History Characters / FateStayNight

*** And a reading of Fate/Zero will show that he was still pretty evil, to the point that the Omnipotent Narrator says so. On the other hand, in Fate/Zero Gilgamesh is shown to follow the laws, which would technically make him good. Oh, and by "the laws", we mean ''his own'' laws that he set up way back when, which is pretty respectful for a king with an ego as large as his.

** This is because, as the Type-Moon wiki states, this ability is actually an aspect of the Second Magic, Kaleidoscope. While it's just a small portion of what Zeltrech's full magic is like, the basis is that some nobody, just through their hard work, developed a sword skill that evokes something akin to a true miracle.

** This is because, as the Type-Moon wiki states, this ability is actually an aspect of the Second Magic, Kaleidoscope. While it's just a small portion of what Zeltrech's full magic is like, the basis is that some nobody, just through their hard work, developed a sword skill that evokes something akin to a true miracle.

* UnskilledButStrong- The most powerful person in the game by a considerable margin, and in fact one of the top five beings on the planet in terms of raw power. He could easily defeat anything he encounters during the Fifth War just by overwhelming it with his full strength right off the bat. Does not have the skill or common sense to ''use'' this power well at ''all'', leading to a combination of ego and poor planning getting him killed in all three routes.

*** And a reading of Fate/Zero will show that he was still pretty evil, to the point that the Omnipotent Narrator says so

* [[PowerBornOfMadness Power Born of Psychological Breakage]] - His ability to trace Noble Phantasms would never have arisen had he not lost all sense of self in the fire at the end of the fourth Grail War.

** FalseReassurance - And this. The [[Pantheon/Mentalism God of this, in fact]].

** FalseReassurance - And this.

* {{Leitmotif}} - "The Church on the Hill."

* SayMyName - Shirou and Kirei seem especially fond of calling each other by full names, especially when yelling. Let's see how long it takes a YaoiFangirl to find FoeYay in that...

* VillainsOutShopping - Shirou enters a restaurant and... finds Kirei eating infamously hot mapo tofu at a Chinese restaurant.

Unlike other Heroic Spirits, his identity is not a figure from the past: in fact, he is an AlternateUniverse FutureBadass version of Shirou Emiya, who achieved his dream of becoming a selfless Hero of Justice but was slammed with nothing but betrayals to his ideal, eventually becoming trapped in eternal service to The World as a Counter Guardian. He joins the war so he can kill Shiro- or at least spare him from the harsh fate that awaits him if he continues his naive idealism- and consequently cause a time paradox that would remove Archer from his contract to The World. His main strength lies in Projection Magic, augmented by his possession of the powerful Reality Marble magic ''Unlimited Blade Works'', which reduces the mana cost required for Projection to nil. He most commonly Projects the twin Noble Phantasms ''Kanshou & Bakuya'', a pair of swords.

*** And a reading of Fate/Zero will show that he was still pretty evil, to the point that the Omnipotent Narrator says so.

* EvilFrogWantsToBeAnOx - Shinji, no means ''NO''.

* [[spoiler: ColdSniper: A CG from ''Fate/EXTRA'' shows Shirou (presumably several years after the end of ''Fate'' or a timeline like it) holding a sniper rifle at the TokyoTower. Archer (still Shirou) mentions in that game that he joined a resistance group in his past.[[FateZero Like father, ]] [[Generationxerox like son, eh?]]]]

* [[spoiler: ColdSniper: A CG from ''Fate/EXTRA'' shows Shirou (presumably several years after the end of ''Fate'' or a timeline like it) holding a sniper rifle at the TokyoTower. Archer (still Shirou) mentions in that game that he joined a resistance group in his past.[[FateZero Like father, ]] [[GenerationZerox like son.]]]]

* ChaoticNeutral - Due to his "Chaotic Mad" status.

* TheMario - On her character sheet, all her attributes (except for her Noble Phantasm) are B or C rank. The other servants are much less balanced.
** Only if her master is Shirou though. [[spoiler: If Kiritsugu is her master all other stats is A with exception of strenght=B and luck=D. If Rin is her master her stats are all A except for Endurance=B and Agility=B. If Sakura is her master her stats are all A with exception of Agility=D and Luck=C... The first two makes her an overwhelming LightningBruiser while the last makes her a very powerfull MightyGlacier. It was even said during the UBW route that if Saber fought against Berserker (with Rin as her master) she could defeat her easily while during the HF route she defeated Berserker (along with the shadow) easily.]]
* TranquilFury: Played for laughs. You ''know'' that Shirou has managed to piss her off if she shows up to their daily sparring sessions smiling, happy... and wearing her armor. Cue ass-kicking.
* TearJerker - The famous [[spoiler: spoiler scene at the end of Fate and the anime.]]
** Less famous but still tear jerking, is [[spoiler: Shirou's ShootTheDog moment with a possessed Saber]] in Heaven's Feel.

* UnskilledButStrong- The most powerful person in the game by a considerable margin, and in fact one of the top five beings on the planet in terms of raw power. He could easily defeat anything he encounters during the Fifth War just by overwhelming it with his full strength right off the bat. Too bad for him that he combines this with a lack of real combat prowess and an ego that prevents him from ever actually ''doing'' that.

* UnskilledButStrong- Indisputably one of the top five beings on the planet in terms of raw power. Consistently defeated in every route because he fights like an ''idiot''.
** Of course, like the game mentions when discussing Berserker, Gilgamesh is so strong he doesn't ''need'' skill. Even with his lack of skill, he could still easily curbstomp pretty much anything if he didn't purposely hold back due to his FatalFlaw.

Shirou is an accomplished archer (having been a member of the school's archery club) and, following some training from Saber, is mildly proficent in swordplay. 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.

His identity, immediately told by Ilya, was in fact Greek Mythology's WorldsStrongestMan and EnsembleDarkhorse: Hercules. Due to his wide range of talents, [[TheAce Hercules could fulfil the role of any of the seven Classes]] (except Caster) if it wasn't for his fact that Ilya traded his sanity for the Berserker power boost shortly after summoning him. Due to this, he is unable to use his Noble Phantasm ''Nine Lives'' (the bow and arrows that he used to slay the hydra).

However, his sheer original strength (enhanced further by his class), demigod status and fame (the more well-known a Servant's legend is, the stronger they are) more than makes up for this. His other Noble Phantasm, ''God Hand'', nullifies any attack of Rank B or below and gives him eleven additional lives (in correspondence with his Twelve Labours). Despite all of this, he is always KilledOffForReal in every scenario, primarily because he is the Nasuverse's poster boy for TheWorfEffect.

Has a big rivalry (as well as a deadly infatuation) with Saber. His Noble Phantasm is the ''Gate of Babylon'', a portal which leads to a storage of the hundreds upon hundreds of Noble Phantasms that he collected in his lifetime as the king of Babylon. Lacking the proficency to actually wield most of them, he mainly just shoots them at people (hence his Archer class). The only Noble Phantasm in his collection that he regularly uses in close combat is the demonic sword ''Ea'', which he uses for his ''Enuma Elish'' FinishingMove.

* ChaoticEvil - Canonically, he's ChaoticGood. Practically... not so much.
* ChaoticGood - Hotly contested in fandom, although it's mostly agreed that he himself saw his Darwinist philosophy as being for the greater good in the end.