Kurohime

Overview

A 4-star Saber-class Servant who debuted during the 'Sodate! My Little Dragon' event in Fate/Grand Order. Based on the eponymous heroine of the Kurohime Legend from the Shinano region of Nagano Prefecture, her Spirit Origin represents a fusion of contradictory folklore—both as a maiden who became the bride of a giant serpent to save her town and as a warrior who journeyed to slay the beast. Despite her refined upbringing and reasonable mindset, she exhibits a uniquely passionate obsession with hair care.

Appearance

A young maiden characterized by long black hair and two scar-like marks surrounding her right eye. In her First Ascension, she dons a colorful traveling kimono paired with an ichime-gasa hat, concealing her injured right eye beneath bandages. Her Second Ascension features a monochrome sailor uniform comprising a black shirt, pleated skirt, neckerchief, and sailor collar, complemented by square black-framed fake glasses to obscure her scars. Her Third Ascension transforms her attire into a white wedding kimono (shiromuku) emblazoned with a white snake scale motif, leaving her face fully unobscured.

Personality

Kurohime is a serious, polite, and well-mannered young woman with a strong sense of duty. Unlike many aristocratic Heroic Spirits, she possesses a grounded and highly practical mindset. However, owing to her lore and Noble Phantasm, she harbors an intense attachment to hair, frequently displaying a doting impulse to groom the hair of her Master and companions. Because her Spirit Origin blends opposing tales, she experiences a complex mix of affection and resentment toward serpents.

Abilities

She combats enemies using the inherited blade Kunimori alongside mystical hair attacks. Her combat style blends standard swordsmanship with techniques such as raining cut strands like needles from above, sprouting hair-derived swords from the ground, hurling ignited hair, sweeping foes with flame-infused hair winds, striking with black-aura-wrapped hair, and casting divine light using a hand mirror. She possesses the class skills Magic Resistance and Riding, along with personal skills Protection of the Mountain God, Mystical Hair, and Golden Rule (Snake & Body). Her Noble Phantasm, Kurohime Monogatari - Kaminagashi, cuts her spiritually charged hair to amplify Kunimori's sharp edge, launching a causality-guided homing strike that unerringly pierces the target's body. Lore texts also reference derivative techniques including Kurohime Monogatari - Rokujigoku Shounetsu and Kurohime Monogatari - Iwakuraike no Hebi.

Background

In Japanese folklore, she was the daughter of Takanashi Masamori, a warlord in Shinano Province. When a giant serpent residing in Onuma Pond fell in love with her and caused catastrophic floods after being deceived by her father, Kurohime agreed to become its bride to save the local populace, disappearing into the mountains. Alternative variants of the tale depict her setting out on a journey of her own accord to slay the serpent using her magic-infused hair and a holy blade. As a Servant, she is summoned as an entity where both opposing legends—the serpent's lover and the serpent's slayer—coexist simultaneously.

Relationships

She shares a close, almost overprotective bond with Fujimaru Ritsuka, regularly fussing over their hair and expressing deep affection. Ushiwakamaru senses the scent of the Genji clan on her ancestral sword, while Kurohime feels a familial connection toward Nagao Kagetora (Uesugi Kenshin), whose great-grandfather was Kurohime's father. She maintains conflicted memories toward the Great Serpent of Onuma Pond. Due to her fondness for monkeys, she attempts to feed persimmons to the primates accompanying Arjuna and Rama, while sharing stylistic or thematic parallels with Seishounagon and Oryou-san.

Trivia

Mount Kurohime in Shinano Town derives its name from her folklore, identified as the mountain where she and the serpent departed. Her legend gained widespread recognition through the animated television adaptation 'The Black Dragon of Onuma Pond' in Manga Nippon Mukashibanashi. During her debut event, she was given the affection nickname 'Kuroko-chan' by Snake Wife. Owing to the near-identical spelling of her name with Blackbeard (Kurohige in Japanese), she became the center of playful community jokes and official artist parodies involving sailor uniform mashups.