History TearJerker / FateStayNight

** The Tiger Dojo segment afterwards drives it homes even further. While the Tiger Dojo is normally designed to break the tension from the Bad End and give the player advice on how to avoid it, Taiga here will [[BrutalHonesty frankly tell you]] [[spoiler:there is no Happy Ending for Saber in this route.]] [[spoiler:[[ShootTheDog You '''''have''''' to kill her. ]]]]

** The Tiger Dojo segment afterwards drives it homes even further. While the Tiger Dojo is normally designed to break the tension from the Bad End and give the player advice on how to avoid it, Taiga here will [[BrutalHonesty frankly tell you]] [[spoiler:there is no Happy Ending for Saber in this route. You '''''have''''' to kill her. ]]

* [[spoiler:The night where Shirou decides to attempt to kill Sakura to end the entire mess. Not only does he fail at stabbing her, but it turns out that she was awake the whole time and was absolutely horrified, shaking in fear, despite pretending to be calm about it. Shirou ends up crying, thinking about how he could even consider it, and gives Sakura a CooldownHug.]]

* What's the scene called after making that painful decision? ''I'll forget about you.'' Within it, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Shirou reflects on the fact that he's just committed an unforgivable act]] [[MoralEvenHorizon that cannot be justified in any capacity]], how he feels so bad about [[spoiler:killing Saber]] that he has to erase every trace of [[spoiler:her]] memory from his mind just to keep from going mad, how he knows he's sacrificing literally everything he has and he knows it just isn't ''worth'' it... but that if given the choice, he would do it again, because a world without [[spoiler:Sakura]] in it is incomprehensible to him.

* What's the scene called after making that painful decision? ''I'll forget about you.'' Within it, Shirou reflects on the fact that he's just committed an unforgivable act that cannot be justified in any capacity, how he feels so bad about [[spoiler:killing Saber]] that he has to erase every trace of [[spoiler:her]] memory from his mind just to keep from going mad, how he knows he's sacrificing literally everything he has and he knows it just isn't ''worth'' it... but that if given the choice, he would do it again, because a world without [[spoiler:Sakura]] in it is incomprehensible to him.

** After the two fight, Shirou runs away, leaving Saber at the bridge. After going home, after Rin asks him of Saber's absence later that night, he immediately goes back and finds her...still at the same spot. When he asks why, she reveals after Shirou yelled at her to just "do what she wanted," she was paralyzed by indecision the whole time he was gone.

** After the two fight, Shiro runs away, leaving Saber at the bridge. After going home, getting chastised by Rin for just leaving Saber out there alone, he goes back and finds her...still at the same spot. When he asks why, she reveals after Shiro yelled at her to just "do what she wanted," she was paralyzed by indecision the whole time he was gone.

* The only ending (and a truly [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]] one) for the Fate route is "Continuation of the Dream." [[spoiler:Having won the battle, Saber asks Shirou to let her fulfill her duty one final time, and he uses the last Command Spell to order Saber to destroy the Holy Grail.]] The last scene you see is the final moments of [[spoiler:Saber, ending her life as King Arthur. She speaks to Bedivere one last time, talking about how she had a "pleasant dream" -- the first in a long time -- and asks him if it's possible to continue your dream where you last left it when you woke up. Bedivere, sadly aware that his lord is having a {{dying dream}}, comfortingly tells her that yes, you can. When she finally passes away, just to drive the knife in, her last faltering words are telling Bedivere that [[BigSleep her slumber may be a long time]]. Bedivere's parting words to her are "Do you see it, King Arthur? The continuation of the dream?"]] Cue profound crying.

* The only ending (and a truly [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]] one) for the Fate route is "Continuation of the Dream." [[spoiler:Having won the battle, Saber asks Shirou to let her fulfill her duty one final time, and he uses the last Command Spell to order Saber to destroy the Holy Grail.]] The last scene you see is the final moments of [[spoiler:Saber, ending her life as King Arthur. She speaks to Bedivire, talking about how she had a "pleasant dream" and when she finally passes away, just to drive the knife in, the last words are "Do you see it, King Arthur? The Continuation of the Dream?"]] Cue profound crying.

* [[spoiler:Kirei's]] past gives a lot of reason as to why [[FreudianExcuse he does the things he does]]- the only woman he ever loved [[spoiler:died just after giving birth to their child, and rather than feeling loss for her death or suffering because she's gone, Kirei only felt one emotion- ''despair over not being able to kill her himself''. While it's debatable whether or not he loved his wife, the fact that Kirei could only feel bloodlust for her demise despite marrying her and caring for her all those years drove him mad with despair. Kirei is well aware that he's a terrible, despicable human being, but just can't stop being one.]]

*** The combination of [[spoiler:Shirou telling Saber to fulfill her duty even though it's painful for him, her [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments confession of love]] [[DyingDeclarationOfLove shortly before she disappears]], and the music are all gut-wrenching. The DistantFinale in the UpdatedRerelease does soften the ache, but it's still a BittersweetEnding, since [[IWillFindYou Shirou]] and [[IWillWaitForYou Saber]] were separated for decades upon centuries before [[TogetherInDeath being reunited]].]]

* ''Fate'' route:
** The only ending (and a truly [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]] one) for the Fate route is "Continuation of the Dream." [[spoiler: Having won the battle, Saber asks Shirou to let her fulfill her duty one final time, and he uses the last Command Spell to order Saber to destroy the Holy Grail.]] The last scene you see is the final moments of [[spoiler:Saber, ending her life as King Arthur. She speaks to Bedivire, talking about how she had a "pleasant dream" and when she finally passes away, just to drive the knife in, the last words are "Do you see it, King Arthur? The Continuation of the Dream?"]] Cue profound crying.
*** Four simple words: [[spoiler: "Shirou...I love you."]]

*** The combination of [[spoiler: Shirou telling Saber to fulfill her duty even though it's painful for him, her [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments confession of love]] [[DyingDeclarationOfLove shortly before she disappears]], and the music are all gut-wrenching. The DistantFinale in the UpdatedRerelease does soften the ache, but it's still a BittersweetEnding, since [[IWillFindYou Shirou]] and [[IWillWaitForYou Saber]] were separated for decades upon centuries before [[TogetherInDeath being reunited]].]]
** Shirou and Saber's confrontation after their date in Fate. There's something heartbreaking about Shirou's first real admission that he's in love with Saber, mixed with his hopeless realization that he can't save her from her own self-destructive path.
*** After the two fight, Shiro runs away, leaving Saber at the bridge. After going home, getting chastised by Rin for just leaving Saber out there alone, he goes back and finds her...still at the same spot. When he asks why, she reveals after Shiro yelled at her to just "do what she wanted," she was paralyzed by indecision the whole time he was gone.
--> '''Saber''':''...I was still here because I did not yet know where to go. You told me to do as I wished. So I tried to do so. But I could not think what I should do or where I want to go. So I was thinking all this time about where I should be going.''
** The very first thing told after you finish the prologue and start this route? A flashback of Shirou's in a dream, to the great fire 10 years prior in which he says that [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat he knew he would not be saved even as a child]] and that his body might have survived by a miracle but [[LossOfIdentity everything else about him burnt away]] and died there as if you take parents and home from a child [[EmptyShell there is nothing left]]. Small wonder he idolized Kiritsugu and wanted to be like him... Not that any other flashback or mention of that fire is any better, almost all of them showcasing a severe survivor's guilt and go a long way to explain why he has a hero complex.
* The reason why Shirou is part of the going-home club (aka, is not in any clubs), despite everyone agreeing he was better than the freaking ''club president'' at kyuudo/archery? [[note]]There is a story in UBW that he only ever missed ''once'', and when another club member, astonished, pointed that out, Shirou said, "I missed, because I was ''supposed'' to miss", meaning he ''aimed'' slightly off.[[/note]] He was working at his part-time job when the crate of a shipment fell on his right shoulder and broke it. The fracture wasn't too serious and it healed, but as the shipment was hazardous, the accident left Shirou with a big burn scar. [[{{Jerkass}} Matou Shinji]] was [[SarcasmMode kind enough]] to point out that as kyuudo is very traditional, the boys have to uncover their right shoulders even during club practice and especially in competitions, and they can't have someone showing a bad burn. Shirou quit then and there.
* ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route:
** The ''Fate'' route had already established Ilya as a [[EnfanteTerrible homicidal, sociopathic]] CreepyChild and her Servant Berserker as a NighInvulnerable embodiment of madness and destruction... And then we come across Berserker desperately pressing forward into Gilgamesh's endless hail of swords in an attempt to shield his master. After a flashback revealing their bond in Ilya's backstory, [[spoiler:a now blinded, frightened, and dying Ilya slowly crawls across the floor]], calling out for her Servant for comfort; to fulfill his master's wish, [[spoiler:Berserker defies [[MagicAIsMagicA reality]] and forces his body to physically remain through sheer willpower, when even his mind ought to have disappeared. Upon feeling the touch of (dead) Berserker's stone foot, Ilya is reassured that he will protect her and loses consciousness hoping that he will pet her head when she wakes up. A moment later, Berserker's body begins to crumble to dust, and Gilgamesh rips out Ilya's heart]].
** Similarly, in the anime adaptation, Servant Caster tries to protect her master from [[spoiler:Archer's hail of swords and is fatally wounded in the process. In the calm that follows, Caster desperately checks to see if he is okay. He says he is fine and promises that if she tells him her wish, he will fulfill it in her stead. But she just shakes her head and with a hand to his face says that her wish has just been fulfilled, vanishing with a smile. After another moment, he falls down dead from the fatal wounds he had sustained but kept hidden]]...
*** In the game, where it was [[spoiler:Archer's swords, Kuzuki does survive Archer's attack but then insists on attacking Archer without the assistance of Caster's magic and Archer ruthlessly cuts him down.]] Not ''quite'' the same effect.
*** The manga redition of this scene is arguably ''worse'': [[spoiler: rather than Caster protecting Kuzuki, it's the other way around as Kuzuki takes Archer's arrow and collapses, to Caster's shock and horror. As Caster starts crying, we get a whole look at Kuzuki's backstory before he dies, and we cut back to him telling her to keep fighting for her wish - Caster insists that her wish was to live a second life with Soichiro by her side, and breaks down completely when he breaths his last. When Archer cuts the sobbing Caster down, it feels more like ShootTheDog than KarmicDeath.]]
** When Archer is fighting [[spoiler:Shirou, his past self, and screaming at the top of his lungs that his entire life was a lie. As he tries to effectively kill himself, he comes to the conclusion that while his original ideals are beautiful, they can never happen, and the only salvation from the horrors of human atrocities is his own death.]]
** Archer's goodbye to Rin and his last smile. [[spoiler: He talks and smiles just like Shirou, for the first and last time in all three routes...]]
** Archer is a walking tearjerker. He [[spoiler:worked tirelessly towards his ideal of trying to save everybody he could see. He realizes the limits of his powers and begins to fall into his foster father, Kiritsugu's mentality, which is sacrifice the few to save the many. But he still continues to work endlessly to try to make as many people happy as possible. But the people around him become suspicious of him, since he never asks for any rewards, and since he never talks, they start to think he's "ruthless" as well. But the real reason that he never talked or wanted any rewards was because he never had anything to talk about, and his reward was the sole action of saving people. And thus, he keeps getting betrayed by the people he saves, but he continues pursuing his ideal, because he believes that as long he doesn't betray himself, there will be another oppurtunity. He eventually even makes a contract with the World giving his entire afterlife as a guardian to save a few hundred people. He eventually gets killed by one of the people he saved, but even as he is excuted, he's glad that he might still be able to save people after he died as a guardian. But after becoming a guardian, he discovers the truth, in that a guardian's sole duty is to kill people who threaten humanity as a whole, and he is essentially betrayed by his own ideal, causing him to become a cynical and bitter individual, whose only goal is to erase himself from existence by killing his past self]].
** Addendum to the above: [[spoiler: He exchanged his freedom for power to save the people right then, right there. He thought he could continue doing what he had always been doing, but with more power. However, the role of a Guardian is to clean up the mess after it's already too far gone, usually by eliminating whoever is connected to the threat that caused the mess in the first place.. He felt that he ended up saving no one in the end, despite everything.]]

** To add in, the UBW movie ending with Archer's final words to Rin with his 'Old Look' and smile back, and Rin's promise to both Archer and Shirou, and the ending theme song, ''[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic ~Voice ~Tadori Tsuku Basho~]]'' by Tainaka Sachi. Well done, Tainaka-san and Nasu-san. Damnit.
** Rin (narrating): "The boy who stated that he just doesn't want to see anyone cry...[[IronicHell could only see crying humans forever]]." And the audience just joined them.
** Arguably, the final epilogue of the route is even more heart wrenching than Archer and Rin's final conversation. Briefly, Archer is able to reflect on his duel with Shirou, and comes to terms with the fact that, no matter what kind of hell his ideal dragged him through, he was not wrong to pursue it. After unknown years of service as a Counter Guardian and wishing only for his own destruction, he was able to stand firm, once again, behind his choices. He knew, once and for all, that he was not wrong. [[spoiler: The only problem is, due to the nature of Servants and the Throne of Heroes, Archer was only a copy of the true Heroic Spirit EMIYA, a copy created solely for the Holy Grail War. The real EMIYA, the one who would continue to serve as a Counter Guardian until the Earth itself died, will never receive the closure and self-assurance that Archer did, which means that he continue to cling to his self-hatred and wish for his own destruction forever. Dammit.]]
*** Although this one is somewhat mitigated by some apparent differences between [[spoiler: the nature of Counter Guardians and that of the Throne of Heroes. The Throne of Heroes is a part of Gaia, the World itself, and the Heroic Spirits are copied when summoned, with the original getting a sort of brief report of what happened with their copy self when it returns. The Counter Guardians are commanded by Alaya, the collective subconscious of humanity and seem to operate under different rules. While Counter Guardians also seem to get copied when summoned ( and lack free will when "on the job") EMIYA's devastation from what he had to do after the fact (combined with Archer's later appearances where he remembers far more than he should) suggest that he has a much more vivid and complete recollection of his experiences than normal Servants. Since EMIYA's despair stems from his experiences after becoming a Counter Guardian (whereas those in the Throne of Heroes all have traumas from their life)]] it is suggested that Archer ''will'' retain his closure and renewed self-worth after all.

* And yet all those pale in comparison to the ''Heaven's Feel'' route:
** [[spoiler:Shirou]] is (possibly) '''[[HeroicSacrifice killed off]]''' in the finale: the TearJerker ending then sticks to and expands on this, showing the epilogue through [[spoiler:Sakura's]] eyes, as [[spoiler:she]] ages and watches everything change around [[spoiler:her]], remaining alone until the end... '''Needlessly and maliciously cruel.'''
** Oh, and then after that ''the title screen changes to both the music and background of the very last scene of that'', so we can now ALWAYS feel depressed on loading the game.
** And who can forget, in that same route, when [[spoiler:if you get the true ending, the happy one, right before Shirou dies, Ilya rescues him. The entire time he's begging her to let him die so she can live, or at least he's trying to. At the end she goes out with a smile saying she's going to show Shirou a miracle.]]
*** [[spoiler: "You said an older brother protects his younger sister, right?…[[MeaningfulEcho Yeah. I'm the older sister. So I have to protect my younger brother]]."]]
** [[spoiler:Saber]]'s death is bad enough (especially when Shirou learns of it, [[spoiler:when his Command Spell disappears]]). Forcing the player to make the choice to stab [[spoiler:Saber Alter]] in the heart while [[spoiler:she's]] helpless is just ''mean''. [[spoiler:Yet failure to do so triggers the worst BadEnd with [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Dark Sakura]] giving Rin Tohsaka a 'personal lesson' on what she suffered the past eleven years. No matter which decision you make it is a HUGE PlayerPunch.]]
*** The Tiger Dojo segment afterwards drives it homes even further. While the Tiger Dojo is normally designed to break the tension from the Bad End and give the player advice on how to avoid it, Taiga here will [[BrutalHonesty frankly tell you]] [[spoiler: there is no Happy Ending for Saber in this route. You '''''have''''' to kill her. ]]
** And then the Last Episode goes out of its way to [[YouBastard tell you how much you lost]].
** What's the scene called after making that painful decision? ''I'll forget about you.'' Within it, Shirou reflects on the fact that he's just committed an unforgivable act that cannot be justified in any capacity, how he feels so bad about [[spoiler:killing Saber]] that he has to erase every trace of [[spoiler:her]] memory from his mind just to keep from going mad, how he knows he's sacrificing literally everything he has and he knows it just isn't ''worth'' it... but that if given the choice, he would do it again, because a world without [[spoiler:Sakura]] in it is incomprehensible to him.
--->"Using my own hands, I killed someone who protected me until the very end ----
--->Neither regret nor a confession will bring forgiveness ..."
** Saber being corrupted by the Shadow and fighting against Shirou is worse when you remember the UBW route, half of which focused on Shirou and Rin attempting to rescue Saber from Caster's control after the latter had taken her in a servant. Fortunately they're able to save her before she is broken down completely. Guess Saber wasnt so lucky this time around.
** The rainy night in the park, with Shirou's decision to abandon his ideals and protect the [[YourDaysAreNumbered most-likely dying]] Sakura.
** Later on, Shirou asks her what she'd like to do "when" she gets better. She says she just wants to go watch the [[CherryBlossoms cherry]] [[MeaningfulName blossoms]] fall. Shirou then [[ThePromise promises her]] they'll go do exactly that. Given that at this point, [[spoiler: Shirou has just decided to [[ShootTheDog kill her]]]]...
** Ilya's [[WhatTheHellHero response]] to your choice and the knowledge that [[spoiler:you'll have to [[ShootTheDog kill her and Rin]]]] so soon after her SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}} in the infamous "Mind of Steel" [[NonStandardGameOver ending]] ought to wring some tears out of [[YouBastard you]].
*** It's even worse if you're aware of [[spoiler:Ilya's true parentage]].
** Bad End #38. Right after the SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for Shirou that is [[spoiler:defeating Saber Alter single-handedly]] by going past his limits, the consequences of doing so hit and [[spoiler:he's reduced to a vegetable that will never recover and is effectively dead]]. At this point narration switches to Saber, who contemplates his strength and what will come of his sacrifice.
---> '''Saber (thinking):''' [[spoiler:The one whose limits held her back, and the one who went past his limits. The result is the one laying beside her. [...] Tohsaka Rin and Matou Sakura. No matter which one survived, the one who would bless them is no longer in this world.]]
** [[spoiler: The night where Shirou decides to attempt to kill Sakura to end the entire mess. Not only does he fail at stabbing her, but it turns out that she was awake the whole time and was absolutely horrified, shaking in fear, despite pretending to be calm about it. Shirou ends up crying, thinking about how he could even consider it, and gives Sakura a CooldownHug.]]
** [[spoiler:Kirei]]'s death, oddly enough. After how much of the route is spent getting to know him better and after he became a character who's easily sympathetic to some degree, there's something oddly poignant about his short, quick, anticlimatic death, ''especially'' thanks to the narration.
---> ''Did he smile in his last moments''?
---> ''[[spoiler:The priest]] disappears from this world, with no one to bury him.''
** [[spoiler: Kirei's]] past gives a lot of reason as to why [[FreudianExcuse he does the things he does]]- the only woman he ever loved [[spoiler: died just after giving birth to their child, and rather than feeling loss for her death or suffering because she's gone, Kirei only felt one emotion- ''despair over not being able to kill her himself''. While it's debatable whether or not he loved his wife, the fact that Kirei could only feel bloodlust for her demise despite marrying her and caring for her all those years drove him mad with despair. Kirei is well aware that he's a terrible, despicable human being, but just can't stop being one.]]
* The ending of the Fate route can be considered one of these. Shirou and Saber defeat their respective {{Big Bad}} and yet [[spoiler:by doing the right thing and destroying the grail, they lose any chance of staying together.]] This is made substantially worse when Saber [[spoiler:tells Shirou she loves him before she leaves his life forever.]] How Shirou manages to smile through it all is simply amazing. IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy indeed...
* While Gilgamesh is taking a level in badass when killing Berserker about 13 times in the UBW route, he also destroys Ilyasviel's eyes and rips her heart out of her body, thus making an incredibly sad play on kick the dog.

* Archer's HeroicSacrifice in the anime (and by extension, ''Fate''), staying behind with the intent to defeat Berserker (or at least take out some lives) while his Master, Shirou, and Saber flee. Even as he takes that beating, not once does he think to strike at Ilya (for ''very'' good reason, as it turns out ...), and when he finally fades away upon completely draining his mana ... God. Rin's reaction is already heartbreaking as she vows to not forgive Shirou and Saber if they get killed by Berserker; worse when the credits play and instead of the usual song we get "Hikari" as the ending theme. In the last moments, we get to see Archer's red cape disintegrating into light [[spoiler: to reveal the only thing left of him - the gemstone Rin used to save his life, back when he was still still Shirou Emiya and first got caught up in the war ...]]

---> '''Saber''': I can fight with you as soon as you are ready. But I will fight...[[TearJerker only as your Servant]].

--> '''Saber''':''...I was still here because I did not yet know where to go. You told me to do as I wished. So I tried to do so. But I could not think what I should do or where I want to go. So I was thinking all this time about where I should be going."''

*** The combination of [[spoiler: Shirou telling Saber to fulfill her duty even though it's painful for him, her [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming confession of love]] [[DyingDeclarationOfLove shortly before she disappears]], and the music are all gut-wrenching. The DistantFinale in the UpdatedRerelease does soften the ache, but it's still a BittersweetEnding, since [[IWillFindYou Shirou]] and [[IWillWaitForYou Saber]] were separated for decades upon centuries before [[TogetherInDeath being reunited]].]]

** To add in, the UBW movie ending with Archer's final words to Rin with his 'Old Look' and smile back, and Rin's promise to both Archer and Shirou, and the ending theme song, ''[[CrowningMusicOfAwesome ~Voice ~Tadori Tsuku Basho~]]'' by Tainaka Sachi. Well done, Tainaka-san and Nasu-san. Damnit.

* The game's prologue has a tearjerker moment, the nature of which only becomes clear after finishing ''Unlimited Blade Works''. Rin's summoning goes awry, which is why she ends up with Archer rather than Saber, and as a side effect, her living room becomes a giant mess. The first order she gives Archer, the legendary hero whom she summoned to help her fight for no less a prize than the Holy Grail? "[[MundaneUtility Clean up this mess]]." On the first go-round, it's a pure CrowningMomentOfFunny, but after learning that Archer long ago lost sight of the DespairEventHorizon due to being involved in an endless cycle of pointless violence, performing so mundane a task as housecleaning is probably the closest thing to heaven he can imagine himself attaining, the more so because [[spoiler:he was quite domestic during his lifetime as Shirou, and he's helping one of the girls whom, as Shirou, he loved the most]].

** Ilya's [[WhatTheHellHero response]] to your choice and the knowledge that [[spoiler:you'll have to [[ShootTheDog kill her and Rin]]]] so soon after her CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming in the infamous "Mind of Steel" [[NonStandardGameOver ending]] ought to wring some tears out of [[YouBastard you]].

** Bad End #38. Right after the CrowningMomentOfAwesome for Shirou that is [[spoiler:defeating Saber Alter single-handedly]] by going past his limits, the consequences of doing so hit and [[spoiler:he's reduced to a vegetable that will never recover and is effectively dead]]. At this point narration switches to Saber, who contemplates his strength and what will come of his sacrifice.

---> '''Saber:''' "I can fight with you as soon as you are ready. But I will fight...[[TearJerker only as your Servant]]."

----
<<|TearJerker|>>

** Archer's goodbye to Rin and his last smile.

* The reason why Shirou is part of the going-home club (aka, is not in any clubs), despite everyone agreeing he was better than the freaking ''club president'' at kyuudo/archery? [[note]]There is a story in UBW that he only ever missed ''once'', and when another club member, astonished, pointed that out, Shirou said, "I missed, because I was ''supposed'' to miss", meaning he ''aimed'' slightly off.[[/note]] Matou Shinji did something to his shoulder that left a noticeable scar apart from simply hurting him. To be specific, on the shoulder that they ''have'' to leave open in competitions, meaning he wouldn't be able to partake in them. And if their bar-none best peerless player cannot partake in competitions...

* The reason why Shirou is part of the going-home club (aka, is not in any clubs), despite everyone agreeing he was better than the freaking ''club president'' at kyuudo/archery? [[notes]]There is a story in UBW that he only ever missed ''once'', and when another club member, astonished, pointed that out, Shirou said, "I missed, because I was ''supposed'' to miss", meaning he ''aimed'' slightly off.[[/notes]] Matou Shinji did something to his shoulder that left a noticeable scar apart from simply hurting him. To be specific, on the shoulder that they ''have'' to leave open in competitions, meaning he wouldn't be able to partake in them. And if their bar-none best peerless player cannot partake in competitions...

* The reason why Shirou is part of the going-home club (aka, is not in any clubs), despite everyone agreeing he was better than the freaking ''club president'' at kyuudo/archery? [note]There is a story that he only ever missed ''once'', and when another club member, astonished, pointed that out, Shirou said, "I missed, because I was ''supposed'' to miss", meaning he ''aimed'' slightly off.[/note] Matou Shinji did something to his shoulder that left a noticeable scar apart from simply hurting him. To be specific, on the shoulder that they ''have'' to leave open in competitions, meaning he wouldn't be able to partake in them. And if their bar-none best peerless player cannot partake in competitions...

** The very first thing told after you finish the prologue and start this route? A flashback of Shirou's in a dream, to the great fire 10 years prior in which he says that [[NooneCouldSurviveThat he knew he would not be saved even as a child]] and that his body might have survived by a miracle but [[LossOfIdentity everything else about him burnt away]] and died there as if you take parents and home from a child [[EmptyShell there is nothing left]]. Small wonder he idolized Kiritsugu and wanted to be like him... Not that any other flashback or mention of that fire is any better, almost all of them showcasing a severe survivor's guilt and go a long way to explain why he has a hero complex.

* Episode 21 of the anime: The moment that Shirou kisses Saber is when she seems to [[LoveEpiphany finally (and tearfully) realize she loves him]]...but even that isn't enough to change her mind on using the Holy Grail to redo the selection of the King:

** The very first thing told after you finish the prologue and start this route? A flashback of Shirou's in a dream, to the great fire 10 years prior in which he says that [[NobodyCouldSurviveThat he knew he would not be saved even as a child]] and that his body might have survived by a miracle but [[LossOfIdentity everything else about him burnt away]] and died there as if you take parents and home from a child [[EmptyShell there is nothing left]]. Small wonder he idolized Kiritsugu and wanted to be like him... Not that any other flashback or mention of that fire is any better, almost all of them showcasing a severe survivor's guilt.

*** The Tiger Dojo segment afterwards drives it homes even further. While the Tiger Dojo is normally designed to break the tension from the Bad End and give the player advice on how to avoid it, Taiga here will [[BrutalHonesty frankly tell you]] [[spoiler: there is no Happy Ending for Saber in this route, you ''have'' to kill her. ]]

*** Four simple words: [[spoiler: "Shirou, please know that I love you."]]