Archer

Fuyuki High

...Student...

Fate Stay Night

Scorpio

Personal History
As you might have guessed, Archer and Shirou are the same person. Archer can be considered Shirou’s adult form or better his future self. They’re almost opposte in personality and motivations and this is due to Shirou’s choices and events that happened in his life: Archer seems to hate himself for those choices he mad as an immature person and that condamned him to that existence he doesn’t enjoy at all: But what truly happened to him? Let’s analize his story. In Fate he’s destined to Rin, although she didn’t wanted him at the first place. He equally fights against Lancer on their first meeting and although he’s injured he doesn’t allow his enemy to beat him. Later on he has the duty to protect Shirou’s house from the other masters and he gives him many advices in their short but important meetings, warning him on his lacknesses and trying to let him understand his real powers and abilities. He’s killed by Berserker in Ilya’s residence as he tries to gain time for Rin, Saber and Shirou to escape. He has a more important role in Unlimited Blade Works as we learn something more about his motivations. He’s again summoned by Rin but this time he betraies her and join Caster. His real aim is killing Shirou since it is the reason why he joined the war. The miracle he was looking for was the chance to end his miserabile existence by killing himself before choosing the path of being a heroe. Archer strongly dislikes that existence that oblidges him to be summoned and fight forever. Shirou on the other side is sure he made the correct choice and tries to convince him, by fighting him of corse, that he’s right, he can save people and protect justice. Sacrifices are needed but he’s sure he can limited them with his efforts and determination. Archer is beaten by him and he understands that those ideals belonged to a young heart and that probably the whole mistake was made by him, by betraying his own dream because of desperation. He’s finally happy and he accepts his destiny; he will fight forever for those who’ll need him. In Heavens Feel Archer is soonely defeated and killed in his attempt to save Rin from the attack of True Assassin and Black Saber. He gives his left arm to Shirou (who lost it in the attempt of protecting Ilya) before vanishing and he entrusts him his Reality Marble, although he can’t know it wouldn’t work as expected (since it reproduces swords inside Shirou’s body and not outside). Archer can be considered one of the possible evolution of Shirou, but not the definitive one. In Heaven's Feel, in the moment in which Shirou decides to save Sakura and renounces to the idea of saving everybody he should become a different person than him, although they share the same origins. There are also some speculations about his own past experience which reflects the Fate scenario but with different happenings, like not being able to save Saber, losing Rin and Ilya as well. And there's also the EMIYA transaction, a sort of phase between the Shirou and Archer trasnformation. In teh attempt of reaching his goal, the ideal of becoming a hero, he started a sort of war, killing people without even recognizing those who were completely innocent. That was necessary to realize his utopic dream. But when he realized it he decided he should do something, at least for those he sacrificed without any reason, always thinking that the last murder would be the final one. He wasn't able to preserve his ideal and his original goal, and to accomplish his presumed duties he decided to make a Pact with the World, in order to get the strenght to become a real Heroe of Justice, changing the destinies of those he sacrified and preserving their existences. As exchange for this miracle the Throne of the Heroes (an idefinitive force that collect and preserves eroic souls) he should become an heroic spirit in his afterlife. He's eventually judged (and somehow betraied) by one of those he saved and executed for crimes against humanity.