Rider (Medusa)

Anime Characters (332 items)
list by Massao Ikawa

Rider is the Rider-class Servant of Sakura Matou in the Fifth Holy Grail War of Fate/stay night. Due to Sakura's unwillingness to participate as a Master, Shinji Matou is instead given control over Rider. She only truly acts as Sakura's Servant when their connection is revealed in the Heaven's Feel route.

Her real name is Medusa, the Gorgon from Greek mythology. Medusa, along with her sisters, Stheno and Euryale, were born from the wishes of mankind for ideal goddesses, contrasting the flawed gods of Olympus. All three Gorgons were blessed with beauty, but unlike her sisters, Medusa was mortal, and fated to grow older and taller over time. Medusa was also cursed with Mystic Eyes, which transmute all living flesh under her gaze into stone, requiring her to wear a blindfold. Because of these differences, she was bullied by her older sisters. At one point, Medusa was given a Pegasus as a gift from Poseidon.