Little Red Riding Hood (赤ずきん, Akazukin?) is a resident of Fuyuki City who died in a family suicide in Semina Apartments, whose death has become a ghost story involving "Mr. A", or Ayaka Sajyou in the World of Fate/strange Fake.
Profile
Background
As told by Ayako Mitsuzuri, Little Red Riding Hood, only referred to as "*# XX" in the ghost story, was a three-year-old girl who moved into Semina Apartments with her parents a month before their family suicide. She was abused, wearing a red hood to hide the bruises on her face as instructed by her father, and unable to raise her arm above her shoulders due to him neglecting to care for a bone fracture. Her abused mother later killed her father, stabbed her, and then killed herself. It is said in the ghost story that she escaped from the scene and was never found, but the only confirmed fact is that a family suicide did take place.[3][4]
In truth, the "Little Red Riding Hood" is a Supreme Mystic Code created from the six pieces of a being believed to be a Fairy that was excavated from Spiritual Tomb of Albion and sold to the El-Melloi family who proceeded to modify the pieces into a trio of Magical Energy Reactors that produced an inexhaustible supply of Magical Energy. The current head of the El-Melloi family at the time considered reuniting all six parts but decided against doing so as while it would all six together would generate even more Magical Energy, it would also risk the Mystic Code becoming a complete being with a sense of self.[2]
By the time of the events of the Fourth Holy Grail War in November 1994, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald chose to bring "her" with him to the Hyatt Hotel. "She" would promptly go missing from his possession following Kiritsugu Emiya's bombing and would later be discovered by a Magi couple who arrived at Fuyuki to loot the area while the Holy Grail War was ongoing. The couple would then decide to lay low after etabilishing a Magical Workshop in the Semina Apartments and spend the next seven years working to fully restore "her". The restored being took the form of a blonde child with pointed elf-like ears that would later be known as the "Little Red Riding Hood".[2]
In her current state, the Little Red Riding Hood was akin to that of a living Holy Grail due to circulating immense amounts of Magical Energy that was comparable to the Magical Energy stored within Fuyuki's own Leyline and was capable of limitlessly granting wishes but gradually influenced the minds of the couple into wanting to make a wish to her. As a result, the couple fought nonstop and regularly asked the "Little Red Riding Hood" for wishes and cyclically drove her away out of fear before then bringing her back out of addiction and abusing her with magical tools.[2]
During these periods that she was driven away by the couple, she took to wearing a red hood to hide her hair and ears and sometimes requested her neighbor to press the elevator button for her.[1] By August 2003, the "Little Red Riding Hood" produced a weapon resembling that of an enchanted sword and the Magi couple ending up killing each other trying to fight over it which resulted in the infamous "family suicide". This would become the inspiration for the Semina Apartments ghost story.[2]
Appearance
Personality
Role
Fate/hollow ataraxia
In the world of Fate/stay night, the Little Red Riding Hood fled from the scene following the couple's death and desperately asked her neighbor, "Mr. A", for help by knocking on his door. Ultimately, she received no response and later disappeared from the apartments entirely.[1]
The story would later be told as a ghost story by Ayako Mitsuzuri with an unknown amount of embellishment.[3]
Fate/strange Fake
Red Riding Hood in the Fate/strange Fake manga.
In the world of Fate/strange Fake, "Person A" is a woman and instead chose to open the door for the "Little Red Riding Hood" due to the real Ayaka Sajyou having placed a minor hypnosis spell on her prior so that she would reach out to the girl whenever she needed help.[1] "Person A" chose to rationalize the reasoning behind Ayaka's words never leaving her mind as a sign she had fallen in love with her, and in response, the Little Red Riding Hood then began gradually transforming into someone identical to Ayaka with her blond hair being the only remaining aspect of her original appearance.[2]
A month later, the Little Red Riding Hood began dying from the lack of maintenance being done to upkeep her form, and, in an attempt to both reconcile her love and her solitude, "Person A" proposed to give her all of herself. Granting this wish, both the Little Red Riding Hood and "Person A" fused together becoming the individual known as "Ayaka Sajyou".[2]
Ayaka occasionally sees her for moments and believes herself to have "escaped" from her to America. Even then, the Little Red Riding Hood still appear at points, although seemingly only seen by Ayaka and not interacting with anything.[5][6] From Ayaka's observation, she has become "more real" ever since she came to Snowfield.[7]
It is unclear if she is actually real or just Ayaka's hallucination. When Ayaka reveals her existence to Saber, he cannot see nor touch her, and when he asks one of his retinue who is an expert in magecraft, she says she finds no signs of anything arcane or residual thoughts here. Ayaka concludes that she is just in her head, but Saber suggests that it could be a hex or magecraft that was cast within her, or some form of possession by a ghost.[7]
Ayaka faces her fear.
When they are in the dream world of Pale Rider's Doomsday Come, Ayaka, running after Saber after he is knocked into a building, finally confronts her hallucination along the way, realizing she's now more afraid of losing Saber than afraid of them. The next instant, Red Riding Hood whispers "Good luck"[7] to Ayaka and disappears. Ayaka then slaps herself and rushes to join Saber.[8] From then on, while still finding her scary, Ayaka is less afraid of the apparition and doesn't shut down when she sees her, realizing she never really did anything and it was mainly Ayaka feeling guilt. Saber even tries to cheer her up and make the Little Red Riding Hood less scary by making water orbs of different colors float around him as he plays guitar.[7]
After the destruction of the Neo Ishtar Temple, a dying Philia unlocks the memories she sealed from Ayaka with hypnosis, which makes her realize she was never "Person A" fleeing the Little Red Riding Hood, she was the Little Red Riding Hood herself.[1]
Abilities
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Fate/strange Fake Volume 9 - Chapter 27: "The Little Red Riding Hood of the Semina Apartments, Unraveled—or, The Mages Shot the Wolf I"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Fate/strange Fake Volume 9 - Chapter 30: "The Red Little Riding Hood of Semina Apartments Sorted, or The Mages Shot the Wolf II"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Fate/hollow ataraxia - Prologue. - Ryuudou ghost story
- ↑ Fate/strange Fake Volume 2 - Interlude: "The Little Red Riding Hood of Semina Apartments"
- ↑ Fate/strange Fake Volume 2 - Chapter 3: Day 1, Early Dawn "Ensemble Versus Illusion"
- ↑ Fate/strange Fake Volume 3 - Chapter 8: Day 1, Afternoon (2) "The Wandering King's Rock'n'Roll"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Fate/strange Fake Volume 7 - Chapter 22: "The First and Last Breather Day"
- ↑ Fate/strange Fake Volume 6 - Chapter 20: Day 3, Morning "Dream Becomes Reality"