Artoria Pendragon – The Strongest Arthurian Hero in Fate

As a longtime Fate franchise fan and avid gamer, I receive many questions asking who the most powerful Arthurian character or servant is after diving into the expansive lore and Holy Grail War conflicts. After substantial analysis and research into their capabilities, Parameter stats, and demonstrated feats across the various Fate properties, I definitively name Artoria Pendragon as the strongest.

As the Saber class servant incarnation of King Arthur himself, Artoria possesses A-rank Magic Resistance, A+-rank agility, and A-rank strength/endurance – making her an incredibly formidable swordmaster and knight. Her Instinct and Mana Burst skills allow her to effectively counter barrage-type opponents like Gate of Babylon spam.

But what truly cements Artoria‘s status is her pair of legendary Noble Phantasms – Excalibur and Avalon:

Artoria‘s Noble Phantasms

Excalibur – The famous holy sword of King Arthur and strongest weapon of Fate‘s Saber class servants. It converts Artoria‘s magical energy into a destructive wave of light through the blade, capable of annihilating enemies and their magical defenses with a single swing. Against Servants, Excalibur is an A++ ranked Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm – making it absolutely devastating.

Avalon – The Everdistant Utopia sheath left by the Lady of the Lake that grants Artoria immortality and powerful regenerative abilities. As an EX-ranked Barrier-type Noble Phantasm, Avalon shrouds Artoria in an "absolute defense" bounded field separating her from the physical plane. This makes Artoria untouchable when Avalon is activated.

With such powerful Noble Phantasms augmenting her already incredible swordsmanship, battle instincts, parameters, and skills – Artoria has decisively proven herself to be the mightiest Arthurian hero that can be summoned as a Fate Servant.

Why Artoria Surpasses Gilgamesh

Now the obvious counterargument that arises is that Gilgamesh remains the singularly strongest Servant in Fate due to his Gate of Babylon Noble Phantasm and rank as the original Heroic Spirit. However, while Gate of Babylon provides Gilgamesh overwhelming firepower, raw strength does not directly translate to combat capability and true power.

Several key factors allow Artoria to defeat Gilgamesh in direct combat:

• Higher Magic Resistance – Artoria‘s A-rank Magic Resistance dwarfs Gilgamesh‘s much lower C-rank, allowing her to shrug off most magecraft with ease. This mitigates much of the Gate spam.

• Battle Experience – Artoria possesses excellent analytical ability along with grand battle experience as a warrior-king. This allows her to adeptly counter and dodge many of the Gate weapons through skill and instinct alone.

• Invisible Air – The winds cloaking Excalibur can hide Artoria‘s sword length, attack angles, and block many of Gilgamesh‘s projectiles. Its a useful battle tactic before unveiling Excalibur for a decisive blow.

• Counters Gate Weapons – Artoria‘s Mana Burst and Excalibur can directly counter/destroy the mythical weapons launched from the Gate. She‘s an expert at deflecting ranged attacks.

Whereas Gilgamesh arrogantly launches weapons without much care, Artoria is a seasoned fighter specializing in swordsmanship and honed instincts – making her incredibly difficult to overwhelm through Gate alone. Her magic resistance and semi-immortality from Avalon also render direct magical attacks ineffective.

This grants Saber the advantage in direct combat, which is ultimately what determines the stronger servant. Raw firepower means little if it can‘t reliably hit the opponent or bypass their defenses. We see this dynamic play out in Fate/Stay Night‘s Unlimited Blade Works route, where an enraged Gilgamesh ultimately loses to Saber after abandoning his careless Gate barrage once she begins destroying them with Excalibur strikes and wind barriers while avoiding fatal hits.

So while Gate of Babylon combined with Ea make Gilgamesh the servant with the greatest destructive potential, Artoria Pendragon is certainly the most well-rounded, skilled, and frankly unbeatable servant that embodies the pinnacle of Arthurian legend.

Other Strong Knights of the Round Table

Artoria clearly represents the cream of the crop amongst Arthurian Servants, but other powerful Knights of the Round Table also take center stage in the Fate series:

Lancelot

The famously skilled swordsman Lancelot du Lac comes closest to matching Artoria‘s swordsmanship, serving as her finest knight before his affair with Guinevere was exposed. As a Saber, Lancelot matches most Servant stats but lacks a very strong Noble Phantasm on par with Excalibur.

As the Berserker of Black in Fate/Zero, Lancelot achieves his highest potential – with his dual wielding skills and resilience boosted further while For Someone‘s Glory masks his identity. Coupled with his unkillable Arondight sword refreshing his lives, Zero Berserker pushed Artoria to her utmost limits in their final duel.

In fact, Lancelot came closer to matching Artoria‘s prowess than any other knight. But her decisive victory and Lancelot‘s mental flaws ultimately cement her standing as the superior servant.

Gawain

Gawain, Artoria‘s other famed Knight of the Sun, also serves as a powerful Saber class Servant due to his affinity with the sun boosting his already incredible strength, defense, and Excalibur counterpart sword Excalibur Galatine. However, his magical energy dependency on sunlight also serves as an Achilles heel that can be exploited.

While certainly mighty in his own right, Gawain lacks the skill and instincts to match Knights like Lancelot or overpower Artoria herself. Numerically, his stats also simply fall short of the strongest Saber servant.

Mordred

The Knight of Treachery Mordred serves as Artoria‘s final opponent during the Battle of Camlann, slaying her father with her iconic sword Clarent which she secretly stole. As an adult Saber class servant, Mordred matches most of Artoria‘s stats while possessing impressive magic resistance from her Homunculus heritage.

However, Mordred‘s vengeful obsession with surpassing her father also serves as a prime weakness. Her full fighting potential is only unlocked when tapping into her hatred for Artoria – and at that point she abandons all reason and skill.

Ultimately Mordred lacks any Noble Phantasm that bypasses Avalon, and Artoria decisively defeats her in their final Fate/Apocrypha duel – cementing her place above even her prophesized slayer and illegitimate heir.

So in conclusion, while many Knights of the Round Table shine as exemplary servants – Artoria Pendragon reigns supreme over all others as the strongest Arthurian legend hero to manifest in the Fate series when all factors are weighed. Her status as the Once and Future King remains well earned amongst even mythical legends like Gilgamesh.

Let me know your thoughts on my Servant analysis! Which Arthur or Knight did you think was the most powerful?