Heroic Spirit

An elemental spirit of humanity that is considered a natural phenomenon in itself, Heroic Spirits (英霊 eirei) are beings that accomplished great achievements such as saving the world and, after their death, became the object of worship and lore. As a result, they are placed outside the cycle of transmigration of the soul and ascend to an existence closer to Divine Spirits in order to become a power that protects humanity. Note that despite the origins of the term, they are not bound to the common understanding of the word “hero”, thus even Heroic Spirits of evil alignment exist.

Nature
Just like Elementals are able to take a physical form based on the image of humans, Heroic Spirits create a container that allows them to materialize in the present era out of their own legends. Regardless of the authenticity, as long as the information about an individual is enough widespread among humans of a given age, a Heroic Spirit can be materialized from them. Worth to note is, as the heroes are known through their stories, the information available about them is always composed by what is actually true, what was fictionally created in legends and what was omitted and is now unknown. Hence, Heroic Spirits can be influenced to a degree by what is known about them in the modern world.

Despite being an existence close to the gods, in their origin Heroic Spirits are fundamentally human, thus they cannot contend against greater mysteries with their basic powers alone. However, all Heroic Spirits possess Noble Phantasms. Unique relics are connected to them as anecdotes to their legends. Noble Phantasms are used as catalysts to reenact legendary mysteries and can pose a threat to even high-ranking Spirits.

The majority of those who became Heroic Spirits are individuals who range from the most remote times of humanity to the end of the 19th Century. Each Heroic Spirits are one-of-a-kind existences, those who outstood from others of their time by performing deeds that nobody else could and possessing qualities that no one had. It is almost impossible for someone of the present era to become a Heroic Spirit, for the great events of the past became everyday occurrences. In an age when the destruction of the planet is prevented all the time by preserving the Amazon forest from being plundered by companies, saving the world is no big deal. Another issue is that, because modern armaments give power to anyone use them, it is hard for a hero who uses today’s firing weapons to be recognized as a unique being. Even the most outstanding modern gunslinger will be seen by the world as “an expert that everybody can become through training”, not as a “one-of-a-kind existence”. If the conditions for the creation of a hero are met for a user of modern armaments, what will ascend to the rank of Heroic Spirit is the gun itself under the terms of “the most excellent weapon of its time”.

Once an individual is recognized as a Heroic Spirit, his soul will be removed from the cycle of transmigration and is stored in the Throne of Heroes, a spiritual location that is part of Akasha. He is left isolated there so to guarantee that no alteration that might compromise what is now considered a complete and perfect existence occurs. This is important since if a contradiction or existential paradox involving the hero is detected, the records of his existence might have to be erased so to preserve the stability of the world, though depending of the level of the distortion there might not be a need for such drastic measure. The Throne itself, just like Akasha, is a place that is outside any parallel world or timeframe, which is also a factor that makes possible for them to be summoned into any age.

Because they are a type of phenomenon, most humans are unable to perceive the actions of Heroic Spirits for what they are. Rather their actions are seen as a natural occurrence and they themselves as nothing but pure power. When they come to the world, they are usually in the form when their powers were at their prime, but this is not an unbreakable rule and cases where their shape was changed by external forces are known. Examples of this include one in which the Heroic Spirit appeared just as he was moments before his death-breath due a powerful curse imposed onto him and also the case of the two Sabers that were summoned by the Edelfelt sisters in the Heaven’s Feel 3, in which each Saber was in the form that best represented one of the aspects of his legend. On that account, it is also possible that the form that the hero takes is influenced somewhat by how his legend is known. It is also possible for Heroic Spirits to cause influences in the world in response to the direct summoning of humans, but that will happen through an indirect medium (such as relying messages to an oracle or borrowing their power to a living person). Servants are a different case that will be studied separately more ahead.

Note that in no moment at all the soul of the hero leaves the Throne of Heroes, and what really descends upon the earth when the services of the Heroic Spirit is needed is merely a copy of him created based on the information stored on the Throne. This copy will lack the ego of the original and, when there is no longer a need for the hero’s presence, it will just disappear without relaying any knowledge acquired back to the “main body” in the Throne. However, it is possible for this main body to become aware to some extent of what happened by accessing the records of Akasha. Arthuria, however, is a special case. Although she is counted as a Heroic Spirit, her soul is not inside the Throne for she is not technically dead yet. Instead, in accordance with her contract with the world, her body is frozen in a state between life and death while her soul is partially detached from it so she can fulfill her role as a hero. The reason why she is able to remember the events of the 4th Grail War during the Heaven's Feel 5 is because the mind of her original body receives the memories of what she experiences each time that she is summoned in the form of dreams.

Servants’ Case
As stated before, for the sake of preserving a existence that is already seen as complete, a Heroic Spirit is kept isolated in the Throne of Heroes and what called forth on the world is merely a disposable clone based on the original “main body” inside the Throne. However, due its connections to the Third Magic, Servants called by the Great Grail can temporary retrieve their lost human life by being summoned completely, including their ego that should be but a part of the main body. Furthermore, as is it known that Servants are eventually returned to the Throne after being defeated, it is possible that the summoned Heroic Spirits are able to retain the memories of when they were Servants. Finally, while in normal cases Heroic Spirits simply disappear when they are no longer needed, Servants can remain in the world as long as they still have a valid contract with a Master that can supply him with enough prana.

Counter Guardian
カウンターガーディアン

Also called the Protectors of Balance (抑止の守護者 yokushi no shugosha) or the Beast of Alaya, a special category found within the group of existences known as Heroic Spirits. If a regular Heroic Spirit is someone who became a hero by his own power and is admired for that, then a Guardian is an unknown person who has achieved a great feat due to the assistance of an outside force. They are the ones who have made a pact with the World (in this case Alaya, AKA Arayashiki) and offers his services as a Heroic Spirit after death in exchange for a miracle during his lifetime. While normal Heroic Spirits are a natural phenomenon that just happens to be beneficial to humanity, Counter Guardians are a strictly human phenomenon.

Due their contract with Alaya, these heroes are incorporated as part of humanity’s Counter Force (hence the name Counter Guardians) and are summoned whenever a factor of extinction of mankind is detected. They are the ones who appear on the site of great disasters in order to eliminate the source of that disaster and all those involved, even if the target of elimination are humans themselves. Not bounded by moral values such as good and evil, they exterminate the guilty in order to protect the innocent.

Those who became heroes by their own power are beyond the reach of Alaya, for they are pseudo-deities whose existence is closer to the level of a planet. Therefore, the Counter Force is limited to only Heroic Spirits who made use of its powers during their lifetime. Also, while a Guardian may become free of the control of the Counter Force by having his legend known and being worshiped for that, a true Heroic Spirit will not become part of the Counter Force even if his legend is forgotten.

It has been hinted that only Counter Guardians can be summoned to a time period before they became Heroic Spirits.

Reverse Heroes
反英雄 - Haneiyuu

Those that shouldn’t be within the Heroic Spirits group, but are nevertheless due a loophole in the rules. Villains whose atrocious acts were ultimately beneficial to mankind and then became Heroic Spirits due to their great reputation. Naturally, these pure Reverse Heroes are few and the great majority of those who fall into this category are simply “accidental heroes” who performed good deeds despite having an evil nature. There are also the unwilling saviors, whom own demises served to save those around them. That which was born from humans but developed without the interference of humans, the contradiction created from that becomes something exempt of the pressure of the Counter Force: an enemy of the world.

Amongst known Servants, examples of Reverse Heroes include Sasaki Kojirou, Emiya Shirou and Angra Mainyu. Medusa and Medea are not regular Heroic Spirits, but they are not completely Reverse Heroes either.