Gaul but when he attempted to rendevouz with Marcus Brutus and Cassius as shit went down, he was intercepted by Gauls loyal to Antony and executed.

There's more to both Brutus' lives of course but those are the bits relevant to his status as a Pretender. This is not Marcus Brutus, this is Decimus Brutus living the role of both the man who betrayed Caesar and was later executed as the cycle of tyranny continued, and the naïve usurper who would be cornered into taking their life as they lamented their own idealism.

So, in other words, as a fate character the short version of their split identities are are that when he calls himself Brutus he’s Marcus and simply Decimius for his real self. Brutus is this "Oh woe is me, alas my friend Caesar" blah blah blah type always on about his unforgivable sin and wallowing in it but in a very disingenuous “look how noble I am” sense that is dripping with narcissism and hypocrisy, whereas Decimus is truly dead inside from the trauma that has amassed as he is forced further and further to live with the knowledge of what he did to a man who, no matter how tyrannical, thought him as much a son as Caesarion, and unable to ever forget the look in Caesar's eyes that day. He truly believed the ideals that Marcus was so quick to spurn when it suited his own rise to power, and thus had to live with the psychological consequences Marcus so easily skirted. Decimus is a man whose self worth died long ago and is now living for that ideal alone, willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the freedom of choice, even if it means giving up his own; I imagine he and Kerry would have a lot to talk about....

[jackblackrabbit]

NEW PRETENDER IS FAKER

[avalonblue12]

Holy shit man I just realized why Pretenders are strong against Knight classes but weak to Foreigners. It's fucking Goetia's class! I know this sounds stupid but hear me out: if I remember correctly, the Beast I class deals double damage to Knight classes but take double damage from Calvary classes. Which is strikingly similar to the class affinity of the Pretender class. Which seems kind of random except for the fact that Pretenders are meant to be liars using disguises to accomplish their goals...which is EXACTLY what Goetia did with Solomon's mortal body during the first arc. Goetia used the disguise of Solomon his whole existence just to accomplish his goal of 'saving' humanity. Even now, assuming Goetia is the Chaldean, he still applies because he's using Romani's appearance and the alias of his old enemies to try and resist the Foreign God.

As for why they'd be weak to Foriegners...well it's in the name. Goetia, a sort of prototype Pretender, feared the Foreign God. Makes sense with Alter Egos too- They're fragments of a being whereas Goetia was basically an amalgamation of several dozens of other whole creatures. Conceptionally, Goetia can be considered a superior to Alter Egos.

An interesting take on it!

Personally, I've always just assumed Pretenders were strong against the Three Knights because of the class's association with trickery, lies, and deceit, in contrast to the Three Knights being associated with Chivalry and the like.

Another thing I wanna note is the new class triangle Pretenders complete:

Pretender - Foreigner - Alter Ego

There's a major theme in all three of these so far have a major theme, that being IDENTITY.

Pretenders from what we know, seem to be based around concealing one's identity.

Foreigners seem to center around maintaining one's identity, especially in the face of the universe and eldritch horrors.

Alter Egos seem to center around alteration of one's identity.

When you think about it like this, their type matchups actually make a lot of sense.

Pretenders are strong against Alter Egos because as opposed to altering their spirit origin, Pretenders conceal their true selves, to the point where they themselves may not be entirely aware of it.

Alter Egos are strong against Foreigners because they're Servants who have had their Spirit Origins altered and become a unique and divergent being, which is fundamentally antithetical to Foreigners whose defining characteristics are that they maintain their identity in spite of what they've been through.

Finally, Foreigners are strong against Pretenders, primarily for similar reasons: as opposed to concealing or hiding away their original identities, they still persist, and are strong enough that they still remain themselves after coming into contact with foreign gods (with exceptions like Voyager).