EMIYA

"I am the bone of my sword Steel is my body and fire is my blood I have created over a thousand blades Unknown to Death, Nor known to Life Have withstood pain to create many weapons Yet, those hands will never hold anything So as I pray, unlimited blade works."

- Archer's Unlimited Blade Works chant

WARNING: This page contains spoilers

Archer is a major character in Kinoko Nasu's visual novel and later anime Fate/Stay Night. Archer is a "Heroic Spirit", or "Servant", the spirit of a legendary hero summoned by one of seven mages who compete in a ritual known as the "Holy Grail War", a battle for a prize said to grant one wish of both the "Master"/Summoner and "Servant"/Heroic Spirit". Archer, however, is not a normal Heroic Spirit, but a counter guardian, in service of Alaya, essentially the spirit of the universe (or something like that the Nasuverse is really confusing), sent to eliminate any beings that threaten the world, but only AFTER they cause massive destruction.

Archer's true identity is Shirou Emiya, Kiritsugu Emiya's adopted son, who made the contract with Alaya in order be a "hero", however, Archer, like Kiritsugu, became dark and cynical, believing that in order to save lives, he must end lives. Archer despaired at the perceived meaninglessness of his existence, and in one route in Fate/Stay Night, he is intentionally summoned to a time when he was a mortal man, with the intent of killing his past self in order the "commit suicide by time travel". Shirou, however, defeats his future self, using his own abilities against him. In other routes of the visual novel, Archer's relationship with his past self is less hostile,

Archer, in spite of his name (referring to his class of heroic spirit which normally fights at long ranges), fights mostly at close range with superhuman speed and magically enhanced swords, his favored weapons being a pair of Chinese dao named Kansho and Bakuya. Archer's most powerful ability is "Unlimited Blade Works", a magic which enables him to create copies of any melee weapon, including powerfully magical weapons, but he is not able to create a "divine-class" weapon such the "Nasuverse" version of Excalibur, or at least not a fully powered version. Archer is also able to fire magic exploding arrows, capable of exploding with the force of at least a fuel-air bomb. Archer also possesses the usual superhuman speed, strength, and immunity to conventional weapons of a Servant.