Ereshkigal

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Info

Bio-Data

Class: Lancer
True Name: Ereshkigal
Gender: Female
Source: Ancient Mesopotamian Mythology
Origin: Mesopotamia
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Height: 159 cm
Weight: 47 kg

Meta

Character Creator: Nasu Kinoko
Character Illustrator: Morii Shidzuki
Character Voice: Ueda Kana
Appearance in Main Works: Fate/Grand Order

Stats

Parameters	Values
Strength	A
Constitution	B
Agility	D
Magical Power	B
Luck	B
Noble Phantasm	A

Class Skills

Magic Resistance: [D]

Invalidates magecraft with a rank lower than D.

With death having become a daily routine due to being immersed in the Underworld’s gloom, her Magic Resistance has remarkably decreased.

Territory Creation: [A+]

Freely calls the Seven Gates of the Underworld.

The place in which Ereshkigal stands becomes the Underworld in which death easily conducts itself.

Divine Core of the Goddess: [B]

A skill that expresses that she’s a perfected goddess since birth.

Is endowed with the effect of preserving the absoluteness of mind and body. Mitigates most mental interference, and the body shape doesn’t change due to growth or no matter how many calories are ingested.

A compound skill comprising Divinity as well.

Since she is a Pseudo-Servant, the rank stops at B.

Personal Skills

Hidden Great Crown: [A]

The crown of a goddess made of treasure taken from Ishtar.

Heaven and earth, it makes various of Ishtar’s Authorities her own as a goddess that is the other side of the coin, but its effects become darker (gloomier).

Mana Burst (Cage): [A+]

Ereshkigal is a diligent and serious, as well as rather dark-natured goddess.

She regularly stores mana in spear-cages if she has time to spare, and during battle, uses it.

Releases a powerful momentary firepower, and returns the mana stored in the spear-cages to herself.

Protection of the Underworld: [EX]

The Authority of Ereshkigal, who ruled and devoted herself as the pillar of the Underworld.

She who ruled over the Underworld until the end was the Underworld itself, and became a queen protected by the Underworld.

Gives a powerful buff effect to all the allies and changes the performance of the Noble Phantasm.

Noble Phantasm(s)

Kur Kigal Irkalla: Bellows of the Netherworld Trampling on the Sacred Mountain

Rank: A
Type: Anti-Mountain
Range: 10~999
Maximum number of targets: 1000 people

Reihō Fumidaku Meifu no Fuigo.

The same thing as Ishtar’s Noble Phantasm, An Gal Tā Kigal Shē. However this isn’t shot from the great heavens towards the great land, it’s a crushing blow of the Underworld’s mistress from the bottom of the earth to the adjoining land.

An earth impact that demolishes Mt. Ebih through earthquakes and deformation of the Earth’s crust.

It falls behind Ishtar’s Venus blaster in power, but the essence of this Noble Phantasm is 『making the terrain the Underworld』.

To Ereshkigal, who has an immense authority over the Underworld, to her and those fighting with her, to all those it gives a strong protection.

Although it’s another story, the Noble Phantasm’s sequence is:

Mt. Ebih is extended in the background behind the scene, but before (at the scene’s front) Ereshkigal advances elegantly with a model walk (as in a dot-like side-scroll game).

The mountain range is large, Ereshkigal is small.

Ereshkigal’s journey continues. Ereshkigal becomes gradually (or in about three steps, like a picture story show) becomes larger than the mountains.

The image of the size contrast of the nature that was like a picture behind the scene, and of the individual (god) at the front getting inverted.

Ereshkigal, who has become larger than Mt. Ebih, violently thrusts her spear into the center of the mountain range.
The mountain range erupts with death agony, a great earthquake is caused. A geyser of magma rises in the scene’s front, damage.

※ Actually she didn’t become bigger, at the end of the day it’s a metaphor of 『she broke the range』. Therefore when destroying the mountain, it’s fine not to think about the display of the enemy. The subject is 『the mountain and the goddess』.

Although that’s how it was, it’s not a Noble Phantasm that recreates a myth, but was modified to something with the last scene of Chapter 7 as a motif using Meslamtaea.

Character

Pronouns

First person pronoun: 私 (watashi)
Second person pronoun: アナタ (anata) / 人間 (human) / 英霊 (Heroic Spirit)
Third person pronoun: 人間たち (humans) / 英霊たち (Heroic Spirits)
To address Master: アナタ (anata) / 〇〇 (last name) / 契約者 (contractor) She won’t call you Master much. Fundamentally 「contractor」.

Personality

Passive · introverted.

The hedged in goddess of death and decay, possessing tremendously high knowledge and pride, martyred by her role as the ruler of the Underworld.

She envies beautiful things, laughs at ugly things, and kills the things she wants so that they don’t cross over to the hands of others.

……That’s how Ereshkigal was, but due to the fusion with the yorishiro young girl, such desires started to be objectively recognized as 『not good』 and 『embarrassing』, and her ferocity disappeared to deep below. But, she’s the straightforward type so if she gets angry this side will show its face, and will become a fearsome and deplorable goddess just as in mythology.

The behavioral ideology is Ereshkigal’s so she may look more composed and self-torturing than the original young girl of the yorishiro as well. Looking down on the humans who come to the Underworld with an unsociable look,

she sends them away shooing them while waving his hand with a

「Humans are as dumb as usual. Coming to see me means you want to die, doesn’t it? But too bad for you. I won’t do such a thing as helping in your suicide. I’ll pass it up, so go die freely at another place」, but……

Even though she looks ruthless she’s an incredibly good person. With the addition of the yorishiro’s girl’s positiveness, the aspects rotten with grudge and envy have been reduced.

The points that anger Ereshkigal are,

Those who come to the Underworld without respecting death

Ishtar herself, and those who are loved by Ishtar

Only those two. She is a much more discriminate goddess than Ishtar, who’s liable to acknowledge anything as her enemy.

Ereshkigal has suffered for and hated her being a social outcast and an anathema since the era of myth.

「I want to try living freely like Ishtar too. I want to meet a partner that, while accepting me as the ruler of the Underworld, isn’t related with my position as the ruler of the Underworld」

Even such a girly wish she had. Through the fusion with the yorishiro’s girl she has become cool yet caring, the ultimate tsundere.

「I won’t deny being a villain, but even if evil is evil, it’s of help to humans. Why is everyone scared?!」, she pouts in her mind.

In a few words, 「a Tōsaka of darkness (but an angel)」

Attitude Towards Master

In the outside she conducts herself coolly with an 「I have no interest in humans」, but on the inside she is thankful to the Master that contracted her.

Because of other people’s gaze, and most importantly because of her proud self’s gaze she behaves as a 『cruel goddess』 with the Master, but it’s not necessary to talk about what sort of fluster is being unfolded in her inside.

Dialogue Examples

「Fear. Pray. Despair, humans. I myself am the custodian of death.

The mistress of the Underworld, the one who tramples the sacred mountain ——— One member of the Three Goddesses Alliance, Ereshkigal」

「Tying me down is unheard-of?! Me? ME?! You, won’t you get scared later?!」

「That’s right, I’m scary…… It’s fine, I’m used to it. I’m the anathema of Mesopotamia……」

「Exposing my form to the likes of you is the peak of eccentricity, but being insulted is the shame of a goddess as well.

…… I shall show it to you as a special occasion. No, no…… Enough, I’m sick of this wording!

As a special occasion, I’ll show you! Be astonished, this is my true body as a goddess———!」

「It’s embarrassing for me as well! I’m a fearsome goddess of death!」

「This is the nation of passed away souls, nostalgia towards human life, a land of silence to protect that moment!

I won’t show mercy to those who violate this peace no matter what god they are!

I am the mistress of the Underworld, Ereshkigal of the Bottom of the Earth!

By my name I swear that I shall purify this malice left by the god Nergal!」

「——— Yes. But you don’t need to thank me.

Because that was what I wanted to do. I became your support for my sake」

Historical Character and Figure

The god of the Underworld that appears in Sumerian mythology.

In original songs of Mesopotamian mythology she is said to rule over the growth and decay of plants, use snakes and dragons, and freely manipulate the Garula spirits that are messengers of the Underworld.

Her Sumerian god name as well as her Akkadian True Name is Ereshkigal.

It is said that the 『mistress of Heaven』 Ishtar,

and the 『mistress of the Underworld』 Ereshkigal had a rivalry, and also, that they were a divinity with the same attributes split into two.

Mythologically, the goddess of fertility Ishtar (Inanna) is a Great Earth Mother that represents human life, and Ereshkigal who represents human death is a Terrible Earth Mother.

(In Japanese mythology, Izanami became a god of death that killed humans after the making of the country)

In Sumerian mythology, Ishtar went to the Underworld, and was killed by Ereshkigal’s hand.

After that, Ishtar would achieve resurrection, but the reasons why Ishtar went to the Underworld, or why Ereshkigal was so enraged, aren’t spoken of at all, so this work treats this as a relationship of two alternate yet inseparable sides.

Ishtar and Ereshkigal.

Are these two gods the same existence, or perhaps, they are divinities that come from one god that was split into two?

Character in FGO

In 『FateGO』, she appears as a Pseudo-Servant possessing a human.

Freely manipulating a spear-like cage, sometimes skewering enemies, sometimes imprisoning souls, sometimes provoking lightning, the formidable governor of the Underworld.

A goddess that was given the personal duty to manage the Underworld since birth, and that disappeared together with the Age of Gods without knowing about the surface and freedom.

This form isn’t of Ereshkigal as a goddess, but a form after using the soul of a human with a close wavelength as a yorishiro.

Although Ereshkigal is egoistic, she was pessimistic and dark from the beginning so she didn’t deny the personality of the girl that is the possessed body.

At her position, Ereshkigal acted as a brutal goddess of death, by the fusion with a human, the inherent thoughtfulness and strong sense of responsibility are remarkably displayed, and despite being a fearsome goddess, she acquired a down-to-earth personality.

「Right! I myself am the ruler of the Underworld, Ereshkigal!

Proud of being invincible in the Underworld, leading humans of course and even the gods by the nose, I’m a brutal and ruthless governor……!」

She herself proudly talks, but she should add deplorable there too, says the shining sheep.

She speaks of supervising humans being her role proper of a goddess of the Underworld, but

「…… It’ll be troublesome if such a crowd comes to the Underworld……

Making cages to imprison the souls is a problem too……

Can I provide a comfortable place to live……?」

And so, she couldn’t hide her too serious caring-mindness. Truly the (red) angel of the Underworld.

♢

She appears in FGO Part 1 Chapter 7 as one of the 『Three Goddesses Alliance』 that attacks Uruk.

Having witnessed the demise that arrived to the Mesopotamian world, she affiliated to the Three Goddesses Alliance in order to protect humans on her own way, and became the enemy of Uruk.

To the protagonist that came along the Underworld, she forced various impossible challenges as the boss of the Underworld.

But, everything she did backfired, she was defeated after this and that by the protagonist, and the cruel goddess acknowledged her cooperation reluctantly (pretended to but cooperated with all her power).

…… Then, after many things happened, Chapter 7, final phase.

Ereshkigal broke the taboo as a goddess, helped the Master with all her power, and was annihilated.

「But, if you remember me, we’ll surely meet again」

「Since I know that, here, I will throw out my everything」

Later, many things happened and she sank into the abyss, but she affirmed her “current self” in 『Underworld’s Merry Christmas』, and confronted 『Nergal’s Thought』 that schemed the rehabilitation of the Underworld.

『Nergal’s Thought』 was powerful and fearsome, but Nergal is a benevolent god. He never before had such a plan.

Ereshkigal, who burned with a sense of duty to defeat Nergal’s Thought for Nergal’s own honor, awakened the Authority that was once assigned to Nergal, and as a result, the 『Authority of the Sun』 dwelt in Ereshkigal’s spear.

The spear’s name is Pyrexian Shrine Meslamtaea.

The ancient name of the sun god Nergal that was spoken of in Sumerian mythology.

The “light that warms the soul” that Ereshkigal once “desired”.

(Meslamtaea means The One who Rises from Meslam (the land of peace))

Authority of Nergal:

The sun is a blessing, and in the Sumerian world was treated as the violence of nature that led many humans to death in summer.

The sun god Nergal had authority above earth and was proud of him being the one who caused more “deaths”, looked down on Ereshkigal and the Underworld, and deemed them unnecessary.

In the background, as a revenge against Ishtar, who wanted the sky, there was also a conspiracy to drop the reputation of Ishtar’s other half, Ereshkigal.

Ereshkigal responded to this provocation, and notified Nergal from the Underworld.

『Truly there is no blessing that exceeds the sun above earth.

Be that as it may, the favor of the sun isn’t in my underground Underworld, and even gods die in unexpected situations.

When you arrive to the Underworld, all the agony that you deemed unnecessary will torture your body ——— To be specific, suffer and die 10,000 times!』

This made Nergal break out in a cold sweat too.

Because Ereshkigal, who was thought to have a timid and gloomy predisposition, was a “woman who can get angry” at the core, same as Ishtar.

Nergal borrowed 14 demons of disease from the god Ea, and invaded the Underworld. Before that happened, he thought a way to make the Underworld his own.

But, the Underworld’s system was perfect nonetheless, and Nergal used up all his strength before reaching Ereshkigal’s throne.

Nergal pleaded for his life while reflecting. Although Ereshkigal grudged him, she didn’t shut Nergal in the Underworld, saying that human activity would decline if the sun disappeared from above earth.

As a compensation, she carried out this contract:

To entrust half of his power to the Underworld.

To come to the Underworld for half of the year and reflect (Ereshkigal wanted to take in the sun and warm the souls in the cold Underworld even if it was a bit).

Nergal agreed to this, returned his own Authority to his weapon and assigned it to Ereshkigal. Nergal entrusted his disease demons · Authority as a disaster to the Underworld, and returned to the surface.

「Shock! I just wanted a stove, but he kept forcing bad jokes!」

Ereshkigal’s dark attributes as a goddess of the Underworld increased.

Authority of the Shepherd God Dumuzid:

Ishtar’s husband, the god Dumuzid.

(There’s a theory of him turning from a human to a god through divine right. Considered to be a god between Gilgamesh and Lugalbanda)

He is Ishtar’s husband, but he’s a weaker god than Ishtar in wealth and fame, or in other words, a god that 『married Inanna for honor』.

When Ishtar failed to descend to the Underworld, the god Enki created two subordinates to revive Ishtar, and revived Ishtar’s body with the water of life and the plant of life.

But Ereshkigal, as the ruler of the Underworld, couldn’t admit going and returning so easily.

Even if the body is revived, the soul belongs to the Underworld. She strongly insisted that, without a soul to offer in Ishtar’s place, the balance of the world couldn’t be protected.

Although Ishtar returned to the surface to see if there wasn’t any soul to serve in the Underworld in her place, she gave up on such a convenient story.

But. What Ishtar saw when she returned to the surface, was the racket of his merry and boisterous husband Dumuzid, who had inherited all her honors after dying.

「I expected you not to mourn my death, but to think that you’d prepare a banquet of celebration with the country!」

Ishtar nominated Dumuzid as a substitute through the Garula spirits dispatched by Ereshkigal. Ereshkigal acknowledged it as well.

By the moment Dumuzid noticed that Ishtar returned after being targeted by the Garula spirits, it was already too late.

He cried to the god Utu and changed his appearance to a snake, he escaped to below his elder sister Geshtinanna, but was eventually caught and sent off to the Underworld.

Geshtinanna was concerned about her little brother, and sought to release Dumuzid by her staying in the Underworld.

Struck by Geshtinanna’s courage, Ereshkigal allowed Dumuzid to return to the surface under the same circumstances as Nergal. Leaving half of his Authority for the Underworld’s sake, that’s it.

Thus Dumuzid returned to above earth as 『The Revived God (Tammuz in Akkadian)』, and thereafter was trusted by people as 『The one who rules over death and resurrection』.

That aside, Ereshkigal was delivered an『unnecessary Authority』once more.

「There’s no use for the Authority of a playboy that keeps running away transformed into a snake or a gazelle! Wish he could have left a sheep at least!」

Gilgamesh

「It’s good to have wealth as a king. But, he should stop coming carefreely to the Underworld when he’s in the mood for a stroll. Sooner or later he might end up being treated as a god of the Underworld?」

Enkidu

「A down-to-earth and friendly one. They tried hard to see if there was any plant that could grow in the Underworld. The results were unsatisfactory, but I won’t forget their effort」

Ishtar

「A Tōsaka of light, huuh……」

Old Man of the Mountain, Nitocris

「We’re not acquainted, but for some reason a feeling of affinity is welling…… Did we met somewhere?」

■■■■■ ■■■■■■

「Eh, what?! Our origin was that?!

He, heeh. Well, isn’t it beautiful in its own way? (So cool…… As expected from me……!)」

Comment from the Illustrator

I always worked playing the OST (Fate/Grand Order Original Soundtrack) while evoking memories of Chapter 7 during Ereshkigal’s production, as if Ereshkigal was always in my head. The reason why the Final Stage art ended up being a somewhat sentimental picture may have been because the memories of that Chapter 7 remained marked. As for the clothes, it’s the same case as with Ishtar, but I was aware of the trend of not feeling out of place when set up with fellow characters of ancient Mesopotamia. Specifically for Ereshkigal, the condition was, while treating the golden parts as a moderate accent and covering the body with dark clothes with a so-so feeling, to put on a mantle of moderate length. And for Meslamtaea, in which the Authority of the sun is said to reside, a radial silhouette with the image of the sun, as a huge weapon to be paired with Ishtar’s Maanna. This is so that the spear in her hand and the surroundings are shining, but Ereshkigal herself isn’t tinged with the light. I tried to show the property of Ereshkigal herself not shining even if the surroundings are shining due to the Authority. This is a digression, but regarding Ereshkigal’s skills at the time of implementation, I just conveyed the message that I wouldn’t say any other trivial thing if I brought the protection of the Underworld. So. It’s that red flower that blooms at the skill section. Thank you. (Morii Shidzuki)