Unlimited Blade Works

Editor’s Note: This entry contain spoilers to Fate/stay night.

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About

Unlimited Blade Works refers to the noble phantasm of the character Archer and Shirou Emiya in the Type-Moon Fate series. Since its introduction in 2004, the ability became popular among fans, spawning parodies and a copypasta based on the noble phantasm’s incantation.

Origin

Unlimited Blade Works was first introduced in the 2004 visual novel game Fate/stay night, specifically in one of the game’s story routes under the same name as the noble phantasm. The noble phantasm is a reality marble that acts as a magical factory for creating replicas of various weapons including other noble phantasms. To summon the reality marble, Archer must use an incantation to facilitate the invocation. The incantation reads:

“I am the Bone of my Sword
Steel is my Body and Fire is my Blood.
I have created over a Thousand Blades,
Unknown to Death,
Nor known to Life.
Have withstood Pain to create many Weapons
Yet those Hands will never hold Anything.
So, as I Pray–
Unlimited Blade Works“

Shirou Emiya has an alternate version of the incantation which he uses to summon the reality marble. The incantation is as follows:

“I am the Bone of my Sword
Steel is my Body and Fire is my Blood
I have created over a Thousand Blades
Unaware of Loss,
Nor aware of Gain.
Withstood Pain to create Weapons, Waiting for one’s Arrival
I have no Regrets. This is the only Path
My whole life was Unlimited Blade Works“

Spread

Discussions regarding Unlimited Blade Works began as early as 2006 with posts appearing on a number of sites such as reddit, Tumblr, 4chan, Gamefaqs, TVTropes, and Zetaboards. On December 8th, 2008, Urban Dictionary user Arblast submitted an entry regarding the noble phantasm (shown below).

On July 31st, 2013, Youtube user ExiaFr posted a video showcasing Archer using Unlimited Blade Works which was taken from the 2010 movie adaptation of Fate/Stay Night (shown below, left). Within 2 years, the video gathered over 276,000 views. On May 10th, 2015, Youtube user TheSzadow posted a video comparing Archer’s Unlimited Blade Works ability between the 2006 and the 2014 anime adaptation of Fate/stay Night (shown below, right). Within a year, the video gathered over 199,000 views. Both videos were ultimately deleted.

Unlimited Essay Works

Unlimited Essay Works refers to a notorious 4chan post that was submitted by a user known as “Mike.” The post shows an essay that was written in the same manner as the copypasta which resulted in the user getting a D+ and ultimately failing his semester.

The original thread was posted on August 2nd, 2006 on 4chan’s /a/ board. In the thread, the original poster delivered a promise he made in a previous topic to turn in his final exam in the form of the Unlimited Blade Works copypasta (shown below).

The thread gained traction among users and was subsequently stickied by a mod. The image of the essay gained popularity on a number of sites such as Funny Exams, Dark Mirage, and FunnyJunk. The thread also spawned a number of edits that pokes fun at the event(shown below).

Various Examples

Copypastas

I am the slam of my jam.
Slam is my body, and jam is my blood.
I have slammed over a thousand jams.
Unknown to slam.
Nor known to jam.
Withstood DMCA takedown notices to slam many jams.
Yet these slams will never jam anything.
So as I jam,
Unlimited Slam Works.

I AM THE LINK OF MY SERVER
IMVU IS MY BODY, AND RIGHTING WRITING IS MY BLOOD
I HAVE CREATED OVER A THOUSAND ADS
UNKNOWN TO WIN, NOR KNOWN TO LOSE
HAVE WITHSTOOD FEMALE NARUTO TO CREATE MANY QUIZNO’S SUBS
YET THOSE DOUBLE-CLICKS WILL NEVER HOLD ANYTHING
SO, AS I PAY BILLS
UNLIMITED AD WORKS

I am the bone of my cake
Steel is my landing, and adrenaline is my blood
I have created over a thousand gates
Unknown to incineration, nor known outside apeture
I have withstood pain to solve many puzzles
Yet those hands will never hold another cube
So, as I pray…
UNLIMITED PORTAL WORKS!

I am the meme of my sword
Never Gonna Let You Down is my body, and Never Gonna Run Around is my blood
I have created over a thousand Internet pranks
Unknown to Never Gonna Make You Cry, nor to any other guy
Have withstood strangers to love to create many 80s hits
Yet those obvious links will never fool anyone
So, as I tell you how I’m feeling…
UNLIMITED RICKROLL WORKS!