Illya - Main Characters

Main Characters

Shirō Emiya (衛宮 士郎, Emiya Shirō?, Shirou Emiya in anime, Shiro Emiya in manga)

Voiced by: Noriaki Sugiyama (Japanese), Sam Regal (English)

Shirō is a good-hearted and honest teenager, who always enjoys helping others. He is in his second year of high school, and his hobbies include fixing a variety of broken things, from VCRs to stoves, as well as cooking and cleaning. He has no interest in the Holy Grail, and instead despises its use. However, he is determined to win the Holy Grail War with Saber, for he hopes his efforts will ensure that another disaster like the Fuyuki fire will never occur again. He is raised by his adopted father, Kiritsugu Emiya, who imparts on him basic sorcery, and the ideal of protecting the innocent. He believes that it is possible to save everyone without harming any innocents. He often takes this ideal to the extreme, going as far to shield his own servant from danger. Due to Archer despising this ideal, Shirō and Archer are usually seen arguing or not seeing eye to eye. The main plot of Fate/stay night focuses around his ideal and the three different ways in which he approaches it.

Shirō is unskilled in most traditional forms of sorcery, and thus focuses on two minor abilities; Tracing, the power to analyze the structural composition of objects, and Reinforcment, the power to increase their structural integrity, such as the sharpness of a sword and durability of a shield. Even so, he is unskilled in using Reinforcement, and can only use Tracing competently, and his various applications of them are limited. Later on, he discovers that his true primary ability is Projection, which allows him to recreate objects from memory. The clearer the image in the user's mind, the better the final result. Shirō finds himself to be particularly adept at Projection, able to Trace the history and special properties of the items, though they are of slightly lesser quality (They are downgraded one rank from the original). At the culmination of his abilities is his Reality Marble, Unlimited Blade Works, which is the source of his unusual projection magic. It is an inner world that is a self-contained alternate reality, within which exists all of the materials Shirō needs to recreate any bladed weapon, and it manifests itself as a barren wasteland covered in all the swords Shirō has ever seen or known of, but with a beautiful dawn in the sky. For Shirō, projection is not truly creation, but transporting the desired sword from his inner world to the outer, explaining his unusual proficiency with it. Shirō is able to control all of the swords in Unlimited Blade Works using only his mind, using them to attack his opponent without having to physically touch them.

In the Fate route, the manga and the anime, he develops feelings for Saber and falls in love with her; he rarely allows her to fight unless necessary. He eventually defeats Kirei Kotomine by stabbing him with the Azoth Sword, a gift Kirei gave to Rin years ago. He then orders Saber to destroy the Holy Grail, causing her to fade away. The Shirō in this route embraces his ideals to the very end. In the Realta Nua version, an epilogue to Fate can be unlocked. Saber goes to Avalon after her death and waits several centuries to see Shirou again. Shirou endures many hardships in his life and never stops believing that he will find Saber. After he dies, Shirou and Saber are joyously reunited in Avalon.

In the Unlimited Blade Works route, he falls in love with Rin Tōsaka. He slowly gains the skills and techniques of Archer, and the reason for this is revealed to be Archer being Shirō from an a potential future timeline. Archer comes into direct conflict with Shirō as he believes Shirō's ideals are a sham, and seeks to kill Shirō to prevent him from experiencing what he went through. Shirō then goes on to defeat Archer and Gilgamesh in single combat after mastering the use of Unlimited Blade Works. In the True End, he joins Rin as her assistant to study in the Mage's Association in London. In the Good End, he lives peacefully with Rin and Saber, the latter being sustained as Rin's Servant. The Shirō in this route accepts that his ideals are borrowed, but continues to believe in them, albeit with some compromises.

In the Heaven's Feel route, he falls in love with Sakura Matō. He loses his left arm and Archer's left arm is grafted in its place. He slowly begins to lose his memories and mind due to Archer's arm invading his body. He later defeats Saber Alter with the help of Rider, and then defeats Kirei Kotomine in a climactic fistfight at the underground site of the Great Holy Grail. In the Normal End, he traces Excalibur to destroy the Great Holy Grail, at the cost of his life. In the True End, the Great Holy Grail is closed by Illya, precluding his tracing Excalibur. Illya then uses her remaining powers to recreate Shirō in a healthy body. He then lives on peacefully with Sakura and Rider. The Shirō in this route completely abandons his ideals, choosing to save Sakura over saving innocents.

Saber (セイバー, Seibā?)

Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese), Kate Higgins (series), Michelle Ruff (Unlimited Blade Works movie) (English)

Saber is Shirō's Servant for the Fifth Holy Grail War. Loyal, independent, and reserved, Saber acts coldly but is actually suppressing her emotions to focus on her goals. Her class is considered the "Most Outstanding", with excellent ratings in all categories. Since her Master cannot effectively provide her with Mana, she minimizes her activity to preserve her energy. Saber is frustrated by Shirō's "protective" tendencies, believing his erratic and reckless behavior will jeopardize her chances of winning the Holy Grail War. Her full name is Arturia Pendragon, or King Arthur, a former ruler of Britain, who gives up her humanity for the sake of her country. Before her last breath, she appeals to the world; in exchange for services as a Heroic Spirit, she asks to be given an opportunity to relive her life, where someone more suitable and effective would lead Britain in her stead.

She has the ability to cancel any magic below A-rank, instinct that comes close to precognition, and high charisma, which she can use to command an army. She can use "Mana Burst", which transfers magical energy into her weapon and body, though the weapon must have strong divine protection to withstand the ability. She uses the Noble Phantasms Excalibur: Sword of Promised Victory (エクスカリバー, Ekusukaribā?), a celestial sword constructed by the world from the collective wishes of mankind and fueled through a conversion of Mana into photoelectric energy, and Invisible Air: Barrier of the Wind King (インビジブル・エア, Inbijiburu Ea?), which compresses and gyrates the air around Saber's blade, allowing her to induce an illusion of ethereality, making it hard for opponents to judge her strikes, and release the air in the form of an intense gust. The scabbard of Excalibur, Avalon: The Everdistant Utopia (アバロン, Abaron?), bequeaths limited immortality through regenerative stimulation, as well as preventing physical deterioration due to aging. She also has a fourth Noble Phantasm, Caliburn: Golden Sword of Assured Victory (カリバーン, Karibān?), that was broken during her lifetime but was Traced by Shirō during the Fate route, manga and anime.

In the Heaven's Feel route of the visual novel, she was corrupted by the darkness of Angra Mainyu into Saber Alter, becoming Sakura's Servant. She then battles and is subsequently defeated by Shirō. Saber Alter has all of the capabilities of Saber, but slightly altered, and in some cases greatly enhanced. Her charisma, instinct and magic resistance are all lowered, but in exchange, her straightforward attack power among all Servants is now the strongest.

Rin Tōsaka (遠坂 凛, Tōsaka Rin?, Rin Tohsaka in anime)

Voiced by: Kana Ueda (Japanese), Mela Lee (English)

Rin is a model student and idol of Shirō's school. She barely talks to other students in her school and exhibits a desire to be left alone, as exemplified by her tendency to stay on the school's rooftop, away from the rest of the students. She is also secretly a Magus, and a Master in the Fifth Holy Grail War. In the beginning of the anime, she summons Archer for her Servant, although she originally wanted to summon Saber. Rin is reared as the successor to her family's magecraft, instructed by her father, Tokiomi Tōsaka, to prioritize sorcery over her own interests. When she was young, Rin was separated from her sister Sakura but manages to reunite with her after Sakura was kidnapped by Caster, as a sacrifice for the summoning of the holy grail. After her father is killed, Rin continues to perfect her sorcery, with some guidance from her guardian, Kirei Kotomine. She strives to earn the admiration of her peers to avoid drawing attention to her private life, even though she is secretly stingy, tomboyish, and a slacker. She is perceptive, resourceful and avidly competitive. In the anime after the encounter with Rider, Rin suggests a temporary truce with Shirō to deal with the servant and her master. Over the course of this, she becomes a close friend of Shirō and occasionally worries about him. In the unlimited blades route movie adaptation, she falls in love with Shiro and lives peacefully with him after they destroy the Holy Grail.

Rin specializes in the transformation of energy, which includes storage of Mana in objects. She stores all of her mana in jewels that she regularly charges to bypass her body's natural limitations on releasing energy. She can detonate her jewels on contact with an object, resulting in a release of energy equivalent to an attack rank of "A". Her most common offensive spell is Gandr, which fires concentrated mana in the form of a black orb from her finger. On contact, the spell amplifies physical conditions -- a person who is already sick, for example, becomes far sicker upon being hit, but she can imbue it with such power that it instantly knocks weaker beings out on contact. Rin is also proficient with reinforcement sorcery, which she uses on her legs to give herself more speed. She is known to be somewhat of a prodigy in magecraft - while most magi are proficient at one, sometimes two elements, Rin possesses the very rare trait of being equally skilled in all five and is thus known as an Average One.

Archer (アーチャー, Āchā?)

Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe (Japanese), Liam O'Brien (English)

Archer is the Servant of Rin Tōsaka. He is sarcastic and cynical, considering Shirō's mentality of "wanting to save everyone" as naïve and impossible. Archer is actually Shirō Emiya from one of the possible future worlds. He is ultimately the winner of the fifth Holy Grail War in his world, and is a living incarnation of the "Hero of Justice". The Throne of Heroes, which preserves the souls of all Epic Spirits, exists outside of any conventional timeline, so Archer can be called from any point in history. He is linked to the jewel used to save Shirō's life, which allows him to be summoned.

Archer is a Faker, an individual skilled at creating imitations of objects through the use of tracing and projection of mental images to form tangible objects. Though Projection is normally ineffective at creating durable or powerful artifacts, Archer’s unique approach to this craft enables him to materialize enormously powerful and accurate copies of the images recorded in his mind. He is capable of instantly recording all information and properties of weapon, and he can read into the history of the weapon to use any skills associated with it, though the rank of the weapon is lowered by one. In addition, through the use of Alteration, he can modify a weapon to give it special properties, such as crafting Broken Phantasms, Noble Phantasms overloaded with magical energy that exponentially increases its attack power at the cost of destruction after use. All of his Projection abilities come from his Reality Marble, Unlimited Blade Works: Infinite Creation of Swords (アンリミテッドブレイドワークス, Anrimidettobureidowakusu?), which works similarly to Shirō's, but manifests itself instead as a desert littered with swords with monolithic black gears rotating in the sky above.

He is also skilled in the basis of both Alteration and Tracing: Reinforcement; the art of temporarily strengthening the construction of objects through the understanding of their nature and perfection of defects in their structure. This is done through enhancing the fundamental proprieties of the target, such as an armor’s resistance or the sharpness of a blade. Archer employs this method on himself to enhance his physical performance, particularly in his eyesight, granting him such precise vision that it approaches a limited form of clairvoyance. Archer is also in possession of a sleek black longbow, which is constructed from a synthetic compound that does not exist in the modern time period. It allows him to propel any weapon as an arrow, which would normally strain a weaker bow. Similarly, Archer's breastplate and boots are crafted from the same material, while the red cloak he wears is a holy burial cloth that shields Archer from spiritual interference in his surroundings.

In the Fate route, he is defeated by Berserker while buying time for Rin, Shirō and Saber to escape, but not before taking out five of his lives. In the Unlimited Blade Works route, he becomes a primary antagonist, seeking to kill Shirō to prevent him from becoming like himself, and ending his own existence as a Heroic Spirit. He is defeated by Shirō, but survives long enough to deliver the finishing blow to Gilgamesh. Before he vanishes at the conclusion of the route, he asks Rin to never leave Shirō's side. In the Heaven's Feel route, Archer abandons his desire to kill Shirō when he learns of what contaminated the Grail, and because Shirō had already thrown away his life-long ideals in the interest of saving Sakura's life. Archer is mortally wounded in an engagement against True Assassin, Saber Alter, and The Shadow, but he survives long enough to have Kirei Kotomine surgically graft his left arm onto Shirō, who lost his own arm in that same battle. Shirō later uses Archer's arm in the battle against Dark Berserker, Saber Alter, and Kirei, and to trace the Jewel Sword Zelretch.

Sakura Matō (間桐 桜, Matō Sakura?, Sakura Matou in anime)

Voiced by: Noriko Shitaya (Japanese), Sherry Lynn (English)

A student in her first year of high school, and the sister of Shinji Matō. After Shirō's father Kiritsugu died, Sakura often visited Shirō's home to help him with his daily chores. Though Shinji is from a family of sorcerers, he asserts that she has no knowledge of her family's craft or history. Sakura is outwardly shy and timid, but possesses great inner strength. She has a long standing and obvious crush on Shirō Emiya.

In the anime-original storyline, due to her possessing latent magic circuits, Sakura is kidnapped by Caster as a sacrifice to summon the Holy Grail. During the rescue attempt, Rin realizes that Sakura is her sister, and that they were separated when they were very young.

While Sakura plays a minor part in the Fate and Unlimited Blade Works routes, she plays a much larger role in the final route, Heaven's Feel. She is revealed to be a powerful magus in her own right as well as Rider's true Master, having used a command spell to give control to Shinji as she had no desire to fight. Her particular brand of magic is unique in that while she cannot command any of the five traditional elements, she can manipulate the very rare Imaginary Numbers. After the end of the previous Grail War, her grandfather, Zōken Matō implanted a piece of the Grail into Sakura in an attempt to recreate it. This led to the eighth Servant, Angra Mainyu (also known as Avenger), a remnant of the Third Holy Grail War attempting to summon himself by controlling Sakura with an alternate persona, The Shadow. Sakura takes on the form of The Shadow at nights and kills hundreds of people in order to gain energy, at one point corrupting both Saber and Berserker into Servants under her command. She is eventually stopped when Rin attempts to kill Sakura; Sakura is revealed to be Rin's biological sister, adopted into the Matō family as their heir since Shinji lacked magical circuits. Unable to kill her sister, Rin allows Sakura to stab her instead, allowing Sakura to realize that her friends had not abandoned her and still wanted to save her, and regain control of her mind.