Fate stay night/Characters/Masters: Difference between revisions

This is a page about the characters taking the role of Masters appearing in the [[Visual Novel]] turned [[Anime]] ''[[Fate/stay night]]''. Contains '''''a LOT''''' of spoilers.

 

* For masters which also appear in ''[[Fate/Zero]]'', go [[Fate/Zero/Characters|here]] for tropes specific to that series.

 

 

== Shirou Emiya ==

 

[[File:shirou_emiya.jpg|frame]]

 

 

Later it is discovered that {{spoiler|he possesses an innate talent in Projection magic, which enables him to replicate items -- including Noble Phantasms -- that he can visualize in his mind (although the copies are inferior to the originals, being reduced in power by one rank). His talent stems from the fact that, in the explosion at the climax of the Fourth Holy Grail War where he lost his parents, Shirou lost all sense of self-worth and can only find meaning in other people -- thus, Shirou can use ''himself'' as a material component when carrying out Projection}}.

Shirou is an accomplished archer (having been a member of the school's archery club without ever missing the bull’s-eye except the one time he felt like doing so) and, following some training from Saber, is mildly proficient in swordplay. {{spoiler|Like Archer, he possesses the Reality Marble "Unlimited Blade Works" -- which reduces the mana cost required for Projection magic to nil -- although his incantation to activate it is different.}}

 

* [[Always Save the Girl]]

** [[Visual Novel]]: {{spoiler|It's the point of ''Heaven's Feel''. Not so much in the other roads.}}

* {{spoiler|[[Artificial Human]]: Kind of. [[Multiple Endings|In the True End of]] ''[[Multiple Endings|Heaven’s Feel]]'', Shirou's body has been destroyed and his soul, which was saved by Ilya, has been implanted into a human puppet, making him something closer to a familiar or a homunculus than a true human. He is indistinguishable from the real thing, but requires mana infusions to stay alive -- basically a non-[[Squick|squicky]] version of [[The Worm That Walks|Zouken]]'s existence, which only seems to work for one body}}.

** {{spoiler|And the way he gets his "[[Intimate Healing|infusions]]" ain't too bad either.}}

* [[Berserk Button]]: His loved/significant ones are his button.

** In the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' movie, calling Saber "useless" in Shiro's presence will result in the loss of an arm and being thrown into a black hole/rip in the fabric of the universe.

** You do ''not'' mess with Taiga.

* [[Beware the Honest Ones]]: Shirou's a little too far on the idealistic side for even ''Saber'', so while his allies appreciate him somewhat, they also know [[Honor Before Reason|he'll do something stupidly reckless if it's the "right" thing to do]]. {{spoiler|Tohsaka at the very end of the last route realizes she has no right to criticize because she isn't as ruthless as she thinks she is.}}

** In ''Fate'': {{spoiler|It lets him survive Rider's attacks, but also causes him to accidentally stab himself to death when he tries to use reinforcement to survive a three story fall immediately afterwards. However, it also saves him in the same route when it, along with Avalon's [[Healing Factor]], sutures him back together after he has been cleaved in half by Gilgamesh's Merodach.}}

** In ''Heaven's Feel'': {{spoiler|However, overloading on mana from Archer's arm causes the blades to ''manifest permanently'', slowly skewering him from the inside, but the protruding blades also end up [[Incredibly Lame Pun|giving him an edge in his last fight against Kotomine]].}}

* {{spoiler|[[Body Horror]]: See [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice]] below. "I am the bone of my sword", [[Fridge Horror|indeed]]}}.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: He tends to snark a lot [[First-Person Smartass|in his internal monologues]], but not that often out loud, except maybe around Taiga and Rin.

* [[Determinator]]: Shirou has shades of this in all three routes, but ''Heaven's Feel'' deserves a special mention: {{spoiler|After having lost his servant, and discovering that the woman he loves is possessed by the avatar of all evil, Shirou decides that he's going to save Sakura, and he means it. He is supposed to drop dead after using Archer's Arm to project 3 times. He projects six times. He also fights both Dark Berserker and Saber Alter, both of whom are many times stronger than usual due to Sakura's increased prana, and wins. Oh, and his whole body is slowly being skewered by swords growing inside of him due to overuse of projection, he still keeps going. Then after all that, he still has a fist fight with Kotomine. Now with only a shred of his consciousness remaining, Shirou with his final thought projects Excalibur, and pops Angra Mainyu like a zit. Shirou should have been dead five times up this point, and he STILL. KEPT. GOING.}}

** [[Determined Defeatist]]

* {{spoiler|[[Died Standing Up]]: [[Multiple Endings|Normal End]] of ''Heaven's Feel'', and unleashing Excalibur on the Great Grail after he died.}}

** Shirou's [[Stay in the Kitchen]] tendencies are most notably restricted only to Saber and only in the Fate route. Something about seeing a bloodied half broken small girl trying her hardest to stand up and fight just spurs his protective instincts. Oh, and the fact that she's doing all that to protect HIM doesn't exactly mix well with his self-sacrificing nature either. Not seeing her bloodied and broken seems to completely change things, so much that it is the key event that separates the ''Fate'' route from the other routes.

* [[Everyone Can See It]]: In ''Fate'', absolutely everyone can see the Saber/Shirou attraction. Even [[He-Man Woman Hater|Issei]].

* [[Eyes of Gold]]: Rather unusual for a protagonist.

* [[The Fettered]]: Shirou's ideal of wanting to save everybody is a large source of his strength. {{spoiler|''Unlimited Blade Works'' implies that his magic specialty arose specifically due to his lack of self-image.}}

* {{spoiler|[[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice]]: With a twist towards the end of ''Heaven’s Feel''. Shirou gets to be skewered ''from the inside out by swords slowly growing out of his body''.}}

* [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy]]: Deconstructed. This is basically Shirou's default state towards ''anyone''. To clarify, unlike normal people who can somewhat create their own happiness, Shirou, thanks to his lack of any concept or sense of self, always places the need of others before his own and is completely unable to create his own happiness and has to live through others.

* [[Knight in Shining Armor]]: His role in the ''Fate'' route.

* [[Knight in Sour Armor]]: What he becomes in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route. {{spoiler|Hanging out with your cynical future self will do this to you.}}

* [[Say My Name]]: {{spoiler|[[Large Ham|KOTOMINE KIREI]]!}}

* [[Selective Obliviousness]]: Trying hard not to notice anything in regards to how Sakura feels or how he himself is starting to feel about her since he feels it's inappropriate to be attracted to his friend's sister. Additionally, it's implied (and stated by Shirou himself, even) that he knew {{spoiler|who Archer was all along<ref>Do note that even before Archer uses the Trace On spell, Shirou recognizes him someone who embodies his ideals</ref>}}, but couldn't possibly comprehend the idea.

** {{spoiler|He's forced to kill Saber Alter}} in ''Heaven's Feel''.

** And again in one memorable [[Bad End]] of the same path, where he {{spoiler|lets Rin kill Sakura [[Principles Zealot|for the sake of his ideals]]}}.

* [[Theme Music Power-Up]]: His moments of asskickery are usually signaled by "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUs8FEsDUZ4 Emiya]" starting up in the background.

* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: Prior to his [[Character Development]]. Pretty much ''everybody'' calls him out on it. Visual Novel-wise, there are 40 main [[Have a Nice Death|Tiger Dojos]] and nearly all of them call him out, especially [[What an Idiot!|11, 24, and 36]] which are [[Nobody Calls Me Chicken]] [[Player Punch|Player Punches]].

** ''Unlimited Blade Works'': Two moments cement this: {{spoiler|when using Projection for the first time at a level superior to what he accomplished in ''Fate'' as well as learning some decent sword technique and the second when he uses the actual Reality Marble itself against Gilgamesh.}}

** ''Heaven's Feel'': {{spoiler|He gets Archer's arm attached and gains a mastery of Projection on par with Archers... but it slowly kills him. At the same time, though, it's turning his body into swords and speeds up the process, but still useful in the middle of hand to hand combat.}}

** After {{spoiler|stabbing Saber Alter}} in ''Heaven’s Feel'' {{spoiler|he erases all his memories of Saber over his crushing guilt at killing her.}}

* [[Unwanted Harem]]: He started out with Taiga and Sakura... And then got Rin. And then Saber. And then Ilya. {{spoiler|And Rider too in ''Heaven's Feel''.}} Some people include [[Gay Option|Issei]] in this.

* [[Weak but Skilled]]: Shirou was born with almost zero talent as a mage and with a single magic circuit (which is why it threatens to overload even by doing the simplest of magic like reinforcement). To make up for it, he work so retardedly hard that people even ridicule him for it. This is why his ( {{spoiler|and Archer's}}) battle abilities are pretty much all fighter-oriented as opposed to talented mages like Rin.

* [[Wide-Eyed Idealist]]: One of his defining traits. Eventually, heavily [[Deconstructed]] in both the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' and ''Heaven's Feel'' routes.

* [[You Killed My Father]]: In ''Fate'', {{spoiler|Shirou finds out that Kotomine killed Kiritsugu, ''and'' his original parents by causing the fire. He doesn't take that well.}} He finds out the former in ''Heaven’s Feel'' as well, but at that point it makes no difference to him.

 

== Rin Tohsaka ==

 

[[File:rin_tohsaka.jpg|frame]]

 

One of the main Magi of the series, known in the [[Fandom]] for her [[Tsundere]] traits and her Grade-"S" [[Zettai Ryouiki]]. Rin is an honor student in Shirou's school, and the talented heir of the prestigious Tohsaka magus family, one of the founders of the Holy Grail Wars. She enters the Fifth Holy Grail Wars out of a sense of responsibility (as the Tohaska heir) and her own competitive desire to win, and tries to summon a Saber-class Servant (widely considered to be the best Servant class). Thus, it is a point of much irritation when she summons Archer instead. Eventually she grows accustomed to him, and they are partners in every route of the game.

Rin is a complex person, using a honor student facade to hide her true character and using the Magus excuse for ignoring her own morals. {{spoiler|Sakura is her sister and she is aware of the fact. They have been separated when Sakura was taken in by the Matou, but because she avoids her sister, she hasn't learned about her horrific life.}} More than anything, Rin seems driven by her sense of duty to the Tohsaka lineage, though her moral values save her from being a self-absorbed sociopath like most magi (including the father she idolizes).

 

* [[Action Girl]]

* [[Alternate Universe]]: In ''Heaven's Feel'', her [[Infinity+1 Sword]] ({{spoiler|Zelretch's blade}}) works by pulling energy from these.

* [[Blue Eyes]]: Blue-green.

* [[Born in the Wrong Century]]: Rin, like most Magi, barely knows what a VCR is, let alone DVD or Blu-Ray. She hates technology with a passion since she can't understand it, although she is learning from Shirou.

* [[Cheshire Cat Grin]]: If she's smiling at you, something bad is going to happen.

* [[Creepy Cool Crosses]]: One is displayed on her shirt when she's in her casual attire.

* [[Cry Cute]]: A great example of [[Cry Cute]] happens during the scene {{spoiler|where Shirou comforts Tohsaka after Archer betrays her}}.

** She gets another good one in the Unlimited Blade Works movie when Shirou tells her the story of how Kiritsugu saved him right after {{spoiler|Gilgamesh rips Ilya's heart out}}. Its not even the story that does it, its the fact that it twisted him so much.

* [[Equivalent Exchange]]: Supposedly a strong advocate of this, but it's a very poor cover for the good natured aid she gives at almost any opportunity.

* [[Face Palm]]: Rin does this ''a lot'', often because of Shirou.

* [[The Gadfly]]: Mixed with [[The Tease]]. Tohsaka doesn't limit herself here. Equal opportunity harassment.

* [[Parental Abandonment]]: Her father died in [[Fate/Zero|the previous Grail War]]. Her mother apparently died sometime before the Fifth War due to illness, but was presumably in a mental home before that.

* [[Panty Shot]]: Shirou almost gets one of these in the anime, which distracts Rin enough to make her lose her concentration. Also lampshaded in Shirou's victory quote over Rin in ''Fate/unlimited codes''.

* [[The Rival]]: To Luviagelita.

* [[Selective Obliviousness]]: Not her, but people around her. Whenever she does something that breaks her image as the "perfect model student"... like going full-on berserk [[Tsundere]] towards Shirou in the middle of a crowded classroom... other students will simply ''choose not to remember it'' so they can keep idolizing her in peace.

* [[You Killed My Father]]: In ''Unlimited Blade Works'', {{spoiler|Rin finds out that Kirei is the one responsible for her father's death. She doesn't take it well.}}

* [[Zettai Ryouiki]]: GRADE "S"! She actually helped really popularize the popular combination of twin tails, tsundere and zettai ryouiki.

 

 

 

[[File:sakura_matou.jpg|frame]]

 

Shirou's timid neighbor. She often visits Shirou's house and does chores there, mainly because she has a ''massive'' and very obvious crush on him. She seems to be an ordinary girl with a respectful relationship with her big brother Shinji Matou. {{spoiler|In fact, Sakura is an extremely powerful magus, and Shinji frequently abuses and rapes her under orders from family head Zouken Matou (and also to vent his own jealous frustrations). What's more, she is actually the biological sister of Rin Tohsaka, she was separated due to the events of [[Fate/Zero]]; Sakura's different eye and hair color are due to Zouken infecting her body with parasitic worms that feed on her mana and carnal impulses, greatly boosting her magical power and sexual aggression.}}

 

In ''Heaven's Feel'', Sakura becomes the heroine of the story, but also at cost of her sanity. {{spoiler|She becomes consumed by darkness, turning into a proto-form of Angra Mainyu known as ''Dark Sakura''. Giving into [[The Dark Side]] gives her tremendous power -- enough to kill anyone with ease, [[Healing Factor|regenerate from any wound]] [[The Corruption|and corrupt Servants into her loyal pawns]]. She also feels resentment towards Rin for basically abandoning her to a life of hell at the hands of the Matou family (unknown to Rin herself), which is amplified massively by her dark side. She eventually makes peace with Rin and was rescued by Shirou when he uses Caster's ''Rule Breaker'' to sever her connection to Angra Mainyu.}}

* {{spoiler|[[Abusive Parents]]: Or, rather, (supposed) grandparent....}}

* [[Beneath the Mask]]

* [[Dogged Nice Girl]]

* {{spoiler|[[Driven to Suicide]]: [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]], she never kills herself, but she does consider it. She mentions several previous attempts at suicide (though she never went through with it) on Day 9 of ''Heaven's Feel'', and after her [[My God, What Have I Done?]] moment, she attempts to kill herself out of remorse, only to be prevented by Angra Mainyu, long enough for Shirou to free her with Rule Breaker.}}

* [[First Girl Wins]]: Only in ''Heaven's Feel'', and even then she only gets to ''keep'' Shirou in one ending.

** She does get to keep Shirou in one [[Bad End|bad ending]] ({{spoiler|the last one}}), but she's hardly in a state to appreciate it by that point.

* [[Gratuitous German]]: ''Heaven's Feel'' only.

** It is revealed to be a [[Memento MacGuffin]] since {{spoiler|it was the first ribbon Rin ever made, and one of the few signs of their ''true'' feelings for each other}}.

* {{spoiler|[[I Cannot Self-Terminate]]: When she realizes that she is in fact the shadow that has been consuming many people in the town. She first begs Shirou to kill her, and then, when he refuses, seeks out Zouken in order to force ''him'' to do it.}}

* [[I Will Wait for You]]: In the Normal ending of the Heaven's Feel. {{spoiler|Sakura promises to wait for Shirou after his [[Heroic Sacrifice]], though it eventually becomes clear that he never returns to her.}}

* [[Kick the Son of a Bitch]]: {{spoiler|Her ruthless treatment of [[The Worm That Walks|Zouken]] and [[Smug Snake|Shinji]]. Even when ''both'' instances were self-defense rather than cold-blooded murder, it still feels great.}}

* [[Purple Eyes]]

* {{spoiler|[[Rape as Backstory]]}}

* [[Shrinking Violet]]

* [[Spell My Name with an "S"]]: Matou, Matô or Matō depending on the source/transliteration paradigm used.

* [[Stepford Smiler]]: Played with. At school, Sakura is more or less her "true self"; [[Extreme Doormat|quiet, stoic and never smiles in front of people.]] Around Shirou, she's cheerful, happy, lively and always has a smile on her face. The latter is not an act, but this trope still applies to some extent because of everything she's hiding under that smile.

** {{spoiler|[[White-Haired Pretty Girl]]}}

** {{spoiler|[[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]]}}

* [[Tyke Bomb]]: {{spoiler|For eleven years, Sakura has been forced to act as a host for magical worms that allow Zouken to control her at will.}}

* [["Well Done, Son" Guy|"Well Done, Sis" Girl]]: {{spoiler|The only thing Sakura always expected from Rin was for her to show some fraternal love for her.}}

* [[Yamato Nadeshiko]]: [[Invoked]]. When she grew interested in Shirou, she resolved to reform herself to be more appealing and feminine.

 

 

== Shinji Matou ==

 

[[File:shinji_matou.jpg|frame]]

 

Sakura's brother and Shirou's childhood friend. Due to the land of Fuyuki "rejecting" the Matou family, they had lost their magical potential by the time that Shinji was born. Thus, Shinji lacks a Magic Circuit (and thus, has no magical potential whatsoever). This caused him to develop a massive inferiority complex {{spoiler|and a vast amount of resentment towards his adopted sister Sakura, who was brought in to continue the magical lineage that he could not. So when family head Zouken Matou orders him to periodically rape Sakura (to relieve her abnormal levels of sexual tension, caused by the parasitic worms flowing through her bloodstream), he takes far too much pleasure in it and even abuses her whenever it takes his fancy.}}

 

{{spoiler|Because he's such a lowlife, he ''never'' ends up well in any scenario. Ilya had Berserker kill him for being too pathetic to live in ''Fate''. In ''Unlimited Blade Works'', he is turned into a [[Body Horror|Holy Grail Core]] by Gilgamesh and nearly dies, which is enough to scare him straight after Rin saves his life. In ''Heaven's Feel'', he tried to blackmail Sakura by threatening to reveal to Shirou how he had raped her, which pushes Sakura over the edge and leads to him getting decapitated by Dark Sakura.}}

* [[Asshole Victim]]

* [[Berserk Button]]: He frequently snaps if he is humillated.

** In the manga, he gets this from {{spoiler|Ayako, whom he had Rider attack, and Sakura, who saved his life}}. It should be noted that he does not {{spoiler|rape Sakura}} in the manga, {{spoiler|and this causes him to undergo a [[Heel Face Turn]]}}.

* [[Eviler Than Thou]]: Shinji faces off against other villains in every path; Ilyasviel in ''Fate'', {{spoiler|Gilgamesh}} in ''Unlimited Blade Works'', and {{spoiler|Dark Sakura}} in ''Heaven's Feel''. Too bad (for him) that he's the "Thou" part of the trope all three times.

* [[Freudian Excuse]]: The ''Heaven's Feel'' route reveals that he belives he is justified to abuse Sakura, due to being trated with contempt and neglect by his grandfather and his own father all his life.

* [[Humiliation Conga]]: In ''Heaven's Feel'', {{spoiler|right before Sakura kills him}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Karmic Death]]: In "Fate" and ''Heaven's Feel''.}}

* [[Like Father, Like Son]]: He strongly resembles physically to his father Byakuya. Not to mention that both are considered disgraces to the family...

* [[Parental Neglect]]: Zouken considers Shinji to be a disgrace of a sorcerer and often neglects him. {{spoiler|In ''Heaven's Feel'' it is revealed that even Byakuya, Shinji's father, acted distant and with contempt towards Shinji and after he knew that Sakura was the successor, Byakuya started spending more time with Sakura until his death}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil]]: His defining and most hated trait: he is ''violently'' attracted to girls of the Tohsaka bloodline; if they are unwilling to receive his monstrous "affections?" [[Squick|All the better.]]}}

 

 

 

[[File:illyasviel.jpg|frame]]

 

 

She is rather attached to Shirou, but in the same time detests him too. {{spoiler|This is due to the fact that she is in fact [[Fate/Zero|the daughter from Shirou's father Kiritsugu, and Irisviel von Einzbern]], and not born naturally.}}

* [[All There in the Manual]]: Several notable things, for instance {{spoiler|we only find out that she dies a year after the Holy Grail war in Archer's back-story via supplementary materials, and apparently the Dress of Heaven she wears at the end of ''Heaven's Feel'' will turn any human who touches it into gold!}}

* {{spoiler|[[Artificial Human]]: She was naturally conceived, but she's still a homunculus.}}

* [[Enfante Terrible]]

* [[Evil Albino]]: In much of ''Fate''.

* [[The Fake Cutie]]: She's genuinely quite innocent and naive, but in contrast to that she's probably the must brutal character in the story. {{spoiler|''Heaven's Feel'' makes it pretty clear that her little girl act ''is'' just an act. She's actually quite emotionally conflicted about what she should be doing and almost entirely lacks any hope for the future.}}

* [[Fille Fatale]]: Exactly ''what'' she plans to do with Shirou once she gets him varies from route to route, but in ''Fate'' at least she made it pretty clear just what she was planning to do with her new "toy" (You can't get much more explicit than straddling a tied-up boy and asking him if he'd like to be your slave!). [[Have a Nice Death|Tiger Dojo]] confirms [[What Could Have Been|there was originally an H scene here]] if you picked the wrong option. {{spoiler|Partially [[Subverted]] by the fact that she's actually older than he is, although her mental age seems to match her appearance pretty accurately}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Go Out with a Smile]]: In ''Heaven's Feel'' [[Multiple Endings|True End]].}}

** Arguably in ''Heaven's Feel''.

* [[Heroic Albino]]: In ''Heaven's Feel''.

* [[Leitmotif]]: "Die Lorelei" by Phillipp Friedrich Silcher. Notable in being an actual German folk song.

* [[Meta Guy]]: She becomes this during the [[Have a Nice Death|Tiger Dojo]] segments accompanying each of the game's 40 [[Bad End|Bad Ends]].

* [[Mr. Exposition|Ms. Exposition]]: She fills this role pretty often, especially in ''Heaven's Feel''.

* [[Older Than They Look]]: {{spoiler|She's actually in her 20's. Homunculi have strange growth patterns, but hers is nonexistent as she wasn't made to be able to live as a human.}}

** To be exact, {{spoiler|she is actually Shirou's older stepsister.}}

* [[Oracular Urchin]]

* [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]]: Some of the time, anyway. Generally, if the narration starts focusing on her eyes, bad things are about to happen.

* [[Restraining Bolt]]: For Berserker. See his entry for more details.

* [[Sociopathic Hero]]: ''Averted'', surprisingly enough. When she [[Heel Face Turn|turns]], her more sadistic tendencies seem to be put to rest.

** To make matters worse... Type Moon's official website uses "Ilya", while nearly all Type Moon merchandise uses "Illya". So it seems ''both'' spellings are canon.

* [[Stepford Smiler]]

* [[Tyke Bomb]]

* [[Units Not to Scale]]: Reversed from the normal presentation. The artwork actually exaggerates the size difference between her and Berserker. He's about eight feet tall while she's four to four and a half feet, but she doesn't reach much past his knee if the artwork is anything to go by.

* [[White-Haired Pretty Girl]]

* [[Winter Royal Lady]]: Not literally, but certainly she is characterized both by her princess-like looks and character and her affinity with winter.

* [[Yandere]]: Non romantic despite her clinginess. {{spoiler|She just wants to be properly acknowledged and secretly believes that Shirou won't.}}

* [[You Lose At Zero Trust]]: From early on in ''Heaven's Feel'' Shirou is getting along with her much better than in the previous two routes. {{spoiler|However, thanks to Zouken dicking around,}} she feels she has to ignore how she feels and opts for pragmatism and kills him rather regretfully if you don't have a high enough affection score with her.

 

== Kirei Kotomine ==

 

[[File:kirei_kotomine.jpg|frame]]

 

{{spoiler|The [[Big Bad]] of the ''Fate'' route and also the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Fate/Zero]]''.}} Kirei is the supervisor of the Fifth Holy Grail War as well as Rin's legal guardian. As supervisor, it is his duty to uphold the rules of the Holy Grail War, cover up any incidents that might expose the War to the public, and give sanctuary to any Masters who drop out.

 

{{spoiler|In other routes, he's not quite the [[Big Bad]] anymore. Gilgamesh takes that spot in ''Unlimited Blade Works'', and he [[Enemy Mine|momentarily fights side by side]] with Shirou and Rin against Zouken Matou (who also takes that spot) in ''Heaven's Feel'', though he's still the final obstacle in the very, very end and is a Final Boss of sorts in that route.}}

* [[Badass]]: Don't let those posers Lancer and Archer fool you. Kotomine is ''the'' badass of ''[[Fate/stay night]]''. {{spoiler|Pinning True Assassin to a tree and performing an exorcism on Zouken by grinding his skull into the dirt? Yes please.}}

** [[Badass Longcoat]]: His priest garments are like a combo between this and [[Badass Long Robe]].

* [[Creepy Cool Crosses]]

* {{spoiler|[[Death by Irony]]:}}

** In ''Unlimited Blade Works'', {{spoiler|dispatched by Lancer, the original Servant of Bazett which he stole her Command Seals to obtain him.}}

* [[Desperately Looking for a Purpose In Life]]: When he was younger: Mage? Not fulfilling. Church? Ditto. Devoted husband? Empty. {{spoiler|Evil? [[Evil Feels Good|Bingo]]!}}

* {{spoiler|[[Disk One Final Boss]]: In ''Unlimited Blade Works''.}}

* [[Dissonant Serenity]]: In the ''Fate'' route, {{spoiler|during the scene where Shirou discovers the little secret Kotomine keeps underneath the church and Kotomine more or less psychologically tortures him about it while they stand there surrounded by corpses undergoing [[Body Horror]],}} he is described in the narration as speaking in his most genuinely cheerful tone of voice possible, smiling pleasantly, and generally treating him as a friend who came over for dinner. In the voiced version he even chuckles in between speaking as though at some kind of exceptionally funny joke he's listening to.

* [[Enemy Mine]]: In ''Heaven's Feel'', Kirei teams up with Shirou once {{spoiler|Zouken and Sakura kill off Lancer and Gilgamesh}}, putting Kirei on the losing end of [[Eviler Than Thou]].

** He still wins on [[Eviler Than Thou]], he's just a [[Magnificent Bastard]] taking advantage of the hero, with a bit of {{spoiler|[[My Death Is Just the Beginning]]}} thrown in. Zouken's an inevitable victim of [[Evil Is Not a Toy]], whereas Kirei knows exactly what he's doing.

* [[Foil]]: Is portrayed as quite an explicit one to {{spoiler|Kiritsugu Emiya, Shirou's father. Whereas Kiritsugu is a just, moral man who makes of himself a monster to protect the innocent from supernatural evil and to preserve the world, Kirei is a sociopath who was raised to be selfless and to serve goodness, but finds no pleasure in anything except doing evil, and wants to destroy the world which created him. Shirou finds himself also as a foil to Kirei, once his motivations are revealed.}}

* [[Friendly Enemy]]: The only way to describe his relationship with Shirou in the ''Heaven's Feel'' route.

'''Kirei''': You're thanking me? Are you sick? I will listen if something is worrying you }}

* [[The Gadfly]]: He derives pleasure from the misery of others. According to a humorous little side-story in the manga adaptation, this includes giving Rin clothes she absolutely hates every year.

* [[Good Powers, Bad People]]: What is his skillset? Magical surgery and performing exorcisms on evil spirits. That's ''it.'' {{spoiler|Still nearly destroys the world.}}

* [[Hannibal Lecture]]: Is a master of it.

** [[From a Certain Point of View]]: And this.

** [[Mr. Exposition]]: And this too.

* [[Will Not Tell a Lie]]: For shits and giggles. It's much more fun to trick people without lying.

* {{spoiler|[[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]]: Depending on the [[Alternate Character Interpretation]]. What could be worse than being [[Being Good Sucks|born naturally evil, only able to take pleasure in the suffering of others]], but still [[Being Evil Sucks|born with a]] ''[[Being Evil Sucks|conscience]]?'' This only shows up in ''Heaven’s Feel'', however; the other two routes don't go into his back-story enough to show him as anything but in it [[For the Evulz]].}}

 

 

== Souichirou Kuzuki ==

 

[[File:soichirou_fsn.jpg|frame]]

 

Rin's homeroom teacher at school. He lives in the Ryuudouji Temple and is Issei's older-brother figure. A tall, stern man who [[The Stoic|rarely expresses any emotion at all]], he appears physically intimidating, but is really a gentle soul who does his best to give each student a fair and proper education.

 

In ''Unlimited Blade Works'', {{spoiler|Kuzuki is killed by Archer after the latter double-crosses Caster}}. In ''Heaven's Feel'', {{spoiler|he and Caster are the first victims of True Assassin and Angra Mainyu's embryonic form}}.

* [[Anti-Villain]]

* [[Asskicking Pose]]

* [[The Glasses Come Off]]

* [[The Stoic]]

* [[Unholy Matrimony]]: {{spoiler|With Caster.}}

* [[Unusual Eyebrows]]

* [[Weak but Skilled]]: He's a normal man with no knowledge of the supernatural world and no magical abilities whatsoever. Yet with an enchantment on his fists and his own unconventional martial arts style, he manages to {{spoiler|temporarily overwhelm Saber, the best close-range fighter, and rips out Rider's throat during his most prominent route.}}

 

 

== Zouken Matou ==

[[File:zouken_9823.png|frame]]

 

 

{{spoiler|However, he eventually loses control of Sakura, and eventually he is killed by a combination of Kotomine Kirei and Dark Sakura. Living through even this by sheer force of will, he is finally convinced it is his time by Ilyasviel during the final moments of the final ending.}}

* [[Big Bad]]: In ''Heaven's Feel''.

* [[Black Eyes of Evil]]

* [[The Dog Bites Back]]: {{spoiler|Killed by Dark Sakura when at his most vulnerable after years of mistreatment. It's implied (though not outright stated) in ''UBW'' that Shinji had Gilgamesh kill his body in that path as well, which if true would make it a double case due to him saddling Shinji with his inferiority complex.}}

* [[Evil Is Not a Toy]]: His plan for obtaining the Grail involves {{spoiler|corrupting Sakura, who he has been torturing for over a decade, with [[Demonic Possession|an entity representing all the evils of the world]], which also happens to give her almost godlike power and super-regeneration abilities, and then expecting her to follow his orders until she breaks down entirely, at which point he will possess her body. All this whilst the main worm containing his soul is buried within her heart. [[What an Idiot!|Three guesses at what happens... ]].}}

* [[Faux Affably Evil]]: The very first time Shirou encounters him, Zouken just looks like a normal, well-mannered grandfather to Sakura and Shinji ; he invites Shirou to stay for dinner and asks him to be a good friend to his grandchildren. He even threatens to call the police or to "hurt [Shirou] a bit" when he first mistakes him for a stalker following Sakura. [[Complete Monster|Then we learn how he himself treats Sakura.]] Feel free to think about [[Fridge Horror|what he might have meant by that "hurting a bit" thing.]]

* [[Grand Theft Me]]: In order to keep himself alive, he has to obtain a new body every few months (or when the old one is damaged beyond repair).

* {{spoiler|[[The Worm That Walks]]}}

 

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[[Category:Characters]]

[[Category:Fate/stay night]]