Shirou Emiya

Shirou Emiya
Fate character
File:ShiroEmiya.jpg Shirou Emiya as seen in the visual novel
First appearance	Fate/stay night (2004)
Created by	Kinoko Nasu
In-universe information
Relatives	Kiritsugu Emiya (adopted father; deceased) Illyasviel von Einzbern (adopted sister)

Shirou Emiya (Japanese: 衛宮 士郎, Hepburn: Emiya Shirō) is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the 2004 visual novel Fate/stay night by Type-Moon. In Fate/stay night, Shirou is a teenager who accidentally participates in the Holy Grail War along with six other mages for the Holy Grail, an all-powerful wish-granting device. The sole survivor from a fire in a city, Shiro is an honest and good-hearted teenager who always enjoys helping others and aspires towards his late foster father, Kiritsugu, who once wanted to become an "ally of justice." While fighting alongside the servant Saber, Shirou also develops his own magical skills and depending on the player's choices, he develops different relationships with the cast. He also appears in the sequel Fate/hollow ataraxia trapped during a time loop, the prequel light novel Fate/Zero by Gen Urobuchi where he meets Kiritsugu, multiple video games as well as printed and animated adaptations of the visual novel.

In the beginning, writer Kinoko Nasu was worried that because the main character was a girl, the story might not work as a bishōjo game. It was artist Takashi Takeuchi who suggested switching the genders of the protagonist and Saber to fit the game market. Type-Moon further wanted Shirou's romantic relationships with the heroines to be different based on how each was written. While Noriaki Sugiyama voices him in Japanese regularly, multiple voice actors have voiced him in English releases of the anime adaptations.

Critics have commented on Shirou's characterization across the anime series based on the novel. While the first anime created by Studio Deen generated mixed responses, with critics praising his relationship with Saber while disliking him initially, his character in Unlimited Blade Works generated further praise for how he dealt with his ideals. His role in each part of the original Fate/stay night visual novel received high acclaim due to how different he changes in the storyline depending on the romance while also dealing with a character known as Archer. Shirou's character has been also featured in multiple polls within Fate as well as anime in general.

Creation and conception

Before Kinoko Nasu started writing Fate/stay night, the route Fate was something he had written for fun in his spare time when he was a student. Shirou and Saber's gender were swapped, mostly due to a previous experience with the novel Tsukihime as Type-Moon believed this would fit the most updated demographic. Shirou's role in the story was meant to show different parts of his personality and growth based on the paths the player picks. The first storyline, Fate, shows his slanted mind, the next storyline, Unlimited Blade Works, shows his resolve, and the last storyline, Heaven's Feel, gives another resolution for him as a human. Nasu believes Shirou and Ryougi Shiki in The Garden of Sinners light novels are characters who face personal problems in contrast to other older characters. As a foreshadow to Shirou and Saber's first meeting, the team included a dream sequence where the former sees the mythical sword Excalibur which the latter wields. Since Shirou possessed the scabbard Avalon from Excalibur, Nasu wrote this to explain how the two become Master and Servant.

When first deciding what type of character to create for the protagonist of Fate/stay night, artist Takashi Takeuchi suggested a stubborn character. With that in mind, Nasu sought to create a character who cared solely about his goal and rather than stubborn character, he created a character that could not have fun. In contrast, Nasu wrote the younger Shirou as a shy child. As part of the Unlimited Blade Works anime series, studio Ufotable had to trim a scene from the visual novel that mentioned whether or not Shirou would suffer for going to the same path of as his future self, Archer. In this scene, the team tried to explain the fact that Shirou would enjoy a happy life with Rin Tohsaka but would still not become Archer. The final scene where a person that might be Shirou walking in Archer's dimension generated so many questions within fans that Nasu had to clarify that Shirou was not that person. Nevertheless, Nasu clarified in the Heaven's Feel route from the original visual novel, Shirou still has potential to become a Heroic Spirit although he did not specify he would become the same Archer.

Writer Gen Urobuchi who has been involved in the making of series believes Saber's relationship with Shirou does not seem like a realistic relationship between a male and a female but a complicated relationship with a boy who became a girl. He further explains that it is not a relationship fueled by instinct like the relationship between a man and a woman but a romance of logic between two people who need each other from the heart. He thinks the Fate route could have been told as a story through the ancient Greek views on love. Urobuchi thinks the true heroine of Fate/stay night is Rin Tohsaka. He asserted that Shirou's relationship with Rin was the more realistic. The "Unlimited Blade Works" route depicts an equal relationship with a woman who becomes stronger than men. Rin and Shirou mend each other's weaknesses with their own unique strength. Also, Sakura's romance expresses the dark sides that women have, but Shirou's actions show that men can accept that and love them regardless. Nasu responded to Urobuchi by saying that it is difficult to call the relationship between Shirou and Saber a relationship between a man and a woman. Saber has fought for a long time as the ruler of Britain but then turned into a woman all of a sudden and fell in love with Shirou. Shirou's consistent desire to avoid having Saber fight for him represented his love. Nasu further added that while Rin is female, her characterization is highly different from Saber that Shirou would still fall for her.

In the making of the anime series Unlimited Blade Works, Ufotable expressed desire to write Shirou's character more properly to fit with the Fate/Zero cast, as they wanted this anime to have a darker tone as well as act as a follow up to their predecessor. For the release of the first Heaven's Feel film, director Tomonori Sudo said he wanted to further explore the past between Shirou and heroine Sakura Matou, as he believes their relationship is the most important part of the story. Producer Yuma Takahashi had similar opinions, believing the style of some scenes that symbolize the romance between Shirou and Sakura were needed. These scenes were mostly included by Ufotable, as Takahashi believes people might want to watch the film another again. Sakura's Japanese actress, Noriko Shitaya, stated the staff's biggest desire was to show the audience the scenes between Shirou and Sakura. Shirou's fate in the Heaven's Feel route was left up to the players' interpretation due to his apparent resurrection.

Sam Riegel (left) and Bryce Papenbrook (right) voiced Shirou in English releases of the Fate franchise.

There have only been small changes to Shirou's physical design since its inception. With red hair and stubborn eyes, Takeuchi aimed for a design that was typical of a straightforward shōnen manga genre character. However, he felt that to be lacking, so he added more circles in his eyes. Takeuchi has trouble bringing out Shirou's expressions because of his unique eyebrows, so Shirou remains the hardest Fate/stay night character for him to draw. The duo focused on making Shirou with little unique physical characteristics to make it easier for the audience to project themselves onto his character on a visual level. However, their goal of creating "a protagonist without a face" per the nature of bishōjo games in the initial release of Fate/stay night is another reason why he has trouble drawing Shirou—he only appeared in a handful of scenes after all. However, in the rereleased Réalta version for ages 15 and up, the pressure of creating a faceless protagonist was gone and Takeuchi had to draw Shirou a lot more.

Shirou is voiced by Noriaki Sugiyama in Japanese. Sugiyama's line "I am the bone of my sword," which Shirou's character says when fighting is noted to be popular within the fandom. The actor said, "Shirou is a philanthropist in any world. He is a young boy who is wishing for the happiness of those around him, such as for Miyu and Illya." Fellow actress Kaori Nazuka noted that her character, Miyu Satsuki, managed to have a noticeable character arc in these spin-offs thanks to her growing relationship with Shirou. When asked about his favorite scene from the movie, Sugiyama referred to the final scene due to Shirou's appealing display of characterization due to the impact Shirou's final line he had on Miyu.

For the English releases of the series, David Lee McKinney voiced the character in the Animax dub. Sam Riegel was Shirou's first voice actor. One of the mistranslations from the series "People die when die are killed" became popular within the fanbase. English voice actor Bryce Papenbrook felt honored to take Riegel's work for the Unlimited Blade Works series. He noted that he was asked by his superior to give Shirou more emotion during the recording of the Unlimited Blade Works. He found this challenging as he wanted to avoid expanding the tone of Shirou. He further looked forward to Shirou's role in the Heaven's Feel movie due to how different he is from other series, mostly due to how he is related with Sakura.

Appearances

Fate/stay night

Before the events of Fate/stay night, a fire caused by the Fourth Holy Grail War left Shirou on the brink of death until a man named Kiritsugu Emiya saved and adopted him. Kiritsugu's exceedingly happy self when saving him became an unforgettable memory of admiration for Shirou. As time went on, Kiritsugu taught Shirou basic magic and allowed his adopted son to repair items. In the moments before Kiritsugu's death, he told Shirou that he failed to become an ally of justice, someone who saves as many people as possible. Shirou promised to become one in his stead. Shrou's excessive desire to follow in his father's ideal of becoming an ally of justice becomes a way of life for him. Through the three routes of Fate/stay night, Shirou undergoes shifts in his view towards that ideal. The events of Fate/stay night start in the Fifth Holy Grail War. His survivor's guilt is so severe that Ayako has stated that she has never seen Shirou smile, as he believes that he does not deserve to. He feels that, as the only survivor of the fire, it is unfair to the deceased to prioritize his own needs before those of others. He has a distorted sense of values where he only finds self-worth from helping people without any compensation, feeling that the very act "helping people" is its own reward and sees himself as a living sword, meant to be used by others for their own benefit. He believes it is highly unfair that some people survive and others do not.

During the series' beginning, Shirou witnesses a duel between two servants, Archer and Lancer. The latter ambushes Shirou and kills him in the process. Shortly afterwards, Rin Tohsaka, Archer's master, finds Shirou and revives him. As Lancer once again attacks the teenager, Shirou accidentally summons the servant Saber who defends him from his foe. After forming an alliance with Rin, Shirou learns of the Fifth Holy Grail War and agrees to join the conflict in order to avoid any possible catastrophes by other servants.

Fate route

In the Fate route, Saber is the main heroine and her true identity is King Arthur. When Shirou leaves the church after agreeing to participate in the war, Illyasviel von Einzbern ambushes them and overwhelms Saber with her servant Berserker. Despite his weakness as a mage, he rushes out to save Saber by protecting her from Berserker's strike. Saber blames the fall of Britain on herself, so her wish is for a more suitable candidate to pull the sword Excalibur out of the stone to take her place as the king of Britain. Her unwavering ideal serves as a juxtaposition to Shirou's ideal. Despite understanding that their ideals are unreachable, they ignore reality and continue moving on that path. Shirou is able to help Saber face the reality of her ideal, as it is impossible to change the past, but Shirou still embraces his ideas to the very end in this route. As the route progresses, Shirou learns Kiritsugu was Saber's previous master who hid an item inside his body, the scabbard Avalon: The Everdistant Utopia (全て遠き理想郷, Subete Tōki Risōkyō) to protect him from enemies. When preparing for the final fight against Kirei Kotomine and Servant Gilgamesh, Shirou returns Avalon to Saber so that she can fight at Excalibur's full strength. While Shirou and Saber win their fights, the couple separate due to the end of the war and they reunite in Avalon island.

Unlimited Blade Works route

In the Unlimited Blade Works route, Rin Tohsaka is the main heroine. Rin notices Shirou's twisted ideal of becoming an ally of justice. She criticizes his lack of self and how little value he places on his own life, as he would gladly die for his ideal. Archer, Rin's servant, is Shirou from the future who suffered greatly from accomplishing the goal of becoming an ally of justice. As such, Archer wishes to kill Shirou in hopes of erasing himself from existence or at least erasing the ideal of being an ally of justice from Shirou's world. Shirou is locked in an ideological conflict with Archer. As Shirou learns of Archer's identity, the two have a one-on-one fight where the two imitate each other skills, most notably a dimension of weapons known as Unlimited Blade Works (無限の剣製, Mugen no Kensei). Archer criticizes Shirou's ideals for simply being borrowed from his father. Shirou denies that he will become like Archer. Through dialogue with Archer, Shirou sees hypocrisy in his ideals. In this route, though he refuses to give them up entirely, he works his way towards a middle ground where he will strive towards fulfilling his ideals, despite knowing they were borrowed. Shirou accepts that his ideals are borrowed, but he continues to pursue them in this route. Following Shirou's victory in his fight against Archer, he faces Gilgamesh and manages to defeat him while Rin and Saber destroy the Grail. In the true ending, Shirou goes to live with Rin to London to study magic in the Mage's Association at the Clock Tower.

Heaven's Feel route

In the Heaven's Feel route, Sakura Matou is the main heroine. She is brought up in a family of mages and is a black shadow that attacks the city every night due to her grandfather's schemes. Shirou faces a dilemma: he can either uphold his ideal by killing Sakura and saving many lives in the process or he can forsake his ideal and save Sakura, his love interest. Shirou abandons his ideals and chooses to become Sakura's ally rather than an ally of justice. During one of Shirou's fights, he loses his left arm and it is replaced with Archer's own arm, as the Servant accepts Shirou's departure from his original ideals. Referred to as the "Artificial Phantasm: Man-made illusions" (アーティフィシャル・ファンタズム, Ātifisharu Fantazumu), Shirou's newfound powers allow him to rival Servants but at the cost of his stamina. In the normal ending, Shirou sacrifices himself to destroy the Greater Grail and Sakura waits for him despite his death until dying of old age while. In the true ending, Illya sacrifices herself and Shirou is able to live peacefully with Sakura once revived.

In Fate/hollow ataraxia

In the sequel Fate/hollow ataraxia, Shirou meets Bazett Fraga McRemitz, a member of the Mages' Association and a master in the Fifth Holy Grail War. Both Bazett and Shirou find themselves in a time loop that lasts four days, beginning of the fourth day of the Fifth Holy Grail War. Each time they die or survive four days, they always awake on the first day of the loop, aware of what has happened to them since the first time loop began. Determined to end the loop, Bazett, Avenger, and Shirou fight to discover the truth behind what is causing the endless four days.

Shirou experiences changes in personality and momentary lapses in memory, particularly related to his own skills. It is later revealed that this is because "Shirou" is connected to Avenger in some mysterious way, causing them to switch places when night falls, implying Avenger is either hiding in Shirou's body or is taking his form during the day, but forgets due to his "non-existence" being overwritten by the Earth's laws. Once this character discovers the truth, he becomes conflicted, as Shirou wants to end the loop while Avenger wants to keep living his days out. It is revealed that Shirou being possessed by Avenger was nothing more than a replica of Shirou that Avenger created to realize his personal desire, while the real Shirou and his friends were still present in the real world, in Fuyuki, after the events related to Fate route Fifth Holy Grail War and having passed more than half a year. Once Avenger ends the loop and free Bazett, before completely disappearing Avenger/Grail found the hidden crack that opened with the experiment caused by Rin to use the copy Zelretch's Jeweled Sword which she obtained with the help of Shirou and Illya six months after the Fifth Holy Grail War and using what was left of his power as Grail, Avenger corrected the slot and replaced the original timeline with the one he helped to create in Bazett's mind, thus reviving the Masters and Servants who died or disappeared (in the case of Saber) during the conflict and transferring the memories of all the times when the replicas of Fuyuki people who were present in the world loop made, including the true Shirou, so he and his friends would not be suspicious that the Masters and Servants who died more than half a year were killed really and making them think that they survived the end of Fifth Holy Grail War and living with them all this time, with the only people knowing all occurring being only Bazett, Caren, Illya, and Caster. In epilogue, the true Shirō is tricked into allowing Bazett and Caren stay at the Emiya household.

Appearances in other media

Shirou's appearance when using the Archer card.

Shirou has appeared in the anime and manga versions of Fate/stay night, the movie Unlimited Blade Works (2010), and the ones from Heaven's Feel. A common area of censorship from the original visual novels involving Shirou is going through sexual intercourse with the heroines. While the adaptations censored the sex scenes, the website Kotaku noted the one Shirou has with Sakura became an internet meme.

Shirou also appears in the fighting game Fate/unlimited codes as well as Fate/tiger colosseum. He, along with other characters from Tsukihime, Melty Blood, and the rest of the Fate/stay night cast appears in the 2011 anime Carnival Phantasm. In addition, Shirou briefly appears in Fate/Zero, the prequel of Fate/stay night, in which he is shown being saved by Kiritsugu at the end of the series. A cd drama was also released exploring Shirou's live with Kiritsugu and Fujimura as he deals with his trauma in regards to the fire and Kiritsugu decides to teach him basic magic. He, with other characters from Tsukihime, Melty Blood, and the rest of the Fate/stay night cast, also appeared in T-Moon Complex Doujinshi manga and comics. He is also the main character of the manga Today's Menu for the Emiya Family, where Shirou's peaceful daily life is shown alongside the rest of the cast. In the role-playing game Fate/Grand Order Shirou appears as a Saber-class Servant under the name of Sengo Muramasa (千子村正), a spirit that wonders about his vessel's persona. Shirou is also present in the side game Capsule Servant alongside Rin as playable characters.

Shirou is also a minor character in the spin-off series Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya where he lives under the care of Illya's mother, Irisviel von Einzbern and Kiritusgu, as a normal teenager. An alternate version of Shirou appears in the sequel Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 3rei!! imprisoned by the Ainsworths family, asking the main characters to look after his sister Miyu Edelfelt. Shirou is freed from prison by Gilgamesh and joins in the fight against Miyu's enemies, still retaining part of the powers from the Archer card. Following the battle, Shirou reunites with his sister and recovers from his wounds. Then the manga and the anime film Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya: Oath Under Snow (2017) show the origins of this Shirou. The adopted son of Kiritsugu and the foster brother of Miyu, Shirou takes part in the Fifth Holy Grail War to protect Miyu from being used as a sacrifice. When Sakura Matoh dies at Shinji's hands for trying to protect Shirou she leaves an "Archer Class card" (アーチャークラスカード, Āchā Kurasu Kādo) which grants Shirou the powers of his future heroic persona. After avenging Sakura, Shirou manages to fight his enemies threatening his sister during the Holy Grail war. He manages to transport Miyu to another world at cost of most of his card's and confronts the real Archer. Although Shirou loses the final fight, he is satisfied with his sister's safety. Shirou also makes minor appearances in the novel Fate/Apocrypha, where he enjoys daily life, as his home town was not destroyed by the fire of the Fourth Holy Grail war. Outside Type-Moon's works and adaptations, Shirou also appears in the video game Divine Gate.

Cultural impact

Popularity

Merchandise has been modeled after Shirou including rubber straps and figures. In 2017, a cafe using Fate based characters including Shirou was released in Osaka, Japan.

Shirou has been popular within fans of the series. In the Type-Moon's 10th Anniversary Character Poll in 2012, Shirou was ranked 12th. In an Unlimited Blade Works poll he took sixth place. Outside the franchise, Shirou has also appeared in other polls related to anime. He took the eighth place in a preliminary poll from the magazine Newtype in 2015 in the category "best male character". In November 2017, he took the second place in the male character category. In March 2018 he took fourth spot for his role in the first Heaven's Feel movie. In a Newtype poll, Shirou was voted the eighth most popular male anime character from the 2010s.

Critical reception

Critics have given multiple comments in regards to Shirou's character. Gamasutra found him to be an interesting protagonist due to his childish ideals of a hero, yet when growing up, he still strives for it during the storyline. The site added that due to the choices the player makes in the novel, Shirou's character arcs change dramatically and allows Nasu to convey a different aspect of his ideal. Charles Cassady says that Shirou is "bloodied so regularly, [Fate/stay night] might well have been titled The Passion of the Shiro[u]." THEM Anime Reviews was more critical of Shirou's personality in the Deen adaptation because of the multiple times he is put into trouble during the first half of the anime and how he is against making Saber fight in his place despite her being a servant due to his thoughts about women in war, leading to his character arc to take place in the second half, which leads to THEM calling him an "idiot".

Multiple sites have commented on Shirou's relationship with Saber and his growth in Studio Deen's anime. Mania Entertainment's Chris Beveridge stated that he liked the development of Shirou across the series, particularly his team-ups with Saber. He shared similar comments when talking about the romantic relationship between him and Saber. IGN's Jeff Harris said that Shirou and Saber's growing relationship was Fate/stay night's most interesting plot line and that the romantic tension there between the two is something to look forward to over the course of the rest of the game and animated series. Similarly, DVD Talk enjoyed this and claimed, "The Master/Servant relationship is an interesting one." Anime News Network noted that in the third dvd release of the series, Shirou had demostrated more depth thanks to the previous events in the anime as in this volume he has dropped his pacifism, becoming a more philosphical fighter as seen through his confrontation against Shinji. The novelist Shūsei Sakagami praises how the user is able to witness Shirou's "gradual change from a robot to becoming a human" through the three routes. Professor Makoto Kuroda of Wayo Women's University describes his actions when related to Saber as neglect of a person's primordial survival instincts and as encompassing "selfless philanthropism and a purely boundless sense of moralism."

Reviewers also offered different ideas in regards to Shirou's role in the film Unlimited Blade Works. Anime News Network enjoyed Shirou's characterization in the Unlimited Blade Works movie where his ideals are contrasted with Archer as well as Kiritusgu. His fights in the movie were also the subject of praise by the reviewer. For the television series, Kotaku noted that despite Shirou's similarities with the Deen's series, his changes across the story make a major impact to the story which make him more likable. On the other hand, UK Anime Network said that while Shirou and Saber are the main characters of the series, the two were overshadowed by Rin and Archer who the reviewer felt were more interesting. Nevertheless, UK Anime Network felt Ufotable improved Shirou's characterization when comparing it with the one from Deen to the point they believed that one was unlikable in contrast. Blu Ray enjoyed the further relationship between Shirou and Rin as while they start as enemies, they become closer as the story progresses. The same reviewer also praised the developments Shirou has with Archer across the movie. Bryce Papenbrook's acting as Shirou led to a positive response by Reel Run Down.

Similar to other critics, Chris Beveridge from the Fandom Post acclaimed Shirou's role within Unlimited Blade Works due to how the character's conflict with Archer develops his arc in an interesting way. Despite finding forced elements during the television series regarding Shirou's growth, the protagonist's battle against Gilgamesh was also the subject of praise by Beveridge due to how both warriors have been fighting ever since their introductions, with Beveridge also pointing Gilgamesh's role in Fate/Zero. Similarly, Reel Run Down noted this incarnation of Shirou expressed parallelism with Kiritsugu's from Fate/Zero as both express similar ideals and the former are further explored, criticized, later mocked and later further developed much to the reviwer's surprise to the depth this brought to Shirou. Japanator was amazed by Shirou's growth in the finale, as he still accepts the future Archer had which, creates a major contrast between him and Kiritsugu. Shirou's decision to become one tragic warrior despite the knowledge he has about this future was noted to be uncommon within storytelling by the writer. Voice actress Kana Ueda agreed with most comments as how Unlimited Blade Works helped to make Shirou's ideals of justice more interesting in contrast to his original characterization inthe Deen anime. Squart highly acclaimed the growth of Shirou's ideologies during his encounters with Archer, who hates his past self due to the regrets he had in his past life when he was Shirou. The fact that Shirou manages to make peace with his doppelganger resulted in further praise by the website due to how Nasu managed to make Shirou a reconstruction of tropes rarely seen in comics.

For the film Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel, Shirou's characterization was given changes. Anime News Network noted that the character no longer relied on monologues and instead showed multiple facial reactions that managed to give the viewer a bigger impact on his scenes. His interactions with Sakura and Shinji shared a similar response from Anime News Network. As the movie focused more on Sakura, the Fandom Post stated that her interactions with Shirou make the best scenes since Shirou's personality did not differ too much from Unlimited Blade Works. UK Anime Network criticized his traits, finding them "bland," but they also thought that the anime adaptation was able to properly capture Nasu's writing.

Otaku USA also praised his role in the spin-off Today's Menu for the Emiya Family due to how the character's cooking is presented in a positive way despite his similarities with archetypes of action series in the previous works. Anime News Network noted the story was well done, as Shirou's cooking was so well made that the reviewer herself was hungry after seeing him cook. In another review, the writer enjoyed how this ONAs handled the relationship between Shirou and Kiritsugu, who interacted briefly in Fate/Zero and flashbacks from the anime adaptations of the visual novel.

External links

• Shirou Emiya at The Visual Novel Database