The Holy Grail War is a tradition that involves fighting to determine who will be granted command over an all-powerful device capable of granting wishes. This battle takes place between seven mages, each accompanied by their own ancient heroic spirit known as a familiar. Among the major contenders in this war are the Einzberns, who have enlisted Kiritsugu Emiya to represent them. Despite being armed with his own weapons, Kiritsugu faces six other powerful opponents all seeking the Holy Grail for different reasons. Fate/Zero depicts the events leading up to the Fourth Holy Grail War, which occurred 10 years prior to the storyline of Fate/Stay Night.
Fate/Zero was initially released as a doujinshi collaboration by Type-Moon and Nitro+ between 2006 and 2007 at Comic Market conventions. A six-volume bunkoban edition was officially published by Sekaisha in 2011.The series received four drama CD adaptations between 2008 and 2010, an image soundtrack in 2007, as well as two anime adaptations, produced by ufotable. It has been published in Polish by Kotori since December 18, 2017.