<p>The Lion reference can be dated back to her childhood. it's not mentioned on her page but <a href="http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Sir_Kay#Kay" rel="nofollow">Sir Kay's section</a>. Sir Kay is the son of Sir Ector who Merlin left Arturia in the care of, that makes him Arturia's step brother though she had thought of him as her real brother (despite knowing the truth).</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Once while attending to her while she was sick, she told him that she would like to have a dream of a lion running on a grass field. He fashioned a poorly carved wooden lion that looked like a combination between a dog and a cat, and left it by her bedside. When she thanked him and told him that she had a pleasant dream of a young lion, Kay was shocked as he intended to make a decrepit old lion that would have been unable to hurt a rat. He had been worried that the lion might pounce on her in her dreams.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>so while she is linked to Dragons, Lions was apart of her upbringing as the brother she loved carved her a lion when she was sick which most likely became a very cherished possession of hers and it's probably a subconscious thing of Arturia's extending from this. not entirely sure as to why she wanted to dream about a lion in the first place</p>

<p>I'm not sure as to how much of an impact this trait of Arturia's is on the story. <a href="http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Saber_Lion" rel="nofollow">Saber Lion</a> is a parody much like how <a href="http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Magical_Amber" rel="nofollow">Magical Amber</a> and other Magical Girls in the Nasuverse is a parody of Magical Girls. as far as i know it's not stated if the <em>original</em> Arthurian Legend depicts lions in the context of a connection with Arthur (the Pendragon Coat of arms normally depicts, as one would expect, dragons. According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attributed_arms#Arthurian_heraldry" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia</a> Sir Tristran's earliest attributed coat of arms had lions however Kay's Lion would predate this) or if any derived works do or even which legend Kinoko Nasu may have used as a basis for Arturia</p>

<p>If i was to fashion a guess it is probably to make a more unique Arthurian Legend. <a href="http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Mordred" rel="nofollow">Mordred</a> is practically Incest from the most bizarre method, <a href="http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Playable_Saber_(Fate/Extra)" rel="nofollow">Nero</a>, <a href="http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Frankenstein" rel="nofollow">Frankenstien</a> and Great Holy Grail War <a href="http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Assassin_of_Black" rel="nofollow">Jack</a> are all women and most of the <a href="http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Assassin" rel="nofollow">Hassan-i-Sabbah</a> are described as not having faces at all so quite possibly while they all have a base real life legend Kinoko Nasu alters them slightly to have a bit for freedom in developing their backgrounds and legends to suit his needs.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-07T21:29:21.373Z
2014-12-08T03:26:37.407Z
2014-12-08T03:26:37.407Z
Memor-X
<p>We know Saber's real identity is King Arthur (Artoria Pendragon) and that she is <a href="https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/Artoria_Pendragon_(Saber)#Magic_Core" rel="nofollow noreferrer">linked to dragons</a> through Merlin's sorcery:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Saber was born with the Magical Energy of a Dragon, shown by the &quot;Pendragon&quot; name, as Uther ordered Merlin to grant his successor the <strong>Factor of the Dragon</strong> (竜の因子, <em>Ryū no Inshi</em>). She is the holder of the Element of the Red Dragon who carries the blood and very magical power of a phantasm in a human body, granting her a heart and unique Magic Circuits that transcend what can be achieved by normal humans and magi. Agravain claims that Artoria is not the incarnation of the Dragon; but rather, that her heart is a single Dragon. Thus, Saber's Magic Circuits are called a <strong>Magic Core</strong>, which is fundamentally different from those of a normal magus.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, it seems that Saber is <a href="https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/Artoria_Pendragon_(Saber)#Personality" rel="nofollow noreferrer">linked more to lions than dragons</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Though she once felt more linked to Dragons due to her unique birth, she came to enjoy lions after taking care of a lion cub for a month at some point in her life. She claims that it is not that she &quot;likes&quot; them, but rather the happiness she experienced as he became attached to her brought forth a bond with them. The lion cub in her past was very energetic, often biting or scratching, but she wished to be able to stay with him until the end. She has had feelings for lions since then and remembers these fond memories while holding stuffed lions. Shirou, seeing the memory of her rubbing her cheek against the lion, comments on it being a special time where she truly looks like a girl her age.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If I do an image search on Danbooru with the tags <a href="https://danbooru.donmai.us/counts/posts?tags=saber%20lion%20rating%3Ageneral%20status%3Aactive" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>saber lion rating:general status:active</code></a>, I obtain 53 results, which is much higher than the 6 results that I obtain if I search with the tags <a href="https://danbooru.donmai.us/counts/posts?tags=saber%20dragon%20rating%3Ageneral%20status%3Aactive" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>saber dragon rating:general status:active</code></a>.
A glance through the images reveals that, in addition to the stuffed lion in the original <em>Fate/stay night</em>, there are also <a href="https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/Saber_Lion" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Saber Lion</a>, the Unit Lion race car that appears in <em>Carnival Phantasm</em> and a grown lion often found to also accompany Gilgamesh and Iskander.</p>
<p>It does not appear that Saber taking a liking to lions is central to the plot, so why the stronger association of Saber with lions than good old dragons?
Was it ever revealed (e.g. in an interview) why Kinoko Nasu chose to portray Saber more as a Lioness than a Dragon Lady?</p>

<fate-stay-night>
How did Saber become more linked to lions than dragons?
# How did Saber become more linked to lions than dragons?
Posted by: username_0 on 2014-12-07
We know Saber's real identity is King Arthur (Artoria Pendragon) and that she is [linked to dragons](https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/Artoria_Pendragon_(Saber)#Magic_Core) through Merlin's sorcery:

> Saber was born with the Magical Energy of a Dragon, shown by the "Pendragon" name, as Uther ordered Merlin to grant his successor the **Factor of the Dragon** (竜の因子, *Ryū no Inshi*). She is the holder of the Element of the Red Dragon who carries the blood and very magical power of a phantasm in a human body, granting her a heart and unique Magic Circuits that transcend what can be achieved by normal humans and magi. Agravain claims that Artoria is not the incarnation of the Dragon; but rather, that her heart is a single Dragon. Thus, Saber's Magic Circuits are called a **Magic Core**, which is fundamentally different from those of a normal magus.

However, it seems that Saber is [linked more to lions than dragons](https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/Artoria_Pendragon_(Saber)#Personality):

> Though she once felt more linked to Dragons due to her unique birth, she came to enjoy lions after taking care of a lion cub for a month at some point in her life. She claims that it is not that she "likes" them, but rather the happiness she experienced as he became attached to her brought forth a bond with them. The lion cub in her past was very energetic, often biting or scratching, but she wished to be able to stay with him until the end. She has had feelings for lions since then and remembers these fond memories while holding stuffed lions. Shirou, seeing the memory of her rubbing her cheek against the lion, comments on it being a special time where she truly looks like a girl her age.

If I do an image search on Danbooru with the tags [`saber lion rating:general status:active`](https://danbooru.donmai.us/counts/posts?tags=saber%20lion%20rating%3Ageneral%20status%3Aactive), I obtain 53 results, which is much higher than the 6 results that I obtain if I search with the tags [`saber dragon rating:general status:active`](https://danbooru.donmai.us/counts/posts?tags=saber%20dragon%20rating%3Ageneral%20status%3Aactive).
A glance through the images reveals that, in addition to the stuffed lion in the original *Fate/stay night*, there are also [Saber Lion](https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/Saber_Lion), the Unit Lion race car that appears in *Carnival Phantasm* and a grown lion often found to also accompany Gilgamesh and Iskander.

It does not appear that Saber taking a liking to lions is central to the plot, so why the stronger association of Saber with lions than good old dragons?
Was it ever revealed (e.g. in an interview) why Kinoko Nasu chose to portray Saber more as a Lioness than a Dragon Lady?
**Tags:** fate-stay-night
---
## 1 answers
### Answer by username_1 on 2014-12-07. Score: 4 | Accepted answer
The Lion reference can be dated back to her childhood. it's not mentioned on her page but [Sir Kay's section](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Sir_Kay#Kay). Sir Kay is the son of Sir Ector who Merlin left Arturia in the care of, that makes him Arturia's step brother though she had thought of him as her real brother (despite knowing the truth).

> Once while attending to her while she was sick, she told him that she would like to have a dream of a lion running on a grass field. He fashioned a poorly carved wooden lion that looked like a combination between a dog and a cat, and left it by her bedside. When she thanked him and told him that she had a pleasant dream of a young lion, Kay was shocked as he intended to make a decrepit old lion that would have been unable to hurt a rat. He had been worried that the lion might pounce on her in her dreams.

so while she is linked to Dragons, Lions was apart of her upbringing as the brother she loved carved her a lion when she was sick which most likely became a very cherished possession of hers and it's probably a subconscious thing of Arturia's extending from this. not entirely sure as to why she wanted to dream about a lion in the first place

I'm not sure as to how much of an impact this trait of Arturia's is on the story. [Saber Lion](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Saber_Lion) is a parody much like how [Magical Amber](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Magical_Amber) and other Magical Girls in the Nasuverse is a parody of Magical Girls. as far as i know it's not stated if the *original* Arthurian Legend depicts lions in the context of a connection with Arthur (the Pendragon Coat of arms normally depicts, as one would expect, dragons. According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attributed_arms#Arthurian_heraldry) Sir Tristran's earliest attributed coat of arms had lions however Kay's Lion would predate this) or if any derived works do or even which legend Kinoko Nasu may have used as a basis for Arturia

If i was to fashion a guess it is probably to make a more unique Arthurian Legend. [Mordred](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Mordred) is practically Incest from the most bizarre method, [Nero](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Playable_Saber_(Fate/Extra)), [Frankenstien](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Frankenstein) and Great Holy Grail War [Jack](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Assassin_of_Black) are all women and most of the [Hassan-i-Sabbah](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Assassin) are described as not having faces at all so quite possibly while they all have a base real life legend Kinoko Nasu alters them slightly to have a bit for freedom in developing their backgrounds and legends to suit his needs.
---
