Definitive 2025 Fate/Stay Night Watch Guide
Spanning over a dozen different anime projects and multiple films, the world of Fate/stay night can be intimidating to an outsider. With the franchise recently celebrating its 20th anniversary, there's never been a better time to dive into the series—and we've got a beginner-friendly guide to all the Fate anime and source material right here!
What Is Fate/stay night?
If you're completely new to the franchise, a quick introduction is in order! Fate/stay night first began in 2004 as a visual novel, written by Kinoko Nasu with illustrations by Takashi Takeuchi. Together, the pair are founders of Type-Moon, originally a games company, but now serving as the brainchild for all the associated Fate anime, manga, and light novels.
At a high level, the Fate series pits human mages against each other in competition for the all-powerful wish-granting chalice, the Holy Grail. In their battles, these mages (called Masters) summon heroic figures (known as Servants) from history to duke it out and achieve the ultimate prize!
The visual novel comprises three distinct playable routes that build on each other, and are known as "Fate," "Unlimited Blade Works," and "Heaven's Feel". Most of the anime on this list are either adaptations of these routes, or take place before or after the events of the 2004 visual novel.
The English-language version of Fate/stay night Remastered officially released in 2024, offering the most accurate experience of the Fate/stay night series—but the anime adaptations are incredible in their own right!
Fate/stay night Watch Order
To get started with all the best series and films in the Fate franchise, here's our recommended viewing order:
1. Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works
This 26-episode series produced by Ufotable adapts the titular "Unlimited Blade Works" route of the visual novel. Over a decade since its 2014 release, the series still offers some of Ufotable's best action sequences, and is the perfect introduction to the Holy Grail War and the main world-building of the Fate universe.
2. Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel Trilogy
Starting in 2017, Ufotable returned to produce a trilogy of films that adapts the final—and darkest—route of Fate/stay night. In order, the movies are Presage Flower, Lost Butterfly, and Spring Song, with the last film premiering in 2020. The "Heaven's Feel" route of the visual novel dramatically departs after a shared opening, so Presage Flower skips almost immediately to the new content—make sure you've watched Unlimited Blade Works first!
3. Fate/Zero
With those routes finished, you can move onto the prequel, also produced by Ufotable. Based on a light novel written by Gen Urobuchi, Fate/Zero is a prequel to all three of Fate/stay night's routes, and takes place 10 years before the main series. There are some major spoilers in Fate/Zero, and you can appreciate the backstory reveals better if you've already watched the main Fate/stay night anime.
4. Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note
Produced by Troyca in 2019, Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note takes place ten years after the events of Fate/Zero, and two months before the beginning of Fate/stay night. This series follows Waver Scarlet, first introduced in Fate/Zero, and revolves around the Mage's Association. This isn't required watching, but highly recommended if you liked Waver and want to learn more about magic in the Fate universe.
5. Fate/Apocrypha
Set in an alternate timeline to Fate/stay night, the A-1 Pictures-produced Fate/Apocrypha is a 7-vs-7 battle of servants as the Mage's Association goes to war with the powerful mage family, the Yggdmillennia. Set in Romania, this alternate Holy Grail War features plenty more Servant clashes, and introduces the fan-favorite character, Jeanne d'Arc, as the overseeing 'Ruler' of this larger Grail War. While not strictly required watching, this more complicated series introduces many mechanics that are referenced in Fate/strange Fake, so it's another strong recommendation.
6. Fate/strange Fake
The latest entry in the series, Fate/strange Fake, is another alternate timeline taking place in the fictional city of Snowfield, Nevada. With American mages seeking to duplicate the Japanese Holy Grail War, this "fake" war blurs the lines of what makes a true "hero," and features some different versions of heroic spirits that featured in other series. In 2023, A-1 Pictures produced a feature-length prologue film titled Fate/strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn, while the full anime series itself began airing from December 2024.
7. Fate/stay night (2006)
The black sheep of the series, Studio Deen's much-bemoaned adaptation of the visual novel ostensibly follows the "Fate" route, but sharply departs in the conclusion. Most fans consider this anime an easy skip—and for good reason—but if you really liked Saber's character, and want to follow her route without reading the visual novel, this is an adequate substitute. Studio Deen also produced their own Unlimited Blade Works film, but we recommend you watch the 2014 Ufotable anime instead.
Fate/stay night Spin-Offs
If you're still hungry for more Fate/stay night, you're in luck, because we've barely scratched the surface of all the different series out there. At this point, if you've watched everything in the above list, you could probably consider yourself a pretty dedicated fan of the franchise—but for a true deep dive into Fate, here are a bunch of spin-offs and gag series to add to your watchlist!
Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya
Based on the manga series by Hiroshi Hiroyama, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya is a magical-girl spin-off of Fate/stay night (yes, you read that right), starring Illyasviel von Einzbern as the protagonist. Silver Link has produced multiple anime series and films in the Prisma☆Illya series, and in order, they are:
- Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya
- Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 2wei!
- Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 2wei Herz!
- Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 3rei!!
- Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya: Vow in the Snow (Film)
- Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya: Licht - The Nameless Girl (Film)
If that's slightly too much magical-girl anime for you, Seven Seas Entertainment has compiled the manga series into an omnibus, which will release in February 2025.
Today's Menu for the Emiya Family
There's a big emphasis on food throughout the Fate/stay night series, with main character Shirou Emiya being quite the deft hand in the kitchen. So, it only makes sense that there's a slice-of-life series dedicated entirely to cooking. Produced once again by Ufotable, you can watch Today's Menu for the Emiya Family after the main Fate/stay night series. There's even a tie-in game for the Nintendo Switch, titled Everyday♪ Today's Menu for the Emiya Family.
Fate/Extra: Last Encore
Produced by Shaft and loosely based on the 2010 PSP game of the same name, Fate/Extra: Last Encore takes place in a parallel universe to Fate/stay night, with a new protagonist, and recurring—but slightly altered—characters from the main franchise. Fate/Extra introduces the fan-favorite character Nero, a fiery, gender-bent version of the Roman emperor. A remake of the game, titled Fate/Extra Record, was announced back in 2020, and is due for release sometime in 2025.
Carnival Phantasm
Rounding out our list of spin-offs is the slice-of-life comedy series, Carnival Phantasm. Produced by Lerche, the series puts the characters of Fate/stay night and its sister-series, Tsukihime, in various absurd situations.
Fate/Grand Order Viewing Guide
With the 2015 release of the gacha RPG, Fate/Grand Order, a new world of Fate was created by Kinoko Nasu and developer Lasengle (formerly Delightworks). Fate/Grand Order takes place in another parallel universe from Fate/stay night, where the research facility Chaldea attempts to stave off humanity's extinction by interfering with key historical events called "singularities."
These singularities comprise the first "chapter" of the mobile game, titled "Observer at the Timeless Temple." While there haven't been any adaptations of the game's second chapter as yet, the Lay-duce-produced Fate/Grand Order: Moonlight/Lostroom serves as a prequel to the second chapter of the game, "Cosmos in the Lostbelt."
1. Fate/Grand Order: First Order
The 2016 film by Lay-duce serves as an excellent introduction to Fate/Grand Order, and covers the first singularity in the game. If you're not interested in the mobile game, First Order is a great way to learn about the main character, Ritsuka Fujimaru, and their purple-haired Servant, Mash. Since the first singularity is an altered version of Fate/stay night's Holy Grail War, we recommend watching First Order after the main series.
2. Fate/Grand Order - Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot
Released in two parts, Wandering; Airgetlám and Paladin; Agateram are films produced by Production I.G and Signal.MD, and adapt the sixth singularity of the game. Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot follows Bedivere on his wandering journey into the heartland of the Holy Land, where he reckons with the shocking changes in the Knights of the Round Table and his beloved Lion King.
3. Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia
Produced by CloverWorks, the anime series Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia covers the seventh singularity, and features the beloved villain, Gilgamesh, in a more compassionate role as King of the Sumerian city of Uruk. The series is preluded by the special episode Initium Iter, which serves as an introduction to Fate/Grand Order if you skipped over First Order. Babylonia introduces many characters that have become iconic in the series and its spin-offs, including Ishtar and Enkidu, both of whom make appearances in Fate/strange Fake.
4. Fate/Grand Order: Final Singularity - Grand Temple of Time: Solomon
Serving as the final part of Fate/Grand Order's first chapter, this CloverWorks-produced film pits our heroes against the ultimate mastermind behind the singularities, Solomon, the King of Mages.
Final Thoughts
The Fate/stay night universe is complex and lengthy, spanning over twenty years' worth of manga, light novels, and anime. The complex world-building and historical characters rewards invested audiences, so if you've got the time, start picking your way through this list and discover what you've been missing out on all this time!
What do you think? Are you a fan of the Fate franchise? Tell us what your favorite Fate anime or film is down in the comments below!