WARNING: This character sheet will assume that you have read Fate/stay night. Major spoilers will be found ahead for both Fate/stay night and Fate/Zero.
Kiritsugu Emiya (Master of Saber)[]
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Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama (Japanese, adult), Miyu Irino (Japanese, child), Matthew Mercer (English, adult) and Marianne Miller (English, child) |
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"I will break this endless cycle. The Grail will make that possible. I'll ensure the blood I spill in Fuyuki will be the last that humanity will ever shed. If that means I must stain my hands with every evil in the world, I don't care. If that will save the world, I will do it gladly." |
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Hitman and "Magus Killer" Emiya. Father of Fate/stay night protagonists Emiya Shirou (adopted) and Illyasviel von Einzbern, and Anti-Hero of this story. Standing on the Cynical side of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism, he believes that it is impossible for everyone in the world to be happy; in order to be a true hero, one must eliminate the destructive factors which would in turn threaten the survival of humanity as a whole. Killing one to save a hundred, dozens to save thousands.
He orders Arturia to destroy the Grail, setting the entire city on fire. Wandering aimlessly through the destroyed city, he finds a small boy, miraculously still alive. And thus Fate/stay night officially begins.
- Anti-Anti-Christ: Downplayed, though his failure to realize his wish makes him, by readings of results, a minor Antichrist. See below for specifics.
- The Antichrist: Downplayed and implied for the purpose of a Mind Screw. The clues are:
- The number of rib-powdered Origin Rounds: 66 (one 6 short of the Number of the Beast). It isn't six-hundred-and-sixty-six because such a large number tarnishes Kiritsugu's reputed skill, the significance of each bullet, and the Willing Suspension of Disbelief on account of their creation from two of his ribs.
- The removal of two of his ribs: historically, post-mortem, Jesus Christ was stabbed between the ribs to certify his death; mythologically, the blood and water that poured from the subsequent wound was caught by the Holy Grail. Those two ribs are likely the two removed from Kiritsugu via Natalia. This means it is completely impossible for such a ritual as the aforementioned one to be performed on Kiritsugu, specifically disqualifying him as a candidate for The Messiah while simultaneously distinguishing him as a unique individual on the planet.
- A Self-Made Orphan, on account of his murdering his father. This act seemingly violates the Fifth Commandment. Secondarily yet more importantly, the murdering of the parent has been the most prominent and distinguishing desire of the characters portrayed as the Antichrist in cinema.
- His Arch Enemy: the most pragmatic Catholic Priest alive during the Fourth Grail War is his most dangerous, personal opponent. The Catholic Church, like the noted trait mentioned above, is the typical nemesis of the Antichrist.
- His Command Seal symbol: while it is meant to look like a sword, it can also be viewed as an upside-down cross. This would seem to be coincidental until Kirei confronts Emiya: literally a moment before their climactic fight, Kotomine kisses his necklace-bound crucifix; immediately following that shot is a view of Kiritsugu's Command seals as an upside-down cross, as the hand beneath them grips his Thompson Contender.
- The error of his wish: Kiritsugu needs the Grail simply because he knows, better than anyone, the impossibility of the realization of his desire by practical means. Simply, he absolutely cannot produce a miracle, and this understanding is the singular reason for his pursuit of the Grail, including every decision made since murdering his father. Yet, it is the necessity of an understanding of the method by which to produce a miracle that Kiritsugu needs to make his initial, six-year-old-boy's wish a reality. This specific lack of understanding - particularly because it is what ultimately denies him his desire - is the polar opposite trait of the purported Messiah that Jesus Christ claimed to be.
- Anti-Hero: Kiritsugu is The Unfettered and always willing to kill the few to save the many. Innocent victims or unwilling opponents are not exempt. If, at the crux, he must look a single person in the eyes and murder them in cold blood to save another ten, he will do so, and has done so many times. His overall alignment is Unscrupulous Hero bordering on Nominal Hero, with hints of Pragmatic Hero as well.
- Ascended Extra: Went from a minor, backstory and flashback exclusive character in Fate/stay night to a major one in the prequel.
- Badass Baritone: In the dub, where he's voiced by Matthew Mercer.
- Badass Longcoat: His attire, combined with Badass in a Nice Suit.
- Bad Boss: His treatment of Saber is appalling. While he's not what you'd call abusive, he more often than not refuses to even acknowledge her existence, not so much as talking to her until episode 16 out of 25. Iri eventually calls him out for it.
- Berserk Button: If you do so happen to display your idealistic hopes for the future towards him in any way, especially making allusion to his past self's hopes to become a "Hero of Justice" to the world, expect his temperamental cynicism to completely shut you down. This is why he and Saber have practically no cohesive chemistry during the Grail War.
- Boring but Practical: Kiritsugu doesn't use fancy magic attacks or familiars to win fights. Instead he uses very mundane tactics such as traps, conventional weapons and explosives. Most mages consider these means improper and beneath their dignity to use themselves, so they rarely plan to counter them. And that's why those methods are the most effective on mages.
- Break the Cutie / Troubled Backstory Flashback: His backstory, revealed in Volume 4, involves watching his childhood friend turn his entire village into vampires after she drank a potion which turned her into a failed Dead Apostle, since he refused to Mercy Kill her; killing his own father, who was responsible for the potion in the first place; and taking down a plane with his mentor and mother-figure on it after they attempt to stop an outbreak of vampirism on said plane. All of this turned him into The Needs of the Many-style Anti-Hero we know today.
- Broken Ace: His horrible life prior to meeting Maiya and Iri, emotional issues, and choice to sacrifice his family for his dream has the worst compatibility with his Servant out of the seven Masters.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: His relationship with Iri is a brutal deconstruction of this.
- Bullet Time: Through an extension of Emiya magecraft called 'Innate Time Control', he can internally affect time. He once uses it to avoid Kayneth's autonomous search-and-destroy weapon (by slowing down his bodily functions).
- Byronic Hero: Kiritsugu has strong ideals, but pursues them at a very steep emotional cost.
- Bystander Syndrome: He's perfectly willing to let Caster and Ryuunosuke carry out their child-killing spree in perpetuity, rather than finishing them off as soon as possible. When Saber asks Irisviel to convince Kiritsugu to go and finish Caster off, he sees right through her and refuses, saying that saving a few children, or even a few dozen, is not their priority.
- Cold Sniper: Very much so.
- Combat Pragmatist: The very god of this trope, if said god was injected with extra pragmatism steroids. No need to waste time saying Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?- he will, especially if it's the best way to save others.
- An example is his fight with Kayneth. Kayneth mistakes his use of conventional weapons as a sign that he has no magic or abilities. In truth, it leads him into a trap Kiritsugu sets by using his Origin Bullets.
- Cynicism Catalyst: His failure to put down Shirley while he still could forced him into the conclusion that the most lives are saved with brutal pragmatism and not soft feelings.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Use of Time Alter causes significant damage to Kiritsugu's body, especially when speeding him up, thus he is unable to go beyond a twofold speed boost initially. But with Avalon and its passive regeneration factor he was able to go three, and then four times faster, in his fight with Kotomine.
- Dark and Troubled Past: See Break the Cutie above.
- Dark Is Evil: Downplayed. Kiritsugu has black hair and wears entirely black clothing, but he's not exactly 'evil', just extremely pragmatic and ruthless.
- Dark Messiah: Kiritsugu in his Magus-killing prime was described as appearing at battles around the world only at their most critical stages. Combined with Necessary Evil and I Did What I Had to Do, his modus operandi is exactly how Counter Guardians (the 'verse's resident Dark Messiahs) protect humanity from itself. Like Father, Like Son, indeed.
- Despair Event Horizon: He crossed it a long time ago.
- Dissonant Serenity: Not quite to the level of his wife, but still shows signs of it. Episode 16 of the anime is a good example
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: His pupils can be seen momentarily when he glares back at Saber near the end of episode 16, but they just as quickly return to their usual emptiness. They aren't even visible in scenes with Ilya.
- Dungeon Bypass: Episode 6/the start of Volume 2 sees him blow up Kayneth's magic fortress. Kayneth, being way too prideful, thought that nothing will be able to pass his multi-layered magic fortress.
- Fatal Flaw: Kiritsugu is idealistic, but he can't imagine a practical way to achieve his ideals without some sort of "miracle". The means he does resort to wear away at his soul, and when he learns that the miracle he counted on will never come in spite of everything he did to reach it, he breaks.
- His refusal to acknowledge Heroic Spirits as people is arguably one as well, as he doesn't realise how similar he is to them until it's too late.
- Firing One-Handed: Uses his Calico M960 and Thompson Contender thus, despite the latter being modified to fire rifle bullets.
- Freudian Excuse: His unwillingness to Shoot the Dog when he was a child caused him to make a conscious choice to never make the same mistake again, starting with killing his own father to keep him from turning anyone else into vampires.
- Geas: He uses a self-geis scroll to bind himself from attacking Kayneth in Volume 3 as part of a contract to remove both Kayneth and Sola-ui from the war. Of course, it doesn't say anything about someone else attacking Kayneth.
- Good Is Not Nice: While how 'good' he is is up for debate, the 'not nice' part is undeniable.
- The Gunslinger: Which is why he is a 'magecraft user' and not a magus.
- Happily Married: While his marriage to Irisviel had such practical benefits of making him part of the magus Einzbern family, but he was also in love with her. The only time he looks happy or at peace in this series is when he is spending time with her or their daughter.
- Heartbroken Badass: Given his Freudian Excuse, he definitely qualifies.
- Hidden Depths: He is presented as a notorious assassin, mercenary and professional Mage Killer with the blood of innocent casualties on his hands. He seems as cold and ruthless as his reputation would suggest, and initially comes across as an Unscrupulous Hero at best. Beneath his jaded exterior, however, is a loving husband, doting father and passionate idealist who harbors emotional scars and noble intentions.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Kiritsugu's Mystic Code and conceptual weapon, the Thompson Contender, gives him the power to inflict this on any magus he fights against by turning his enemy's own magecraft against him and blowing his body up with his own overloaded prana. This is the main reason Kiritsugu is such an effective magus killer as his victims are essentially betrayed by their own magecraft.
- He suffers from this as well. After a lifetime of killing mages via crippling their magic circuits, his own are crippled by the Holy Grail's curse. This leaves him too weak to bypass the Einzbern barriers and get his daughter back and ultimately kills him.
- Honour Before Reason: Defied! As far as Kiritsugu is concered, the only thign that matters in war is doing whatever is necessary to win, fair fights and dignified deaths be damned.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Justification for blowing up buildings, taking hostages, sniping in public, etc.
- I Have Your Wife: Uses this against Kayneth.
- Irony: Kiritsugu's wish for the Grail is to save the world, but instead ends up inadvertently destroying a section of the city.
- Jade-Colored Glasses: As a kid, he wanted to become an "hero". Then shit happened, and now he believes that being a hero means being ready to Shoot the Dog without hesitation and whenever necessary, no matter how much you may love that particular dog.
- Jedi Mind Trick: He is capable of convincing a bellboy that he is Kayneth and that "he" and "his wife" Sola-Ui have evacuated said bellboy's building.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's cold, violent, manipulative and at times downright unpleasant, especially to Saber.... and is also a loving father and husband with a childlike dream of world peace.
- Kick the Son of a Bitch: The people he kills tend to have it coming, but more often than not he doesn't even know what horrible things they've done (nor does he care).
- Kill the One You Love: Deconstructed. Kiritsugu knows he has to kill Irisviel to make his dream a reality but he's not content with the idea at all, and the stress it has on him is shown in detail. Not to mention her sacrifice proves to be for nothing in the end.
- Lack of Empathy: He utterly refuses to acknowledge that Heroic Spirits used to be people just like him. In fact, for the majority of the series, the only person he shows any empathy towards is Iri- everyone else is just a tool to serve their purpose.
- Ultimately and interestingly, his lack of empathy towards Heroic Spirits proves to be one of his greatest failings. Because he refuses to understand Saber, it never once occurs to him that she actually knows how it feels to have to sacrifice your humanity for the good of others and that's why she can't stand to see others (namely him) do the same thing and act like it doesn't matter.
- Leitmotif: Magus Killer.
- Magus Killer: His reputation and profession.
- Magitek: He is fond of using this, from familiars equipped with cameras to guns infused with Depleted Phlebotinum Shells.
- Manipulative Bastard: For a guy who claims he wants to save the world, Kiritsugu can be monstrously manipulative.
- Meaningful Name: "Kiritsugu" means "cut, connect". His parents named him based on his Origin, so this is directly tied to his powers.
- Moral Event Horizon: In-universe example: Saber is convinced he crossed it and calls him out on it when he forces Kayneth to have his own Servant commit suicide. Kiritsugu justifies it by invoking Necessarily Evil and War Is Hell.
- Morton's Fork: Kiritsugu's Origin Bullet is this for the average, technology-ignorant magus; the bullet's large caliber combined with the Contender's power requires at least military-grade vehicle armor (something very unlikely to be at hand) in order to avoid grave injuries, and magical means of defending against it earns the magus blown-out and permanently-unusable Magic Circuits as well as significant internal damage.
- This also serves as a reflection of Kiritsugu's ideals. He desired to become a hero of justice, only to find that, in order to save others, he needed to kill the ones that threatened them. In other words, the more Kiritsugu wants to stop blood from being shed, the more blood he has to shed to do so. This is what leads him across the Despair Event Horizon.
- My Name Is Not Durwood: Shirley called him "Kerry" because she found his real name too much of a hassle to remember. He didn't really like being addressed as such.
- Necessarily Evil: Kiritsugu's most basic rule is "The needs of the many outweigh those of the few." One dies to save ten. Five die to save twenty. Six hundred die to save a million. A handful of hundreds die to save billions. He will commit the deed himself and live with the burden on his own conscience, because he seeks a way to ensure no one else will ever need to choose his way again. Viciously deconstructed in the end when the Grail points out the inherent contradiction in this logic by forcing him to choose between two hypothetical groups of differing quantities, knowing he will always spare the greater number, over and over and over until there are only two people left of the whole of humanity, at which point he realizes that the Grail is hopelessly corrupt and cannot grant the wish he wants it to, which leads to him following through on his ideal one last time, destroying the grail and sacrificing his wife and his last chance to see Ilya ever again for the good of the world. However, that simply allows the grail's mud to leak out, killing hundreds in the great Fuyuki fire. In the end, Kiritsugu is left a broken shell of a man, wandering the ashes searching for even a single survivor until he finds and saves Shirou. And with that one act of kindness, he manages to accomplish more good than he was able to with all of the guns, knives and bombs in the world.
- The Needs of the Many: His main principle in saving people- "kill one to save tens", "kill ten to save hundreds".
- This gets deconstructed in-universe by Angra Mainyu in the fourth novel, who shows Kiritsugu an illusion of two sinking ships, one with 300 people and the other with 200 people. Both boats are sinking, so Kiritsugu chooses to save the 300. The 300 people are then separated into two boats with 200 and 100 people respectively, which then start sinking again. This continues until there are only two people left (Irisviel and Illya), and Kiritsugu realizes that he has killed 498 people to save two.
- Nice, Mean and In-Between: Has this dynamic with Saber and Iri. In case you're wondering, he's the Mean.
- Not So Different: From Saber, and Heroic Spirits in general, though due to his refusal to acknowledge them as actual people he never realises this until the Grail spells it out for him.
- Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: Downplayed, but he's the Older Hero to Kirei's Younger Villain. Both are roughly the same age, but Kiritsugu was born in 1965 while Kirei was born in 1967, making the former two years older than the latter.
- Opposites Attract: A sweet, eternally optimistic Proper Lady and a stoic, broken, Sociopathic Hero is about as extreme an example of this trope as you can get. This is even reflected in their appearances; Kiritsugu wears black and has short black hair that sticks up at every possible end, while Iri wears mainly white and has long, white hair that reaches down to her hips.
- Parental Abandonment: Him to Ilya, albeit unwillingly.
- Perma Stubble: Somewhat reasonably. At one point he mentions it's been 40 hours since he last slept, which would make it odd if he found time to shave instead.
- Pet the Dog: Kiritsugu is a ruthlessly efficient assassin with a seemingly cold, jaded outlook on life, but his love for Irisviel and Illya is deep and genuine. When he isn't strategizing or fighting, he seems to be a loving, if aloof, husband and father. Even Saber is taken aback when she sees that side of him.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: His most lethal bullets are made out of powdered ribs. His own powdered ribs, which force his Origin on his target, which severs their Magic Circuits and crudely reconnects them, hopelessly mangling them in the process. The reason they qualify for this trope is that he made them while he was still a child.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Played with in that he's not a villain (nor does he see himself as one), but Kiritsugu deliberately uses methods he knows to be both pragmatic and villainous. In his perspective, there is no such thing as a noble war, and that chivalry is the greater crime for perpetuating war by glamorising it, rather than ending fights with merciless and abrupt execution and leaving survivors with no taste for war.
- Precocious Crush: He had a crush on his older friend Shirley back when he was a boy and was unhappy that she only saw him as a little brother.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: "For me, anyway." Changed to Bond One-Liner in the anime.
- Red Baron: "The Magus Killer"
- Self-Made Orphan: Killed both his father and his mother-figure.
- Shadow Archetype: To Saber, of all people. While much is made about how Kiritsugu and his servant are at odds, on a fundamental level they share many of the same ideals and much of the trauma they endure comes from the fact that they have been betrayed by their devotion to those ideals. Except Saber has stuck to her ideals in spite of everything while Kiritsugu has thrown them away.
- Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids: But only later in life, after the war. While he was quite cynical before too, it was in a different way.
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Kiritsugu: When I was young, I wanted to become a Hero of Justice very much. |
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- Sociopathic Hero: Despite his goal being to save the world, Kiritsugu shows many signs of being a sociopath; he's The Unfettered, has a massive Lack of Empathy towards everyone but his family, regularly kills innocent people to save a larger crowd, is extremely manipulative, willingly lets two child Serial Killers run rampant instead of trying to stop them, with his reason being that it's not his priority, can have two defenceless people gunned down and feel nothing afterwards, and remains completely unapologetic about all his actions even in the end. To sum it up, Kiritsugu is someone who's only concerned about who he can save at any given moment, with next to no concern for the long-term consequences. Ultimately, this is why the Holy Grail is unable to grant his wish, as the only way he can think of to save the world is by killing everyone evil, which basically means he might as well kill the entire human race.
- The Spock: Absolutely! He even lives by the philosophy the original is famous for naming.
- Start of Darkness: The start of volume 4 in the novels, and episodes 18 and 19 in the anime. It starts with Kiritsugu killing his father after the old man triggers a Zombie Apocalypse that wipes out their island home. It ends with him sacrificing his surrogate mother figure to prevent another, much larger outbreak.
- The Stoic: He kills his emotions in order to do his job more efficiently.
- Not So Stoic: More so in the novels, where he shows emotion more openly as early as in his first appearance in the prologue.
- Sugar and Ice Personality: Kiritsugu adopted the mindset of a cold-hearted, ruthless and calculating mage assassin in order to accomplish his goals without letting personal emotions get in the way. His wife Irisviel and their daughter Illya are the only people who ever get to see his compassionate human side.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He shows Saber absolutely no respect, refusing to so much as talk to her, which in turn fuels her hatred of him.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: When Saber calls him out for his ruthless tactics, he retorts that the legends of heroic spirits like her are what have beguiled mankind into war and suffering for thousands of years.
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Kiritsugu: A knight cannot save the world. Knights call certain methods of fighting good and others evil, acting as there were some sacred nobility to the battlefield. Such illusions created by heroes throughout history have lead countless young men to their bloody deaths, all for the sake of this glory and honour they all extol. |
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- Theme Music Power-Up: In the Drama CD, a remixed version of EMIYA plays during his fight with Kirei near the end.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: As the 2014-2015 Unlimited Blade Works anime shows, and the ending of Fate/Zero anime implies, Shirou surviving is a massive one for him, especially after all the crap he's gone through.
- Token Evil Teammate: How a violent, ruthless man like him got such a loving, gentle wife and honourable, chivalrous Servant is anybody's guess. A notable case in that he's also The Protagonist.
- However, this is averted if you include Maiya, who is just as ruthless as he is.
- Totalitarian Utilitarian: His brand of utilitarianism deliberately skirts the line between heroism and villainy, with the story being unclear on whether it sides with his ideas, Saber's, or how different they are in the end.
- Tragic Hero: The story begins by asserting that it is about how Kiritsugu destroyed himself.
- Trauma Conga Line: Jesus Christ, the amount of crap this guy has to suffer could give Tomoya Okazaki a run for his money.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Even as a boy, he barely blinked when called upon to Shoot the Dog. Natalia says it takes most people years to learn how to shut off sentimentality that way.
- The Unapologetic: Fits this trope perfectly. Even in the end, he never makes any real apologies for all the horrible stuff he's done, though he does at least seem to regret the consequences.
- The Unfettered: The very personification of this trope. He will do anything to achieve his dream of world peace, up to and including sacrificing everything he cares about. Deconstructed as it proves to be All for Nothing in the end.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Unfortunately. His sweetness left him unable to Shoot the Dog, a lot of his actions later in life are driven by his resolution to avoid making that mistake again.
- Unscrupulous Hero: An extreme example. Originally, he wanted to be "a hero of justice" who would help the weak and desperate, but this led him to become an assassin capable of committing many atrocities in his belief that choosing the smaller sacrifice to avoid the greater is always the best outcome.
- In fact, the only thing that stops him from being a Nominal Hero, if not an outright Villain Protagonist, is his ultimate goal, which is to bring an end to all wars and ensure that humanity never spills a drop of blood again. That and the fact the people he's fighting against include a defective dark priest and a psychotic serial killer.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: Firm believer in this.
- War Is Hell: Here's a game. Read random quotes from Kiritsugu and William Tecumseh Sherman and see if you can tell who said what.
- Weak but Skilled: His knowledge of magecraft is not really that impressive due to him specializing purely in killing other people. However, his killing skills are on the same level of an Executor and it's his usage of conventional skills that makes him such a threat.
- Weapon of Choice: His Mystic Code, the Contender Custom.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The village he lived in as a child was destroyed partially due to his own failure to act. He decided from that moments to end conflict swiftly without his emotions clouding his decisions. He hopes ultimately to remove such conflicts from the world.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Ends up getting cursed by the Grail at the end of the war, which results in him dying five years later despite being in his late twenties.
Irisviel von Einzbern[]
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Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (Japanese) and Bridget Hoffman (English) |
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"You don't need to grieve over me. I am already part of you. Enduring only the pain of your own sundering is enough." |
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Nicknamed Iri, she is the wife of Kiritsugu, and mother of Ilya. She is a homunculus created by the Einzbern family as a vessel to activate the Great Grail. Having lived her whole life inside the Einzbern castle in Europe, she is bright and cheerful, and follows Kiritsugu on pure faith and trust. During the War, she is partnered with Arturia due to her healing magecraft.
As the War rages on, she begins losing her consciousness as the souls of the defeated Servants are contained within her. The Corruption within the Grail eventually fuses with her.
- Adorkable: She really blurs the line between sweet-cute-cuddly and sensually-beautiful, and being a Mom on top of it all.
- Affectionate Nickname: Kiritsugu always calls her "Iri".
- Alchemy Is Magic: Yes and no. Einzbern alchemy is responsible for her life, but other mages clearly consider it a step down from real magic.
- Alien Blood: While Kirei is surprised to see she has red blood when he stabs her with his Black Keys, in the opening credits of Season 2 she's shown oozing Angra Mainyu's black mud from her eyes and mouth.
- Badass Adorable: Healing isn't her only skill. She only fails to take out Kirei because he can punch trees in half.
- Benevolent Boss: Unlike Kiritsugu, Iri treats Saber very kindly, and eventually calls him out for his Bad Boss behaviour.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Her relationship with Kiritsugu is a textbook example of this. Which just makes her ultimate fate all the more devastating!
- The Chick/The Heart: Of a group that sorely needs one. While there are two other girls on Team Kiritsugu, it's generally up to Irisviel to keep everyone from killing each other.
- Country Mouse: Lived her whole life inside Einzbern grounds.
- The Cutie: The most idealistic and upbeat member of Team Einzbern, and absolutely adorable.
- Demonic Possession/The Corruption: Towards the end of the Grail War.
- Dissonant Serenity: Takes this to the extreme. For someone in the middle of a war in which she's doomed to die, Iri remains disturbingly calm and cheerful throughout practically the whole series, smiling in moments that are enough to make Saber of all people sweat. (see Drives Like Crazy below) The only time she ever comes close to panicking or stressing is when she lashes out in anger at Kiritsugu for killing Illya, which is heavily implied to have been just an illusion.
- Doting Parent: To Illya. Tragically, this is because she knows she'll never see her again.
- Drives Like Crazy: She's actually a pretty great driver, except that she has absolutely no idea about traffic restrictions and treats the car like it's a toy. She managed to make Saber sweat...
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Irisviel: (nailing sharp turns at high speed on a cliff-top road) See? See? I told you so! This car takes the turns really fast! |
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- Emotionless Girl: Used to be one. When Kiritsugu first met her, she was little more than a shell with no sense of self, before marrying Kiritsugu and having a baby turned her into the sweet, innocent woman she is now.
- Expy: Seems to be one of Raquel Casull, from her kind, somewhat ditzy nature and her status as a mage, to being The Pollyanna to the point of Dissonant Serenity to, oh, sharing the same voice actor subbed and dubbed. Bonus points for Saber being voiced by Pacifica.
- The Glomp: Cuddly in canon, this gets turned Up to Eleven in the Einzbern Consultation Room Specials.
- Healing Factor: Carries the healing artifact Avalon for most of the war, though since she is not Saber's Master it only works when the owner is near. It saves her life when Kirei stabs her through the stomach, but she eventually gives it to Kiritsugu when it's clear she's going to die of health problems anyway.
- Healing Hands: Her natural abilities tend towards healing.
- Heh, Heh, You Said "X": The conversation she had with Saber concerning her Riding ability.
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Saber: Upon being summoned, all Servants receive knowledge of the modern world. If required, I could even pilot this aircraft with relative ease. |
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- Heroic Albino: Homunculi descended from Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, the Einzberns' original homunculus, have white hair and red eyes by default. This one is helping her husband bring about true peace for the world.
- The Ingenue: She is pretty sheltered due to isolation in the Einzbern mansion. That she can innuendo where none exists is only because she had become a mother by then.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: To Kiritsugu.
- The Kirk: To Kiritsugu's Spock and Saber's McCoy.
- Lady and Knight: She's the Lady, Saber is the Knight.
- Light Is Good: She has white hair and mostly wears white clothes. She's also the nicest character in the series.
- Long Hair Is Feminine: The only girly girl on Team Kiritsugu, and the only one with long hair.
- Love Martyr: As straight an example as they come. She's perfectly willing to sacrifice herself for Kiritsugu and his ideals, despite the fact that she never truly understood them. Not to mention she ends up dying for nothing.
- Loving a Shadow: Non-romantic version. She admits she's far too sheltered to truly understand Kiritsugu's ideals or the necessity of him getting his wish, but supports that wholeheartedly since it sounds like a noble aspiration.
- Averted with Kiritsugu himself, as she still loves him even after seeing his Magus Killer persona.
- MacGuffin Girl: Being a homunculus, she is the Holy Grail.
- The Medic: She has some effective healing abilities, though thanks to Lancer's cursed spear she doesn't get much of an opportunity to use them.
- Messianic Archetype: A very tragic example, in that her death ultimately means nothing in the end.
- Nice Girl: The most kind-hearted character in the series (and possibly Stay/Night as well) by a country mile. She's a million times kinder than her husband.
- Nice, Mean and In-Between: The Nice of the three main protagonists.
- Only Sane Woman: At the end of the day and in spite of all her quirks, Irisviel is the only main character without some kind of serious Fatal Flaw, and serves as the voice of reason when Saber and Kiritsugu are at each other's throats.
- Opposites Attract: A sweet, eternally optimistic Proper Lady and a stoic, broken, Sociopathic Hero is about as extreme an opposite attraction as you can get. This is even reflected in their appearances; Kiritsugu wears black and has short black hair that sticks up at every possible end, while Iri wears mainly white and has long, white hair that reaches down to her hips.
- Our Homunculi Are Different: A homunculus is a being created in the shape of a human with the internal structure of the phantasmal races, allowing them to freely use magic just as naturally as a normal human breaths. However, they generally do not have souls, though a naturally conceived homunculus like her daughter may be an exception.
- Perpetual Smiler: She nearly never stops smiling.
- Plucky Girl
- The Pollyanna: She has more reason to be sad than almost anyone else (doomed to die, will never see her daughter again etc.) and yet she remains eternally sweet, cheerful and optimistic, to the point that it's disturbing. Considering the other characters hardly ever smile, it really stands out that she's more cheerful than the rest of the cast combined.
- There's actually a sadder side to it. As Servants are killed, she gradually weakens to the point that she's unable to dress without considerable effort and the fact that she's still able to remain so calm and cheerful when talking about this is a serious Tear Jerker.
- Pretty in Mink: She wears a fur-line jacket and a hat.
- Proper Lady: As Lady Einzbern, though she has her moments of childish wonder and naivete.
- Proper Tights with a Skirt: Her casual outfit, being a proper lady and all.
- Rapunzel Hair: It reaches down to her hips.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Averted. She has red eyes, but is easily the nicest character in the series.
- Rei Ayanami Expy: Played with. She's Not Quite Human, has pale skin, sliver hair and red eyes, and there were a couple of clones before her. However, as stated above, she was only an Emotionless Girl in her past and currently she's not even a Sugar and Ice Girl. Basically, she was this trope in her past but isn't anymore.
- Rescue Romance: Her relationship with Kiritsugu began to develop after he rescued her when Jubstacheit decided to cast her into the wastes of the Einzbern forests to prove her durability.
- Senseless Sacrifice: She dies for nothing as the Grail was already corrupted.
- Sheltered Aristocrat: She lived her whole life inside Einzbern grounds and this is her first time in the outside world. She has also admitted she doesn't understand the hardships of the world Kiritsugu wants to fix. She fits the plucky-type with child-like innocence and kindness.
- Spoiled Sweet: She spent her whole life sheltered in a castle and it's implied that Kiritsugu bought her all sorts of 'toys' during that time. And she's literally so kind and selfless that she's willing to give up all that and her life to save a world she knows next to nothing about.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The girly girl to Saber's tomboy. When comparing Kiritsugu's love interests, it's still girly girl to Maiya's no nonsense attitude.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Her health breaks down as the Grail War continues and she dies convinced that she is making the world a better place, though she doesn't understand how and its later shown her death changed nothing.
- White-Haired Pretty Girl
- White Magician Girl: She mainly casts healing spells.
- Woman Child: She treats a car like a toy. Justified due to Younger Than They Look below. But also downplayed as she has her moments of being very wise and serious.
- Woman in White
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Fits the bill in several ways despite being both German and a Woman Child. Unlike Aoi, she has the "iron core" part as well, though both times she actually shows this backfire on her rather badly and don't end well.
- Younger Than They Look: Appears to be an adult woman in her early twenties, while her chronological age is about nine.
Arturia Pendragon (Saber)[]
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Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese) and Kari Wahlgren (English) |
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"I only joined this war to avoid spilling rivers of blood. Fight for the Holy Grail, no meaningless bloodshed, minimize sacrifices, one person taking up the mission of fate instead of armies of men and competing here… this is what we Servants should do." |
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Arthur, the King of Knights, in fact a disguised young woman. Summoned using the sheath Avalon as a catalyst, after it was excavated by the Einzberns. Partnered with Irisviel due to the incompatibility between Arturia and Kiritsugu. She is engaged in nearly every battle of the War.
After defeating Berserker, she faces Gilgamesh, the last Servant remaining, amidst the sea of fire that covers Fuyuki. Kiritsugu, fighting off Kirei, orders Arturia to destroy the Grail with two Command Spells. Without knowing the reasons behind Kiritsugu's actions, she disappears.
Her Noble Phantasms are Excalibur, her signature weapon which she can use to launch a Sword Beam, disguising it with the windy barrier "Invisible Air", and Avalon, Excalibur's sheath, which grants the holder Nigh Invulnerability.
(Go to the Fate/stay night page for her role in the 5th Grail War.)
- Action Girl: A prerequisite for being a female Heroic Spirit.
- Anti-Magic: An innate ability of the Saber class is practical immunity to magic.
- Armor Is Useless: Played with and used against her by Lancer. Since Saber's armor is generated by her prana, Gáe Dearg goes right through it. Once Saber realizes this, she invokes this trope and sheds her armor, only to learn the hard way that it would have been able to protect her from Lancer's other spear.
- The Atoner: Views herself as this, though Rider deduces that her desire is selfish at heart, as she really just wants to ease her own guilt.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: With Lancer against Caster's summoned creatures.
- Badass Biker: She rides a motorcycle into battle against Iskander in the fourth novel.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Courtesy of Irisviel.
- Battle Ballgown: Her usual attire is a dress with armoured segments integrated into it.
- Berserk Button: Fighting dirty is a big one, which is one of the reasons she and Kiritsugu are so incompatible. His actions in 'The End of Honour' make her angrier than she had ever been up to that point.
- And while they are her opponents, she does not tolerate anyone mocking the wishes of her fellow Heroic Spirits; she sliced at Caster for doing just that, though she was bluffing due to her injury.
- Bifauxnen: Saber spends most of her unarmored time dressed in men's clothes at Irisviel's suggestion.
- Broken Ace: She's beautiful, graceful, powerful and one of the most well-known mythological figures in the story. She also has deep feelings of guilt over the destruction of her realm and inadequacy as a King who never understood the hearts of her people. She wishes to obtain the Grail to change her past and save her country from its destruction.
- Broken Bird: Her behavior in the Fourth Grail War is not actually what King Arthur was like in-universe. Rather, at the point of her death, her long suppressed normal personality wished to save her country, while the perfect King Arthur was satisfied with the job done. Thus, Arturia is sort of flailing about trying to fix things that even she believed were not broken, her dying wish and re-emerging youthful ideals tormenting her spirit. In this way, she is not unlike Kiritsugu.
- Call Forward: Just like in the 5th Grail War, she fights a Lancer for her first fight and is wounded.
- Chekhov's Skill: The Class Ability of Riding, later applied by Prana-coating a motorcycle.
- Determinator: To the point that she was able to resist a Command Seal.
- Drama-Preserving Handicap: With a master like Kiritsugu, Saber is an absolute monster of a Servant. Thus, early in the story she catches Lancer's Gae Buidhe in the shoulder- her arm in the anime, severing a tendon- which, while a shallow wound, neither she nor Irisviel can heal. As a result, she is unable to use Excalibur's full power until later in the story, when Lancer breaks Gae Buidhe.
- Fatal Attractor: Both Caster and Gilgamesh become obsessed with her over the series, the latter of which carries over into Fate/stay night.
- Foil: To Kiritsugu. Both are deeply idealistic people who threw away all their humanity and any semblance of a normal, proper human life to fulfil their dreams, and share a lot of their ideals at the core and endure a lot of trauma from being betrayed to their devotion to them. They also contrast in their methods: Saber wants to make war as clean and honorable as possible while Kiritsugu wants for wars not to be fought it in the first place. This leads to them being utterly incompatible.
- She's also one to Rider; both are regarded as legendary kings (the King of Knights and King of Conquerors, respectively), but have very different views on how a kingdom should be ruled; Saber views ruling a kingdom as a responsibility and a burden, and believes that a king must devote himself to his people and essentially give up his life as a person. Rider, on the other hand, views ruling a kingdom as a life everyone envies, and believes that a king's people and nation must devote themselves to him. Additionally, Saber believes that a king must always be alone, while Rider believes that a king fights by his people, which is reflected by his Noble Phantasm, Ionian Hetairoi. As such, Saber deeply regrets how her reign ended and wishes to undo it, while Rider, although sad about how his reign ended, considers the outcome to have been inevitable, and believes that undoing it would be a grave insult to all those who died in his name. Additionally, Saber is short, thin, stoic and reserved, while Rider is large, muscular, loud and boisterous.
- Friendly Enemy: To Diarmuid.
- Good Counterpart: To Gilgamesh. Both are blonde-haired Heroic Spirits who are regarded as legendary kings (the King of Knights and King of Heroes, respectively), but have polar opposite views on kingship; Saber is selfless to a fault, and gave up her life as a person and devoted herself to her people, while Gilgamesh is selfish and egotistical to an absurd degree, believing that all treasures belong to him and considers precious few worthy of even looking at him. Also, Saber is a warrior first, king second, and so wields a single weapon that she has complete mastery over, while Gilgamesh is a king first, warrior second, and so fights with many weapons but has no real skill with any of them.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Beautiful, graceful, kind and her image is reminiscent of traditional blonde-haired proper ladies.
- Heroic BSOD: Narrowly-averted after seeing Rider's Badass Army and having her beliefs on kingship shaken to the very core. A talk with Irisviel renews her confidence and her wish - something she would carry until the climaxes of both Fate and UBW routes. She later plays it straight upon seeing Berserker revealed before her eyes as Lancelot, and nearly gets killed as a result.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Her wish is full of this. She basically wants to ensure that the legend she comes from never existed in the first place because she believes she did an inadequate job at it, which leads to Rider's "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: The Saber class is largely populated by honorable knights and leaders. Saber is no exception and is called the King of Knights.
- Honour Before Reason: Much more knightly and chivalrous than in the fifth war. While she retained her knightly attitude in the fifth war, she was nonetheless a little more ruthless and more intent on winning rather than proving a point. So you could say that in the fourth war, the "knight" aspect of her personality took precedence to the "king" aspect, while it became the inverse in Fate/stay night. Considering the crap she goes through here, especially the disappointment in Kiritsugu, it's likely that she became a bit more cynical, whether she likes it or not. A case could also be made for Kiritsugu's own ruthlessness and pragmatic attitude towards winning the war rubbing off on her by the fifth.
- Hot Chick with a Sword
- I Did What I Had to Do: Her own justification to herself for declaring war on Lancelot and starting a civil war. She personally wanted nothing more but for Guinevere and Lancelot to be happy, but as a king, had to declare war and bring them to justice.
- Identical Stranger: She looks very similar to Jeanne d'Arc. No wonder Caster thought she was Jeanne.
- Idiot Hair: Her appearance, although she's certainly not an idiot.
- Jeanne D'Archetype: In fact, Joan of Arc was one of the first guesses as to her identity both in-story and by audiences. Caster mistakes her for Jeanne D'Arc herself and spends the rest of the series convinced that she is her, despite her attempts to convince him otherwise. Though Caster's last moments show that she and Joan look very alike, so this does make sense.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Her combat outfit is essentially a gown with a cuirass overtop.
- Knight in Shining Armor: A recurring theme is the question of exactly how shining she truly is and what her honor is really worth in the end.
- Lady of War: A graceful and dignified swordswoman, complete with a Battle Ballgown.
- Lawful Good: In-universe alignment, as she was a chivalrous, noble rigid king in life.
- Late Arrival Spoiler: Zero has a decent few for Fate/stay night, but Artoria's identity is probably the biggest and most immediate. In F/SN, it's treated like a big secret on all three routes and generally not revealed until late, but here, due to the nature of the narrative and how she's summoned, it has to be revealed right at the start.
- Let Them Die Happy: To Lancelot as he's dying in her arms. She wanted so badly to reassure him that he's always been a loyal and just knight, and that he has nothing to atone for. However, she chose not to say anything, because she knew that by doing so, it would torment him even more.
- Lonely At the Top: She believes a king has no choice but to be alone and throw away all human bonds in order to rule.
- The McCoy: Despite being The Stoic, Saber fits this due to being the walking embodiment of Honour Before Reason.
- Mercy Kill: To El-Melloi in Volume 3, after Maiya perforates him with a Steyr AUG and Kiritsugu refuses to finish him off.
- Mistaken Identity: Caster refuses to believe that she is not Jeanne d'Arc.
- Nice, Mean and In-Between: Has this dynamic with Irisviel and Kiritsugu, with her as the In-Between.
- Not So Stoic: When Rider gives her a "Reason You Suck" Speech about how she essentially became a slave to her own selflessness, martyring herself for her people and ignoring her own needs and desires in a meaningless sacrifice for a kingdom that fell apart without her anyway, she is visibly disturbed, heartbroken and comes very close to crying outright. Afterwords, Gilgamesh of all people reassures her that her path is every bit as worthy of the title of "King" as Rider's is.
- She has another moment upon discovering that Berserker is Sir Lancelot.
- Older Than They Look: Saber was around 25 when she died, but due to the fact that she stopped aging once she obtained Avalon, she looks around 14/15.
- Pimped-Out Dress
- Power Glows: Excalibur being charged.
- Razor Wind: The offensive use of Invisible Air.
- Red Baron: "King of Knights"
- Samus Is a Girl: Kiritsugu's and Irisviel's in-universe reaction, due to having assumed she was a man from her role in history.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: She desires to use the Holy Grail to go back in time to avert her country's destruction.
- She Is the King: She is King Arthur.
- The Smurfette Principle: She's the only female Servant in the story, aside from some incarnations of Assassin.
- Sugar and Ice Personality: She hides behind an emotionless facade in order to make pragmatic decisions more easily. Rider claims that the way she is doing it now indicates that she is not a true king, but merely a little girl crying for her lost country.
- Sword Beam: Excalibur.
- The Good, the Bad, and The Evil: The Good to Rider's Bad and Gilgamesh's Evil.
- Theme Music Power-Up: In the Drama CD, a remixed version of "The Sword of Promised Victory" starts up as she prepares to Excaliblast Caster.
- Done again in the anime, with Yuki Kajiura nailing one of the three most epic songs of Fate (spoiler-in-video warning): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M 1 Al Mgopg KQ
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Irisviel's Girly Girl.
- Tomboyish Ponytail: In civilian clothes.
- Walk On Water: Thanks to the blessings of the Lady of the Lake.
- What the Hell, Hero?: To Kiritsugu after he offers a mage's contract to Kayneth that forces Lancer to kill himself and then has Maiya to shoot down Kayneth and Sola-Ui.
- The Woman Wearing The Kingly Mask: During her life, she hid behind a mask of pragmatic perfection.
- Worthy Opponent: She and Lancer consider each other to be this. They both share similar ideals while engaging in battle and Saber's desire specifically throughout the first season is to conclude her duel with him. She even gets pissed off when Rider interrupts their duel.
Kirei Kotomine (Master of Assassin)[]
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Voiced by: Joji Nakata (Japanese) and Crispin Freeman (English) |
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"Why would the Holy Grail choose me? Someone without any ideals to accomplish; someone without any cravings to fulfill... Why am I chosen?" |
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An Executor and magecraft apprentice of Tohsaka Tokiomi; his wife committed suicide and he received the Command Spells in the same week. A skillful young man who unfortunately cannot gain pleasure from anything except the pain of others. Fittingly or ironically, his magecraft specializes in surgery.
Initially uninterested in the Grail, after advice from Gilgamesh, he decides to investigate why the other Masters are participating. He finds Kiritsugu's wish - saving the lives of all others - to be the opposite extreme of his; therefore, he wants to face him personally, asking, "What is the worth, of a worthless being?"
He is also one of the possible Big Bads of Fate/stay night; go there for his role in the 5th Grail War.
- Arch Enemy: To Kiritsugu. Despite this, the two barely interact.
- Back From the Dead: Resurrected by the Grail along with Gilgamesh after his death at the hands of Kiritsugu.
- Badass
- Badass Abnormal: Average as a magus, but an experienced Executor.
- Badass Bullet Proof Robes: His clerical vestments are reinforced with Kevlar and magic.
- Batman Gambit: After killing Tokiomi, he places the latter's corpse together with an unconscious Kariya in order to set Aoi against him, then manipulates Kariya into kidnapping Irisviel with Berserker disguised as Rider using the former's Noble Phantasm For Someone's Glory. This provokes Saber to attack Iskander, whose chariot is destroyed in the process. Gilgamesh then moves to finish off Iskander while Berserker duels Saber, ensuring that Kirei faces Kiritsugu alone.
- Battle Butler: To Tokiomi, in whose service he is obedient, dutiful, and effective. Until he's not.
- Big Bad: While it was foretold by canon, as of zero he doesn't know it yet.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Of the Destruction sphere. His only finds pleasure in the suffering of others, which is ironic because his profession directly contradicts his "passion". He is, however, a slightly unusual spin on this trope as he spends most of his life trying to repress it until late in the story. This may put him into Tragic Villain territory.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Master of the Baji Quan martial art, and capable of keeping up with Kiritsugu's attacks when Kiritsugu is using time manipulation to speed himself up to three times past the human limit.
- Contractual Immortality
- Crazy Prepared: Bulletproof priest's robes, anyone?
- Deceptive Disciple: To Tokiomi.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose In Life: Kirei's motivation for literally everything he does. With a little help from Gilgamesh, he eventually finds it, and the results are not pretty.
- Dissonant Serenity: In the novel, his murder of Tokiomi is accompanied by a cheerful laugh and a bright smile.
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Quite literally. Whenever he does something that can be considered good, such as healing Kariya after his fight with Tokiomi, he is fundamentally incapable of understanding why he did it.
- He also demands that Irisviel tells him who's ordering her to get involved in the Holy Grail War, unable to realize she's doing it because she loves Kiritsugu. This is because Kirei believed the 'Magus Killer who threw away his pride' was like him, and Kiritsugu being sufficiently understood to be loved so deeply would invalidate that belief.
- Evil Counterpart: To Kiritsugu. The two contrast in all aspects of their lives, from reputation, motivation, family life, and fighting technique.
- Evil Duo: With Gilgamesh.
- Evil Feels Good: He's particularly aware of this because evil is the only thing that feels good to him, despite a lifetime in service to Good.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Comes with being voiced by Joji Nakata and Crispin Freeman.
- Extreme Doormat: Early on. Even goes through a villainous version of "growing a spine" and the "finding your own reasons for living" thing thanks to Gilgamesh.
- Faux Affably Evil: He seems polite enough at first glance, but the few who have seen his true self knows this is all just a façade.
- Genius Bruiser
- Healing Hands: Kirei finds it ironic, given his disposition, that his natural talent - and the only area of magic in which he's naturally above-average - is healing.
- Heel Realization: Gilgamesh reveals Kirei's true nature as a sadistic sociopath to him, leading to him committing an act of betrayal, but it isn't until he causes a massive amount of destruction that he fully realizes and accepts how evil he is.
- In the Back: Stabs Tokiomi in the back with the Azoth dagger Tokiomi gave him.
- Irony: Invokes it, killing Tokiomi with the Azoth dagger he gave to Kirei as a parting gift, and then gives it to Rin as a gift. It comes full circle in the next Grail War when Shirou kills him with the same dagger in the Fate route.
- Karma Houdini: Avoids the consequences for his various evil deeds until Fate/stay night.
- Kung Fu Wizard: You can't get any more literal. Word of God says his "Super Bai Ji Quan" is actually augmented with Magecraft, to the point it's more like a magical martial art than anything resembling the traditional school.
- Lack of Empathy: Although he is very good at hiding it, Kirei is little more than a defective, cold-hearted, nihilistic sociopath with no regard for the lives of anybody.
- Mage Killer: Executors are trained to combat mages. He happens to be a very skilled one.
- Not So Different: Kirei believes that he and Kiritsugu are very similar. He's wrong.
- Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: Downplayed, but he's the Younger Villain to Kiritsugu's Older Hero. Both are roughly the same age, but Kiritsugu was born in 1965 while Kirei was born in 1967, making the former two years older than the latter.
- Schrodinger Fu: With magic no less. Kirei baffles Kiritsugu by using Magecraft to counter Kiritsugu's origin bullets, which are designed to kill magi with their own prana, by utilizing his command seals in place of his own magic circuits. According to the Light Novel this is accidental on Kirei's part.
- The Sociopath: Stabs his master Tokiomi in the back (both literally and metaphorically) and strangles Irisviel so hard it breaks her neck without a hint of shame or remorse.
- Stalker Without a Crush: To Kiritsugu, though his single-minded obsession and casual beatdowns/murder of Kiritsugu's wife and sort-of-love-interest may turn this into a Does This Remind You of Anything? scenario.
- Start of Darkness: Fate/Zero is his.
- Straw Nihilist: Due to his defect, he sees no enjoyment in anything. Attempts to defy this by finding meaning in his life, but after his resurrection, he is this personified.
- Super Speed: Can outright dodge and parry bullets.
- Teen Genius: Graduating valedictorian from the Theological College of St. Ignatius at Manresa, where he was Student Council President, after skipping two levels... at the age of fourteen. He became an Executor not long after.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: The standard equipment of The Church's Militants are Black Keys, literal throwing swords held between the knuckles in a Wolverine-esque manner.
- The Stoic: With Not So Stoic moments, such as learning the truth about Kiritsugu, his fight with Kiritsugu in itself, and his hysterical breakdown during the fire.
- Treacherous Advisor: To Tokiomi, again.
- Unusual Eyebrows
- Villain Protagonist: He's the Big Bad and a good bit of the story is told from his perspective.