Fate Testarossa

Fate Testarossa is a heroine from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. She is voiced by Nana Mizuki. In the first season, Fate is a mage from the Garden of Time, who is sent to collect Jewel Seeds, which puts her at odds with her rival, Nanoha Takamachi. She is aided on her quest by an animal familiar, a mature dog-woman named Arf.

Name
Fate's original surname refers to Ferrari Testarossa. She changes her name to Fate Testarossa Harlaown (commonly shortened to "Fate T. Harlaown") afer being adopted into the Harlaown family by the end of A's.

Personality
Fate is a very serious and strong-willed person. At first, she was rather cold to Nanoha, but starts to show her kind and protective side after realizing how much Nanoha has reached out to her. Learning of her own origins has led her to question herself, and at times wonder about her own worth, but after seeing Alicia in the Book Of Darkness, she has come to see herself as her own person. She is especially driven to solve incidents similar to the one that happened with her mother, and ensure that other children do not have to suffer like she did. Fate tends to worry about others fairly often, especially Nanoha in wake of the incident in which she was nearly crippled, and her children, Erio, Caro and Vivio. As a result, she is more permissive and protective as a parent than Nanoha, running over to Vivio when she trips rather than having her come to her. Despite her toughness, she is shown to be very shy at times, often blushing several times in the anime.

In Nanoha
Fate first appears in episode 4 with her familiar Arf and her Intelligent Device Bardiche, materializing in the Uminari City in search of Jewel Seeds. It is soon apparent that not even Fate knows why she is looking for these specimens of Lost Logia, but she does not care, stating, "I must get them, because my mother wants them". Fate is not impressed by her young, naive rival, Nanoha, and tells her that her quest is worthless, but Nanoha's steadfast dedication to reforming Fate gets to her heart, and she begins to wane. However, this does not impress Fate's mother, Precia Testarossa, who tortures the girl for not getting all the Jewel Seeds. Fate remains loyal despite Arf's protests; she remembers a time when Precia was kind and stable, and thinks that the Jewel Seeds will cure her mother's insanity.

Fate teleports to her home from the top of an office building with complicated coordinates and magic. Her home is in a gloomy hideout in the Garden of Time with her mother and Arf, sharing a room with the latter. She appears in the city whenever she senses a Jewel Seed, as she has no school and nothing else to do. This is also the reason why she spends much of this season in her transformed state.

Late in the series, Arf strikes out at Precia, and is thrown out as "useless" who ends up with Nanoha's friend Alisa Bannings. Fate finally starts to question her mother's motives, as Arf has always been there for her, but still refuses to join Nanoha and fully accepts her challenge to a winner-takes-all battle for the Jewel Seeds. When Fate loses, Precia appears and steals the Jewel Seeds. Fate tentatively joins up with the Time-Space Administration Bureau, and it is revealed that her memories of the past were copied, and that she is a clone of Precia's biological daughter, Alicia Testarossa. Fate does not take this news too well and collapses after Precia shows that she truly hates her. She attempts to convince Precia to give up by, saying that she is still her daughter because she created her; the madwoman however laughs in her face, and states that the Jewel Seed collection was an attempt to reach the legendary Al-Hazard and resurrect Alicia, and tells her that ever since Fate's creation, Precia has despised her.

Fate collapses after hearing this and upon coming to, realizes that she has caused Arf a considerable amount of pain by not listening to her, and that Nanoha has always tried to reach out to her, before going into the Garden of Time to help them. Fate, still very hurt, attempts to save Precia, but is rejected by her as Precia who chooses to be with the preserved body of Alicia falls into a dimensional rift. Fate later then accepts Nanoha as a partner and a friend, and even though she is arrested for what she did for Precia, promises to come back as she will probably be acquitted of all charges, seeing as she only did this for her mother and not for selfish reasons.

After the main events of the series, in the third Sound Stage, Fate stays aboard the Asura, having moved from her cell in the brig to her own room. She keeps in touch with Nanoha via video letters, and is not bothered by being unable to contact her in real time. She learns that Lindy Harlaown is considering adopting her, but is unable to give an answer until she comes to terms with how she feels about Precia. She trains alongside Chrono, whom she comes to see as an older brother, and eventually reaches AAA-rank.