Nero Claudius
Note: This material is translated by u/Kinalvin
Info
Bio-Data
- True Name: Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
- Class: Saber
- Source: Historical Fact
- Region: Rome
- Gender: Female
- Alignment: Chaotic Good
- Height: 150 cm
- Weight: 42 kg
Meta
- Character Creator: Nasu Kinoko
- Character Illustrator: Wadarco
- Character Voice: Tange Sakura
- Appearance in Main Works: Fate/EXTRA, Fate/EXTRA CCC
Stats
| Parameters | Values |
|---|---|
| Strength | D |
| Constitution | D |
| Agility | A |
| Magical Power | B |
| Luck | A |
| Noble Phantasm | B |
Class Skills
Magical Resistance: [C]
Nullifies Magecraft spells that were invoked with a two-step chant or below. Cannot defend against large-scale Magecraft such as Great Magecrafts and Ritual Spells.
Because Nero herself has no resistance to magic at all, she boasts a low Magical Resistance unbecoming for the Saber Class.
Riding: [B]
The ability for riding. One can manage most vehicles and beasts with above-average skill, but they cannot manage beasts of the Mystical Beast and Sacred Beast rank.
Nero’s field of expertise is with chariots, but given that her butt gets sore when riding them, said person is avoiding them when she can.
Personal Skills
Headache Affliction: [B]
A curse inherited from one’s origins in their previous life. As a consequence of having chronic headaches, the success rate of Skills with regard to mental aspects declines considerably.
Due to having this Skill, it is difficult for Nero to perfectly demonstrate even her valuable talent for the fine arts.
Imperial Privilege: [EX]
With the person themselves asserting that they have it, even Skills that are essentially unable to be possessed by them can be acquired only for a short time. The relevant Skills are Riding, Swordsmanship, Fine Arts, Charisma, Military Tactics, and so forth. In cases where the Rank is A or above, even those that are a burden to the body (such as Divinity) can be acquired.[1]
Invictus Spiritus: Thrice, Even Though I Welcome the Setting Sun: [A]
Invictus Spiritus (Unconquerable Spirit). A Skill born from the anecdote of Emperor Nero’s last moments. Three days after Nero committed suicide, a Roman soldier discovered her. The soldier felt that Nero’s end was pitiful and covered her remains with a cloth, and at that moment, it is said that Nero opened her eyes for just a brief moment and thanked the Roman soldier.
Noble Phantasm(s)
Aestus Domus Aurea: The Charmingly Beckoning Golden Theater
- Rank: B
- Type: Anti-Formation Noble Phantasm
- Range: 30,60,90
- Max. Targets: 100, 500, 1000 people
Aestus Domus Aurea (Golden House of Passion). An absolute imperial sphere that allows one’s own aspirations to be realized. It is the “Domus Aurea”, the theater personally designed by Nero herself and constructed in Rome while she was alive, recreated by means of Magical Energy.
It is a Great Magecraft falsely similar to a Reality Marble – an otherworld that embodies one’s own imagined landscape, created by temporarily overwriting the current World – where the Magecraft recreates the theater and structures designed by Nero herself during her lifetime with her Magical Energy, creating a battleground that works advantageously for her. Unlike a Reality Marble that overwrites the World, this can be deployed/maintained for a long time because it is constructed on top of the World from scratch.
While it is being deployed, imprisoned opponents are weakened, and in the case of customizing the structures, Nero is also able to change its shapes and functions. Speaking of it in a way that is easy to understand, she can project the structures while disregarding the construction process, wherein she can then invoke the rules established by herself.
The sword skill “Laus Saint Claudius (Praise Saint Claudius): The Flower’s Imperium that Extols the Maiden” is only available to Nero while the theater is still deployed.[2]
Character
Pronouns
- First Person: yo
- Second Person: kiden / kisama / ○○ (without honorifics)
- Third Person: kidentachi / kisamara / ○○ (without honorifics)
Personality
A self-proclaimed/cross-dressing young swordswoman, her body dressed in a red ball gown (dress). Nero boasts an overwhelmingly well-balanced fighting strength, led by her preeminent sword skills. She calls herself an almighty genius, introduces herself as Emperor, and almost all things are completely made to be realized by her forcibly. Innocence still remains in that appearance, but she refers to herself with “I”[3] and the like; selfish and egotistical, constantly looking down on others, and having a tendency to rush ahead recklessly, she is fully loaded with factors that a detestable character would be composed of if those traits come about normally.
However, Nero is an extraordinarily lovely character, having a cheerful openheartedness, a broadness that does not care much about trivial matters, and a simple-mindedness like that of a child’s. She has a passionate nature, and although she is generous with love relationships because of matters during her lifetime among other things, she has a side to her where she would pout if those relationships were extravagant to her.
Still, Nero does not doubt of herself as a genius, calling herself an artist too, and she possesses a unique sense of beauty. Her unconditional justice is “to be beautiful.” She likes pretty boys and handsome elders. She likes beautiful girls even more. She loves anything so long as it is beautiful, no matter what it is. A “tyrant” who, while extolling herself as the supreme art, also extols the lives of every person as beautiful. Above all else, a dazzling girl who is also more self-centered than anyone; it feels as if she symbolizes a life that spectacularly fell.
There are hardly any Masters who will summon her out of that history. It is because her True Name was, at a time, heinous in the view of a certain religion, and also, the end of her life was even a miserable one.
Attitude Towards Master
What Nero ascertains is not the societal good and evil, but the way human beauty ought to be, which becomes her standard. There is never a time where she will love something that is disconnected from that definition, and even if it is the command of a Master who exchanged a contract with her as a Servant, she will absolutely not obey them if she felt that they are ugly. There is no Mage who wishes to summon a Servant who would decide to evaluate their standards by such “beauty”, and in the Holy Grail War of the Moon as well, Servants are summoned not because of a Master, but by going down into the selection grounds for their own intentions.
Although she is a lonely person, Nero is furthermore proud in that she would never sell herself cheaply, only feeling like contracting with a partner who she deemed to be a genius on the same level as herself. For that reason, if there is a partner who she once approved of as her Master, she would not point out or even criticize their inexperience, and from the bottom of her heart, she would not look down on them as well. It seems one can gain her straightforward favour in the event that they are able to answer her expectations, that they are both rejoicing together, and that the trust in each other are being strengthened.
Dialogue Examples
- “Silence! My sword is the Original Passion (Flame), and the sound of sword fights is the same as the stars going around the skies (heavens). Listen to it in ecstasy. And then, give praise to it, and moreover, rejoice in it. I am the supreme and ultimate instrument————the Heroic Spirit of the Sword, your Servant!”
- “Do bear in mind. The things I hate… are frugality, ruin, and rebellions!”
- “I do not like those who are kind. I like those who are kind to me!”
- “Behold my talent! Hear the thunderous applause! Here is the honour of the Imperium. Like a flower blossoming in full glory… Open! Golden Theater!!”
Historical Image / Character Image
A real person. His real name is Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Nero is the Fifth Emperor of Imperial Rome. That life of his was coloured with schemes and poison, and in Rome during the 50~60 AD Period, he oppressed all religious influences and the Senate. In the Roman Period, because of his stance towards the Senate, and because of his oppression towards Christians thereafter, it caused him to be called a tyrant. It is being said that the “Revelation of Saint John the Divine” was written out of opposition towards this oppression.
Although Nero was enthroned as Emperor at 17-years-old, he had demonstrated his talent as a competent judge from before that enthronement. After his enthronement, he boasted tremendous popularity with the citizenry due to his lavish policies, and he had excelled in diplomacy too. He also personally participated in the “Nero Fest” – an athletic meet which has three groups of competitions: music, gymnastics and equestrian – that followed the example of and was hosted after the Olympics.
Because of a rebellion that occurred in the year 69[4], Nero was driven out of the Emperor’s throne and escaped from Rome. He understood while en route that he could not get away, and it is said that he committed suicide by means of a dagger while in tears.
Although he was known for the matter of having a peculiarity to cross-dress, in the “Fate” World, Nero is, in fact, a woman.
Role within the Game’s Story
In the Second Chapter “Septem – The Eternal Insanity Empire”, Nero appeared not as a Servant, but as the active Roman Emperor. She went to war together with the Protagonist and the others in order to protect Rome, which was being threatened by Romulus and the rest of the successive Roman leaders.
In the Fifth Chapter “E Pluribus Unum – The Great North American Mythological War”, Nero reunited with her idol companion Elizabeth Báthory, whose warm friendship was gained by Nero in the Holy Grail War of the Moon, and they were showing their combination style with good coordination.
Role within the Story of Past Works
In “Fate/EXTRA”, the Protagonist there, as Nero’s contractor, was branded with the special designation called “Player (Master)”[5] by Nero. As the Protagonist grew as a Master and continued to deepen their trust in her, Nero had come to bear a stronger, more straightforward favour towards them, and it became inevitable that she got them to pay close attention to her.
Related Characters
The Successive Roman Emperors
“Uhuh, each and every one of them are great Roman Emperors! I also cannot afford to lose to them I tell you!”
Tamamo-no-Mae
“I can say with confidence that our relationship was one where we competed ruthlessly against each other at a different stage compared to here, but… well, what was the cause of us having our quarrels again?"
EMIYA
“That red mantle is everywhere you know!”
Elisabeth Bathory
“Uhuh; in my Servant life, she is my greatest and most relaxing rival! Her musicianship has just started being right on the mark too!”
Comment from the Illustrator
The first one I drew in the beginning was Nero, and because this person was used as the standard for my incremental changes between Ascensions, whenever I look over them now, they’re somewhat simple changes don’t you think? The fact is, I was giving into the temptation that I will draw Roman-style buildings and the Golden Theater as her background, but there’s also a worry where I wondered if they would be a bit too pompous in contrast with her rarity, and also, I wondered if it was alright to have her be at least the first person to give off the feeling that she came from EXTRA, so since I considered those, I decided on a sea of electrons as her background. I’m pleased with the drawing of her Final Ascension. (Wadarco)
Material Images
Dialogue
| Occassion | English | Japanese |
|---|---|---|
| Summoned |
Translators Notes:
[1] – The Fate/EXTRA Last Encore website has a relevant keyword entry for Nero’s Imperial Privilege that goes into more detail of the Skill’s ability as seen below:
Imperial Privilege
A personal Skill that Saber possesses; a Skill that is characteristic to her. Saber, calling herself an almighty genius, is able to temporarily add “the highest value” of a skill to herself if the skill is within her scope. A powerful and selfish assertion Skill possessed by emperors whom made the impossible possible with only their authority.
[2] – The Fate/EXTRA Last Encore website has a relevant keyword entry for Nero’s Aestus Domus Aurea as well as a short character biography for her that goes into more detail of the Noble Phantasm’s abilities as seen below:
Aestus Domus Aurea: The Charmingly Beckoning Golden Theater
The Noble Phantasm of Saber – Nero Claudius. She lived to her heart’s content while alive, and she was looked down upon as the “Whore of Babylon” after her death; a Great Magecraft that shaped the life/beliefs of the Roman Empire’s Fifth Emperor. A decisive battle arena where the Golden Theater established by Emperor Nero is reconstructed with Magical Energy, and in the center of this stage, all good Luck/chances of victory are inclined towards her, the leading actress.
In addition, in regard to Emperor Nero, she also has an episode called “The Great Fire of Rome” where she suppressed the large conflagration that struck Rome, so for that reason, she excels in handling flames and has a connection to that fire disaster as a result that lets her manipulate those flames.
Nero Claudius
The Emperor of Roses. The Deep Crimson Saber, Nero Claudius. The Roman Empire’s Fifth Emperor, her reputation is remembered for a tyrant’s————a free and uncontrolled dictator. A lonely girl who finished her life in adversity without knowing about the love of either her parents or her people. Her Noble Phantasm is “Aestus Domus Aurea: The Charmingly Beckoning Golden Theater”. It is not a sword with a specific shape, but something that is armed with her anecdotes. She creates the Golden Theater and treats it as a battleground, and she can exhibit her “Imperial Privilege” to her heart’s content while it is deployed. Furthermore, by using the blazing and collapsing Golden Theater, she can perform the attack “Fax Caelestis (Fireball of the Heavens): The Rose of Closure that Fames Stars”.
[3] – Nero’s First Person Pronoun is the Japanese ‘yo’ (余), an archaic, first-person singular pronoun used by males, usually by those of high rank like kings and emperors.
[4] – It should be the year 68 that the rebellion, and subsequently the events leading up to Nero’s death, happened.
[5] – I decided on translating the Japanese term 奏者 (sousha) as Player instead of Praetor or the other translation terms used before as I feel it fits best with what Nero said: that she is an instrument, and an instrument needs to be played (managed) by the Player (Master).