The world of Fate/Stay Night is a massive one — the franchise itself has been going for nearly twenty years now and that's only in the anime. But even inside the universe, it pulls upon the mythology of every country and all of human history. It's nothing to sneeze at.
The Rider class is one of the four cavalry classes that appears during the Holy Grail War. These Servants are best known for riding some form of mount, and generally possess the power to also summon said mount, which often serves as one of their Noble Phantasms, their special abilities. The Rider of Fate/Stay Night, in particular, are one of the more compelling classes, making their way to multiple other series.
10 Her True Identity Is Gorgon
Rider’s true identity is Gorgon, and is recognized as an Earth goddess, which means her power is closer to that of a Divine Spirit rather than a Heroic Spirit. Because she was so hated by Poseidon’s wife, Gorgon and her two sisters took up residence on an island by themselves.
She was eventually defeated by Perseus at the whim of the gods, where she would go on to become a spirit that was capable of being summoned.
9 Rider’s Voice Actor Is Also Known As Kallen From Code Geass
Rider’s Japanese voice actress is Yu Asakawa. Yu has voice credits going all the way back to 1997, she’s voiced dozens of characters across tons of different anime series like K-ON, OreImo, and Amagami.
Rider has two English voice actresses — starting with Karen Strassman, who’s best known for her work as Kallen on Code Geass and Soi Fon in Bleach. But she was also voiced by Melissa Fahn, who’s voiced Maria Campbell on HameFura, and Himawari in the Boruto series.
8 Rider's Best Skill Is The Ability To Operate Independently
Rider possesses B Rank Magic Resistance thanks to her own history. She’s got talent in sorcery, which means she can stop some spells on her own. But she’s also incredibly quick, which means it’s difficult to hit her with a spell because she’s rarely in the same place twice.
She’s also got the ability to operate independently, which means even if she has no Master she can remain materialized for an entire day on her own. This helped her out in one timeline as she was able to find her way back to her original master, Sakura Matou.
7 Rider's Noble Phantasms Are Breaker Gorgon & Blood Fort Andromeda
Medusa’s primary Noble Phantasm is Breaker Gorgon, which allows her to lock away an opponent within her own mind. This locks them out from using their own techniques, though mostly this is used to lock away her own eyes so that she doesn’t have to worry about them.
She also has a second Noble Phantasm in Blood Fort Andromeda, which creates magic circles that drain people of their life force gradually.
6 Rider Is Qualified For The Archer, Berserker, & Caster Classes
Surprisingly, Rider is capable of taking on more different classes than most. Thanks to her magic abilities she can become a Caster. Her long-range abilities make her able to become an Archer.
Her history of going berserk means she can become a berserker. And the way she was wronged in her former life means she’s also capable of taking on the eighth class, the Avenger, a class she took on in Fate/Grand Order once.
5 Rider's Other Masters Have Been Shinji Matou And Ritsuka
Rider is meant to be summoned by Sakura Matou in the Fifth Holy Grail War. But though Sakura summons her, Shinji convinces her to hand over the command of Rider to him.
She’s also the Servant of Ritsuka Fujimaru, known as the last Master of humanity, during the alternate universe Holy Grail War in Fate/Grand Order, where her true story is more focused on. And during Fate/EXTRA she’s the Servant of Hakuno Kishinami.
4 Rider's True Form Is Only Seen In Fate/Grand Order
In most series, Rider is not allowed to access her true form. This is only logical because her powers are above that of normal Heroic Spirits. However, in Fate/Grand Order she isn’t locked to those circumstances because everything about their appearance is different from the norm.
There, she is able to take on her full form as an Avenger and does battle with the final boss of Fate/Grand Order’s Seventh Singularity.
3 Rider's Most Powerful Attack Is Bellephoron, Which Uses Her Mount
Rider’s most powerful move is known as Bellerophon. It’s a super-charged physical attack that’s capable of hitting hundreds of people with a single move. The question of whether or not someone can beat Rider is often down to whether they can deal with this weapon.
Archer makes it known that he’s incapable of doing so because he can’t do so from long-range and doesn’t have enough magical power to stop it. Even Chu Chulainn has said he’s not confident in his ability to defeat it. One of the few physical classes that have the resources to deal with it is Saber and only specific incarnations of the Servant-class.
2 She Rides A Pegasus That She Got From Poseidon
As everyone expects from the name Rider, she is capable of riding literally anything with the exception of Dragons. But her own custom Riding partner is the legendary winged horse, Pegasus, which was given to her by Poseidon himself.
Thanks to its power, which has existed since the age of the gods, it’s got power far beyond that of a normal animal, and in fact is almost at the level of a dragon, which helps in her usage of Bellerophon.
1 Comes Up With Other Ways To Replenish Her Magic
During Fate/stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, Rider has been summoned to people who aren’t as skilled with magic as other Masters. To make up for that, Rider has ways to replenish her own mana without help. One way she’s known to do so is by drinking blood.
In Fate/hollow ataraxia, she even has a habit of suggesting foods to eat to make her prey’s blood richer. Fortunately, she didn't appear in Fate/Zero, as who knows how dark she would've been in a series that leaned so far into Fate's darker storytelling sensibilities.