-Hi, can I help you?

-Hi. um... Yeah, I was interested in the Fate franchise,

-and I heard I could come here for more information.

Oh come on in, make yourself at home.

Look, we're always looking for new fans to join our cause,

so we're here to make things as easy as possible.

You can ask me any question.

-Okay, so where do I start?

-Except that question.

-Is there not a beginning?

-Do you want the long version or the short version?

-The short version.

-So in the beginning, there was Fate/Stay Night,

which is a visual novel with three different routes,

Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, and Heaven's Feel,

which needs to be played out in that exact order.

Now the Fate route has been adapted once by Studio Deen in 2006 as an anime series,

Unlimited Blade Works has been adapted twice,

once by Studio Deen as a movie,

and once by ufotable as a full series,

who are also adapting Heaven's Feel, but only as a trilogy of movies,

only of which, one is out at the moment.

-I thought you were gonna give me the short version.

-This is the short version.

So, technically speaking anime-wise,

the 2006 Deen adaptation is the beginning,

and serves as a good introduction to the world.

-Okay, so why can't I just start with that?

-'cause it's shit.

-Oh.

-'kay, in terms of main line adaptations,

only the ones by ufotable are worth watching,

but you can't start with Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works

because that spoils Fate/Zero.

-What's Fate/Zero?

-Oh, well, it's just a prequel that takes place before Fate/Stay Night