Archer (Fate/Extra)


 * This page is about a NPC Fate/Extra servant. For playable servant, see Playable Archer (Fate/Extra)

Archer (アーチャー) is the Archer-class Servant of Dan Blackmore in the Holy Grail War of the Moon Cell in Fate/Extra.

Identity
Archer's real identity is the chivalrous thief known as (ロビンフッド). However this Robin Hood is merely one of the many "Robin Hoods". This particular incarnation was originally the child of a wandering, an orphan who lost his father when very young. He received knowledge of the forest from his Druid father, was proficient at survival in the forest, and also was friends with the forest fairies that the villagers could not see. For this reason, the villagers treated him as an outcast, believing him to be possessed by fairies. The villagers did not accepted an orphan such as him and he too did not compromise with the villagers. But, even still, it seems that he felt obligation in taking care of his father at his last moments. He lived as the black sheep of the village, a young man without relatives who lived in the village's outskirts located near the spot where his parents had died.

The village was suffering under the feudal lord's tyrannical rule. Although he held no love for the villagers, he did not hate them and he felt obligated to help them in any way he could rather than to abandoning them. Almost against his will, he picked up his bow and mantle and became the latest incarnation of Robin Hood. And like those who came before him, he dresses in clothes of Lincoln green, armed himself with a bow of yew and surrounded his identity and true self for the good of others. In the first time, he successfully repelled the feudal lord's army in the course of events. Since he concealed his identity, during the fight he ended up being treated as the mythical "" afterwards by the villagers he had helped save. However, his face and figure remained concealed under the green clothing. With that little information, he is merely an ordinary person. Even if a fake one, he had deceived anything and everything in order to function as a hero. From the second time on, it became a good fight while feeling the hopes and wishes of the villagers in his back. He, who was an outsider in the village turned into the village's hero by becoming Robin Hood. But, at the same time, was forced into harsh battles day and night. Setting traps on the forest, hiding his true face with a hood across his career, and not revealing his identity even to the villagers. He too was one of such heroes without a signature.

"Since it is for the sake of justice, I will kill my fraction as a human."

- Robin Hood

However, no good deed goes unpunished, and the villagers quickly turned on him in hopes of channeling the anger of the local nobility for the sake of self-protection and on to this mysterious rogue who rampaged through the forest, claiming that they had no knowledge of who he was nor did they ever claim to be thankful for his help in preserving the village. The villagers betrayed Robin Hood, "Robin Hood is not a person from the village. Unrelated to us, he attack those who go through the forest. All responsibility lies with that hunter..."

And just like this, as if Robin Hood was a common enemy of both the village and the feudal lord, the villagers were not held accountable for any sins. Even though the people he vowed to help turned on him, he continued to fight for the sake of the village from the shadows. With a hidden identity and a career that ran completely on surprise attacks and clever schemes, his reputation as a coward and criminal grew despite his honorable intentions. At any rate, it was a battle of one against an army. Ambushing traps and putting poison in meals were everyday occurrences. He trampled even with the wishes of "at least I want to die in battle" of the killed soldiers. He carried out a thorough vulgar battle. He kept choosing the peace of the village over his own pride.

Though he continued to protect the village, it is not possible for a single young man to pretend to be a hero all alone, and his activities as Robin Hood lasted little less than two years before he was defeated by an assassination plot of the enemy. In the end, he fell on the ground anonymous and without being re-compensated. He never fought as hero not even once, but what he truly wished for in his deathbed was to be buried where his final arrow fell. To nobody's surprise, it landed at the foot of the yew tree where he first got the wood to make his bow. It was this young man, who fought so that others could lead the quiet life he dreamed of, which leads him to become an Heroic Spirit as Robin Hood by means of such death. His real identity is unknown, but he was certainly "someone". He was a hero who fought for the people rather than for himself. After his death, he is doomed to be left in oblivion, forgotten from the people.

Legend
There is a person who served as a base, but it seems that this is the result of several mixtures. Many of the chivalrous thief exploits was created from a fusion of the from the Greek mythology, the fairies from Celtic mythology and Druidic beliefs. The foundation of Robin Hood's legend comes from a chivalrous thief who lurked in the, a forest located near Nottingham. It is full of Druidic beliefs and where fairies dwell. The original Robin Hood was is depicted as a man of justice and have actively resisted against the tyrant who ruled while  was away on the Crusades in the 16th century. It is said that the original Robin Hood died from excessive bleeding at the hands of his aunt by the due to a conspiracy of the abbot.

From the beginning, Robin Hood was a faceless hero that was born from the "prayers" of the British people who frequently received invasions from foreign countries. Thought to be a personification of the, a person of the forest that appeared in ancient Europe, indicating that he was a "desire" given birth by the masses. A small hero that existed in that era, but upon receiving the wishes of people, he assumed the name of a certain hero - Robin Hood. This Archer too is one of those nameless snipers who "assumed the hero's name".

Those who assume the identity of Robin Hood tend to be very conflicted young men. Incredibly virtuous and honorable, yet always working out of the shadows like an assassin or thief, there seems to be slight tinge of cowardice to their makeup. To cover the self-loathing that also seems to be part of every Robin Hood's personality, they all uniformly adopt a somewhat combative and derisive attitude. And though every person to adopt the Robin Hood persona truly values life above all else, they have little appreciations for their own.

Appearance
Archer has the appearance of a tall and lean young man with grey-green eyes and messy spiky orange hair that partially covers his right eye. His attire consists of lincoln green clothing and a dark green cloak, along with bandages on his left arm, and brown boots.

Personality
He is somewhat virtuous and a little cowardly. In order to conceal his immature self who fusses over justice, he puts up a frivolous attitude. Values life over death and seems to believe that something warm should remain at the end of surviving. But then again, all these are things that he never obtained, so he can only but shrug his shoulders while saying "such things are like empty dreams".

Archer prefers to fight from the shadows, as he is a pragmatist that utilizes methods such as ambushes and poison to ensure killing the opponent without a fight. He doesn't mind using advantageous but dishonorable tactics to win early before the actual fight, but Dan finds that vultures that feast upon carrion have more dignity. Dan thinks he lacks pride, the most important of traits, but Archer cares little for the idea. He thinks it would be fine if it would help them achieve victory, but mocks it by saying the best outcome would be for the enemies to kill themselves in the face of their pride. He prides himself with his Archery skills.

His compatibility with Dan is bad but the relationship with him is reasonably good in its own way. Although Dan is a man of Justice, he is incompatible with his chivalry. So Robin reluctantly follow his instructions. He will make use of violations of trust, ambushes, and betrayal in battle. This goes against Dan's ideal of chivalry and fair battle, putting the two at odds. Dan goes as far as utilizing a Command Spell to stop his underhanded methods. Archer abhors this side of him, and he complains about it frequently. Although he was forced to fight in a fair battle by Dan, he felt it was a good change of pace to fight like a knight something he couldn't do in his lifetime. Upon his defeat Archer claims he has a wish for the Holy Grail but he was more interested in having a good time.

His personality is similar to Red Archer. Although they are similar, Green Archer was described as a nihilist while Red Archer is a narcissist. Their sense of justice is subtly different and they aren't incompatible in the end.

Development
Takeuchi Takashi was responsible for Archer design, he first planned is to make Archer like a ranger with the basic color of green.

Takeuchi explained that Archer is a bit of like a comic actor or maybe an army man who has a injured face so, but he doesn't have to explain too much because of the number of characters in the game. The character at first sight, looks delicate but in case of emergency, he can actually be pretty strong. This style is very common from. He’s a disparage but he is not base. That balance is important.

While designing Archer, Takeuchi noted that his appearance is a balance between looking delicate at first but proving to be quite strong in emergency situations. Furthermore, the design is "unorthodox but strongly fantasy." While Archer's initial design followed the concept of a soldier, his final design is closer to that of a ranger or woodkeeper.

Fate/Extra
Archer is the enemy Servant Hakuno Kishinami faces in second week of the Holy Grail War. He is first seen arguing with Dan outside of the arena, where he is chided for acting on his "gut feelings" during the first round. Dan tells him to remain on his guard, and that Archer needs to listen to his commands rather than acting on his own like before. During an encounter, Archer mentions that he would like to see how long your Servant would have lasted in the Forest of Sherwood, inadvertently revealing to a clue to his identity. He immediately attacks Hakuno by infusing the area with poison without Dan's order, which causes disagreement between them. He is allowed to keep the barrier up, but is threatened with punishment for disobeying him again. Later Hakuno collects an Antique Arrowhead, Broken Arrow and Feather Fletchings; clues to his identity. Rani VIII would examine the broken arrow fragments and provide certain informations about Archer. The next day Archer stalks Hakuno with killing intention at the school, luring Hakuno to escaped to the arena. When Hakuno and the servant arrived at an open space environment. Archer ambush them and sniped at a distance. Hakuno's Servants managed to deflect the first arrow but the second managed to poisons Hakuno. Hakuno goes to Sakura Matou to treat the poison, though Dan cures the poison and uses his Command Spells to force Archer to fight fair and sealed one of his Noble Phantasm.

After the battle, Archer wonders why he loss as Dan was a superior Master. He apologizes to Dan for failing him and expresses the belief that another servant would of been better match with him. However Dan apologizes to Archer for restricting his fight, and Archer and Dan made peace with each other. Before fading away, he expresses joy at being able to have a fair fight, something he didn't have the chance of doing in life.

Fate/Extra CCC
Archer was among the servants who was brought back by BB. When BB runs her BB channel, her special guest is Archer. Hakuno Kishinami encounters Archer with BB on the 6th floor. Upon his defeat by Hakuno's servant, BB complains about Archer's abilities, though Archer replies that he couldn't do much as BB sealed his Noble Phantasm.

In chapter 6, he handed over BB's last SG to Hakuno.

Abilities
Like his Archer class, he uses archery as his main weapon. The crossbow attached to his arm is his Noble Phantasm and weapon-of-choice Yew Bow (イー・バウ). Due to his history, Archer is unsuited for close range dual. Like the original Robin Hood, he possesses Protection of the Fairies and holds the knowledge of a Druid.

Combat
Archer is an expert in the use of traps and poisons. He also specializes in in forest-like environments. These two talents come together during the game when he creates a Yew tree and it creates a bounded field that constantly spews poison, forcing the player to destroy it to cleanse the area. The fact this Archer is versed in the poisons of the natural realm is a proof that he is an excellent "defender of the forest". Archer employs it to shoot poisonous arrows. Once the opponent is poisoned, the crossbow's power Holy Bow of Supplication (祈りの弓) can be activated to stack multiple times onto the poison to drastically enhance the poisons effect.

Although he is more suited in long range combat, Archer is shown capable of using daggers to counter Saber's close range attacks in the Sound Drama and manga.

Archer has 6,317 HP, and his in-game skills are:
 * Wall of Thorns (茂みの棘) - Archer crouches down to the ground and place himself to gather thorns elements. He punches the ground and the enemy is inflicted with magic damage.
 * Poisoned Arrow (矢尻の毒) - It inflicts physical damage and poison on an enemy. As he fires the arrow, the arrow is highlighted in magenta color. He will use this skill on the 2nd move.
 * The Faceless King (顔のない王) is a title for a transparent king who, according to the Celtic custom, appears in the that takes over from the . A person of the forest. A personification of nature that added brown accents to his green clothing so that his figure is not seen and completely blend in with his surroundings. In the game, Archer has a technique with this name which ATTACK, GUARD and BREAK will always be countered by the appropriate move. The effect would only last for 1 turn.
 * One drop of a Viper - It inflicts physical damage and paralysis status.

Independent Action
His Independent Action ability allows him to remain independent by rejecting any kind of support from his Master. As this skill reached A rank, he can remain in the world for a full week, even if his Master were to be defeated. He displays the full potential of this skill when BB started to delete him and he is even able to fight Hakuno's servant in his state.