- Location
- USA
Since it's not likely to come up in the narrative itself, I've been meaning to explain my theory on the Alter forms (or at least the ones that the Shadow creates.) I don't think it's quite as simple as the Shadow bringing the Servants' repressed qualities to the surface. Otherwise, wouldn't Alt-Saber be super-emotional? Wouldn't Alt-Berserker be thoughtful and erudite?
Instead, I think the key is that the Shadow turns the Servants into what they're secretly afraid of becoming, or maybe who they're afraid they really are deep inside. So Saber becomes the cold, emotionless tyrant Tristan accused her of being. Herc is -- well -- pretty much the same as his Berserker form, except he's literally blind to who he's hurting (the way I imagine he was when Hera cursed him to kill his own family.) Following along similar lines, Alt-Assassin is a bloodthirsty, uncivilized killer without a shred of honor, as he might perhaps have been at some point in his multiple-choice past before his training in bushido. And Caster becomes a naive, foolish little girl, simultaneously way too trusting and far too screwed up by her past experiences to really understand what love is or how to return it. (Paradoxically, she might be an even greater threat in this state. Medea tends to freak out when she loses control of a situation. Alt-Caster simply doesn't care, which frees her up to improvise and adapt.)
