Why is Rider called "Iskander" instead of "Alexander"?


The true identity of Rider in Fate/Zero is Alexander the Great, the famed
conqueror and King of Macedonia. Since Alexander conquered so many countries,
his name has been adapted to many different languages, including Arabic,
Persian, and Turkish, in which he's known as Iskandar, Eskandar, and İskender.
([Source](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander#Variants_and_diminutives).)

The page I linked says the Japanese forms of the name are "アレクサンドロス
(Arekusandorosu), アレクサンダー (Arekusandā), アレキサンダー (Arekisandā)" which are all
based on the Greek form, Ἀλέξανδρος ( _Alexandros_ ), or the English/general
European form, Alexander. **Did the staff ever publish any statements about
why Rider is called by a Middle Eastern form of his name, Iskander, instead of
using one of the European forms based on "Alexander"?**

(Note: If the answer contains spoilers for Season 2, please use spoiler tags,
or at least warn me at the top.)




While I don't know if Gen Urobuchi had said anything about this, the [TYPE-
MOON Wikia](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Rider_%28Fate/Zero%29) page for
Rider (under Profile section, since you know his real name the first paragraph
shouldn't be too bad in terms of spoilers) says his name was also Al-Iskandar
which does kinda sound like Alexander.

But then that doesn't answer _why_ they choose that name. This is just
speculation on my part, however
[Iskandar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iskandar) is derived from the Old
Persian name Sikandar. Old Persian have been used in Achaemenid Empire at the
time of Alexander's conquests, and it should be noted that the Achaemenid
Empire was [one of the largest empires in the
world](http://books.google.com.au/books?id=WBAZAQAAIAAJ&q=%28Meyer%20p.85%29&redir_esc=y)
in terms of how many people it ruled.

> Darlus ruled about 50 million people in the largest empire the world had
> seen (Meyer, p.85)

And
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_empires#Largest_empires_by_land_area_and_population)
lists it as the second largest in terms of % of the world population

> 44.48% (50 million out of 112.4 million in 480 BC)

I would assume Alexander's name being Al-Iskandar (or just Iskandar) is a note
to one of his greatest achievements: his victory against the Achaemenid
Empire.




While I don't know if Gen Urobuchi had said anything about this, the [TYPE-
MOON Wikia](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Rider_%28Fate/Zero%29) page for
Rider (under Profile section, since you know his real name the first paragraph
shouldn't be too bad in terms of spoilers) says his name was also Al-Iskandar
which does kinda sound like Alexander.

But then that doesn't answer _why_ they choose that name. This is just
speculation on my part, however
[Iskandar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iskandar) is derived from the Old
Persian name Sikandar. Old Persian have been used in Achaemenid Empire at the
time of Alexander's conquests, and it should be noted that the Achaemenid
Empire was [one of the largest empires in the
world](http://books.google.com.au/books?id=WBAZAQAAIAAJ&q=%28Meyer%20p.85%29&redir_esc=y)
in terms of how many people it ruled.

> Darlus ruled about 50 million people in the largest empire the world had
> seen (Meyer, p.85)

And
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_empires#Largest_empires_by_land_area_and_population)
lists it as the second largest in terms of % of the world population

> 44.48% (50 million out of 112.4 million in 480 BC)

I would assume Alexander's name being Al-Iskandar (or just Iskandar) is a note
to one of his greatest achievements: his victory against the Achaemenid
Empire.

