• The title “King of Conquerors” has been applied to Alexander in print before, but, as in the case of “King of Knights” Arthur, this is probably coincidental: https://books.google.com/books?id=i...rors%22&f=false
  
• Rider is taller than the historical Alexander and has a different hair color, but this isn’t an error; Waver points out that he looks different from the descriptions of him in biographies.
  
• One thing I’ve always found rather silly about the cult of Alexander is the idea that he “conquered the world.” It was refreshing to see Rider look at a map and point out that his empire was actually not very large in the grand scheme of things.
  
• Alexander was most likely bisexual (in today’s terms) and is even credited with introducing pederasty to Afghanistan. Somehow, though, I find Urobuchi’s claim in an interview that Rider would be interested in a relationship with Kayneth a bit implausible.
  
• Alexander’s mother claimed that Alexander’s father was Zeus, although he may not actually have any divine blood in this Nasuverse; the writeup for his Divinity skill makes it ambiguous whether he has the skill legitimately or only as a result of his reputation.
  
• One of the most famous legends about Alexander concerns the Gordian Knot. Supposedly Alexander “solved” a complicated knot by cutting it with his sword. This must be why Rider’s chariot is called the Gordius Wheel.

• As gross as Gilles is in Zero, Urobuchi actually seems to have toned him down a bit; the sexual aspects of his crimes seem to have been too much even for the Nasuverse.
  
• On the other hand, Gilles apparently expressed contrition immediately before his execution, which isn’t reflected in his characterization in Zero.
  
• The real Gilles’s experiments in demonology apparently failed, but his instructor in black magic was indeed named Prelati.
  
• The origin of Prelati’s Spellbook (the sunken city of R’lyeh) and the incantation used to summon the giant aquatic monster reference H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos.
  
• The novel Gilles et Jeanne, portraying Gilles’s descent into madness and dwelling extensively on the contrast between Jeanne’s purity and Gilles’s impurity, his obsession with her, etc. may have been an inspiration for Gilles’s portrayal in Zero.
  
• The folktale of Bluebeard, who murders his wives and hides their bodies in a secret chamber, doesn’t really bear much resemblance to the actual actions of Gilles, whose victims were unrelated children, but the belief that Gilles inspired the Bluebeard story continues to be popular. Thus, Gilles tells Uryu that Bluebeard is the name he’s most likely familiar with Gilles under.

• For the Hassans in general, see Hassan-i-Sabbah (True Assassin) in the second Fifth War post.
  
• Deliberately induced split personalities may not be purely fictional. Maybe. Supposedly the CIA’s Project Bluebird accomplished something along those lines, but I take the idea with more than a grain of salt.

• The basis of Knight of Honor is made explicit in the light novel: it derives from a story in which Lancelot used a tree branch as an improvised weapon.
  Similarly, For Someone’s Glory is based on the various times Lancelot fought incognito.
  
• The name Arondight for Lancelot’s sword is attributed to “medieval legends” in the 1897 Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, but the oldest source I can find for the name is this 1878 article: http://books.google.com/books?id=Lv...ondight&f=false

Ytlaya fucked around with this message at 18:34 on Jun 15, 2015