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I was watching Fate Zero, the fight between Kiritsugu and Kotomine. At some
point, both are thinking about the resources at their disposal:

Kiritsugu has a grenade, a knife, etc. Kotomine has a handful of Reijus and
something I'm not sure how is called, but according to the spanish subtitles I
saw, it would be "Black Keys".

I don't think I've heard that term anywhere else in the (anime) series. Sounds
like some kind of martial art thing, but a Google search tells me more about
some rock band.

So, what's a "black key" here? Do they appear anywhere in the series? Or is
Kotomine an accomplished rockstar during his free time?


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question
fate-zero
What's a "black key"?


Black Keys are a type of conceptual weapons (albeit weak), called Keys of
Providence. They are essentially charms used by agents of the Church to
exorcise demons. They are meant to bind and/or seal spiritual phenomena (e.g.
Vampires hunted by the Church), rather than hurt them.

The [Type-Moon Wiki](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Church#Black_Keys) notes
that:

> If they hit the shadow of a target, the target will be unable to move their
> body, leaving them to the mercy of the black key's wielder. It could also be
> used to track down and seal or injure a target until its wielder tells it to
> stop doing so, or unless it is destroyed or neutralized by an outside force.

It's been noted that they can take the form of many types weapons, but are
usually in the form of long, rapier-like swords or spears, which they are
generally thrown as a dagger or used to stab opponents. Ciel-senpai and
Kotomine Kirei are notable wields of these weapons.

[Sacraments](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Magic_Spells#Sacraments_2),
which are basically spell-sigils, can be engraved in Black Keys to give them
different effects.

![It's like a cross that's also a throwing
dagger](https://i.stack.imgur.com/5QJFt.jpg)


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