Waver Velvet

Waver Velvet
Fate character
First appearance	Fate/Zero (2005)
Created by	Gen Urobuchi
Profile
Title	Lord El-Melloi II
Relatives	Reines El-Melloi Archisorte (adoptive sister)

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Waver Velvet (Japanese: ウェイバー・ベルベット, Hepburn: Weibā Berubetto) is a fictional character who first appears in Type Moon's light novel prequel to Fate/stay night, Fate/Zero by Gen Urobuchi. Waver is despicted a nineteen year old student studying at the Clock Tower. He then joins the Fourth Holy Grail War in Fuyuki, Japan and becomes the Master of Rider, after stealing his teacher's artifact in hopes of forcing the Mages' Association to recognize his genius by winning the War. Upon returning, he later becomes a professor and the Dean of Norwich, the Modern Magecraft Theory Department of the Clock Tower. In the spin-off light novel The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II by Makoto Sanda, Waver is formally given the title of Lord El-Melloi II (ロード・エルメロイⅡ世, Rōdo Erumeroi Nisei), after being adopted into the El-Melloi family. He is to return in upcoming sequel The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II.

Waver is voiced by Daisuke Namikawa in all of his appearances in Japanese, while he was voiced by Lucien Dodge in Fate/Zero, Unlimited Blade Works, Fate/Apocrypha and Case Files, and by Leraldo Anzaldua in the first two seasons of Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya in English. Yuya Matsushita and Shinichiroh Ueda portrayed his older and younger self respectively, in the stage play adapting the Adra Castle Separation chapter from the light novel. His design was created by Takashi Takeuchi.

Appearances

The Master of Rider, Waver steals his teacher's artifact early on and uses it to summon Rider. He plans to use the Grail to force the Magus Association to recognize his genius. Despite his difficulties with Rider's overbearing nature, Waver and his Servant form a strong relationship. Though lacking in practical experience in the field of fighting in a war, Waver, mostly due to his Servant, survives the Holy Grail War with little detriment to himself and develops a greater sense of perspective of the world, though he now harbors some bitterness towards Japan.

Unlimited Blade Works

Though Waver does not appear in Fate/stay night, he makes an appearance in the epilogue of Ufotable's anime adaptation of Unlimited Blade Works as he walks down the hallway of the Clock Tower and meets Shirou Emiya. Waver asks Shirou for his reasons to study magecraft at the Clock Tower. Shirou replies that he wants to become a hero of justice. While Waver accepts that while his dream might be foolish, he thinks it might be too big for the Clock Tower to contain.

Fate/Apocrypha

Waver plays a supporting role in the light novel.

The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II

After the events of Fate/Zero, he returns to the Clock Tower to resume his study of magecraft. The previous Lord El-Melloi had been killed during the events of Fate/Zero which resulted in a sharp decline of the El-Melloi clan. Waver assumes the title of Lord El-Melloi II after agreeing to assist the true heir, Reines El-Melloi Archisorte, in restoring the clan until she is old enough to take charge.

Fate/Grand Order

In Delightworks' mobile role-playing game Fate/Grand Order and it's arcade version made by Sega, Waver appears as a five star Caster pseudo-Servant under the name of Zhuge Liang (諸葛孔明, Shokatsu Kōmei), also known as Zhuge Kongming. In the main story, he first appears in the singularity of Septem without a master, but was the strategist for a younger Iskandar (known as Alexander). He also appears in both of the Fate/Accel Zero Order and Lady Reines' Case Files collaboration events as a main and supporting character. Due to being a Pseudo-Servant, Waver explains that he is not himself nor Zhuge Liang, but the both of them combined. As he reaches his third ascension, his appearance changes to his younger self. In battle, he uses bagua mirrors that shoots energy beams and can cast various elemental spells such as earth, wind and fire. He also holds Zhuge Liang's feather fan. His Noble Phantasms are Unreturning Formation and Chu Shi Biao.

Creation and conception

From the original light novel, Urobuchi wrote Waver as a young child who would seek his path to become an adult going through a traumatic events. Waver was a conceptualized as a weak character similar to Nobita Nobi from Doraemon in the making of Fate/Zero. However, he had grown to the point at the end where he could be mistaken for the protagonist. Artist Takashi Takeuchi said his original design motif was "sarcastic, smart-alecky boy". He had no trouble designing Waver because he had a clear image of the character. He really wanted to draw him and feels the design that makes him look incompetent was for the best.

The prospect of seeing another author write about Waver as he was getting his footing as a magus, able to do nothing but sit back and watch as events unfolded around him, was honestly a point of unease for me. But in the end, that worry was for nothing according to Urobuhi. The character that came out on the other end of ten years had grown to the point he became different from the original version. Urochi desribes him as a "The gentleman who had polished his powers of analysis, bearing a cunning like an old man's wisdom, while still hiding the distortion of his youth somewhere in his heart" making him in the end an "enchanting character" Waver was redesigned as an adult in The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi. The artists described him as an attractive longhaired inspired by Saki Vashtar Area 88. This was found more common in the manga adaptation of the series though the artists always found Waver's design to have always been the bishonen stereotype. The novelists describes the El-Melloi as a quiet man with a sense of humor as the writer wanted him to be found appealing by the reader. In the making of the light novel, Waver's character was influenced by Sherlock Holmes with Gray serving as his sidekick Dr. Watson. The relationship between these two characters was primarily centered by the Gray's weaker persona who constantly thinks about his master and the writer aimed to attract the female demographic throughout this.

When The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II was adapted into an anime, Director Ei Aoki wanted to supervise the series due to him originally directing Fate/Zero where Waver originated. His biggest difficulty was Melloi interacting with his assistant Gray which led him to ask for the voice actress for help.

Reception

Kotaku listed Waver as one of the multiple characters from Fate/Zero who suffers a tragic fate despite him initially not having anything to lose in the beginning. Koi-nya felt that thanks to Waver, the viewers would carea about his servant. Anime News Network praised the relationship between Waver and Iskandar due to how different they are from each other yet Waver becomes a stronger person little by little thanks to his Servant. Another review found the relationship unique among the cast due to the friendly bonds the two have in contrast to other characters who suffer a distanced relationship with their servants. In early reviews, The Fandom Posted found Waver as a fun comic relief based on how in his characterization while UK Anime Network stated that Waver was one of the members from the cast that was complex due to his need for a servant. In a later review, the same site regarded Waver and Iskander as their favorite master and servant relationship from Fate/Zero, enjoying their character arcs as Waver overcomes his inferiority complex across the narrative. Fandom Post also felt that Waver and Iskander were their favorite characters from Fate/Zero as they "have so many great conversations and style of interaction" with how Waver learns about his servant's desire to conquer lands whenever interacting again. Capsule Monster regarded their bond as "a companionship that's simply heartwarming to watch." Anime News Network listed Waver and Iskander as one of the "manliest bromances" with focus on their friendship.

In regards to Waver's role in the spin-off The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II, Manga.Tokyo found his personality appealing describing him as "bolder" as well as underdog. The reviewer also enjoyed the premise from the series in regards to how many jobs the older Waver has to work into. Krestel Swift from The Fandom Post described the older Waver as "uncharacteristically suave hunk with seemingly neither awkwardness nor a sense of humor" and praised the series how the narrative of Lord El-Melloi II handles his growth ever since Fate/Zero due to his different personality. Anime News Network described him as a funny character based on his reactions despite the series' dark tone as the episodes often involve murder. Despite critcism to the anime's lack of closure, The Fandom Post enjoyed the handling of Waver's past persona during the dream sequence he has, as he reflects on his past when interacting with Iskander. Anime News Network writers Theron Martin and Michelle Liu listed El-Melloi II as the best anime character of 2019 due to his style when dealing with enemies. Liu regarded him as one of the best LGBTQ+ character, something she found that while it might come across as controversial, both Waver's younger persona from Fate/Zero and Lord El-Melloi II was often commented by writers and him to have developed romantical feelings for Iskander, something which Iskander was famous in real life.

References

Category:Literary characters introduced in 2005 Category:Anime and manga characters who use magic Category:Fate/stay night characters Category:Type-Moon Category:Male characters in anime and manga Category:Male characters in video games Category:Video game characters who use magic

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