Caster of Red

Caster of "Red" ("赤"のキャスター) is the Caster-class Servant of Shirou Kotomine of the Red Faction in the Great Holy Grail War of Fate/Apocrypha. Originally summoned by one of the five puppet Masters of the Red Faction, he later becomes one of the Servants of Shirou. He is one of the Servants of the Protagonist of the Grand Order conflicts of Fate/Grand Order.

Identity
Caster's identity is U~Iriamu Sheikusupia, the Playwright (劇作家) (1564-1616), a poet and playwright from the Elizabethan England. The only playwrite whose fame has reached around the world, he is representative of authors of the western world. Still having a large influence over modern literature, it can be said that those with no knowledge of his works are to be disparaged as ignorant. It is also said that those looking to trace the source of any piece of modern literature will always find a Shakespearean creation. Having written too many masterpieces to list, his his four greatest tragedies rising above all others are "Othello", "Macbeth", "Hamlet" and "King Lear".

His father was an affluent man in Stratford, but it is uncertain if Shakespeare received a higher education. There are many mysteries in his career, such as an undocumented gap of seven years. In his early days as a playwright, his productions revolved around comedy, then historical drama, before he changed his style for magnificent tragedy. At the same time, he also played as an actor in the underground, and he was the target of slander and derision from influential people.

Appearance
Caster is described as being foppishly dressed in refined, Medieval-esque clothing.

Personality
Caster is a legendary playwright of England, gentlemanly and soft-spoken. Placing the importance of the Story above all else, he will lie and cheat and by any means conduct himself that he might witness the unfolding of a grand tale, beautiful beyond compare. Consequently, he tends to distance himself from mentality of the "participant," taking instead the perspective of an abstract, "Authorial" third person. His regard for others differs by individual, dependent on their qualification as a special existence, or "protagonist." He interacts with "normal humans" only in a shallow, dismissive manner, and expresses an extreme interest in "protagonists." In slight narcissism, he frequently drops such self-authored quotes as, "Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill." He's taken a liking to certain terminology from modern fiction, such as "Death-Flagging."

Caster clearly has a love for his own written works, and likes to be up to date on their status in the modern era, so much that he went to a local bookstore to simply buy a modern printed copy of his stories; from time to time, he would quote from his works, especially when he has the habit of doing so when making a grand entrance. It seems Caster has also taken great concerns over the popularity of his legacy, so much that he became depressed when Shirou Kotomine, a person who had lived in the modern era, had never read any of his works. Caster, after listening to Assassin of Red, becomes even more depressed as he learns that servants, as they are summoned into the modern world, receive very minimum info about him from the Grail, and nothing about his works.

As the world is the greatest story ever told to him, or so it ought to be in his eyes, he will willingly employ deception, provocation, or anything else for the sake of spinning the story. He greatly loves those who are out of the ordinary from the bottom of his heart, perusing the tales they spin. With greatly exaggerated outbursts of emotion, he acts as he wishes, gracefully admitting that it is suitable to call him a trickster.

Fate/Apocrypha
Unlike the other Red Faction Servants who do not know the extent of Shirou what Shirou has done with the other Masters, he has taken to calling Shirou Kotomine his Master along with Assassin of Red. Normally dealing with Berserker of Red's rampages in searching for an oppressor to fight, he has annoyed Assassin quite a bit with his actions. After the meeting with Kairi Sisigou and Saber of Red, he makes an exaggerated entrance, quoting "A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!" from. Keeping up the tone, he acts shocked when Shirou is unable to identify it, that someone from the current age would be unfamiliar with one of his greatest works. Having visited a bookshop searching for his own works, he hands Shirou "The Works of William Shakespeare."

Assassin too is ignorant of the quote, having only gained enough knowledge from the Grail to identify him as "a famous writer of history." Although he continues with his exaggerated manner citing that every line she speaks is a "refusal of my very individuality", Assassin's blunt question of his reason for being there stops his grievings. Telling of Berserker beginning to march on the Black Faction, Shirou plans to take action, while Caster only displays jovialness at the situation. This causes Shirou to realize that Caster is the one who spurred Berserker into action, but he only happily replies to Assassin's anger. He feels that Berserker is pitiful in his search for an adversary, so there would be no way for him to have stood by while he was in anguish. As he seems disheartened when Shirou asks him to stay out of trouble, Shirou tells him that the greatest of Holy Grail Wars will satisfy his love of stories.

Skills
Enchant (エンチャント): A

The appendage of improved attributes and functionality to others their precious articles. Typically used to reinforce the battle capabilities of the Servant's Master, such that the Servant may act as an impartial observer and carefully document the Master's psychological state.

Self-Preservation (自己保存): B

Though he possesses no combat capabilities, so long as he preserves his Master's safety to the lowest possible degree, he maintains the skill to escape from nearly all harm—meaning that he never engages any opponents himself. The Servant favors a "high risk, high return" tactic, where "returns" is related to the fruits of his observation.

Creation and Conception
He was designed by Shoji Gatoh and illustrated by Chinatsu Kurahana for the original canceled online game project.