Assassin (Fate/Extra)

Assassin (アサシン) is the Assassin-class Servant of Julius B. Harway in the Moon Cell Holy Grail War of Fate/Extra.

Identity
Assassin's True Name is Ri Shobun, a legendary martial artist from China who, despite born in modern times, carved many legends. A Chinese martial artist from -  (1864~1934). Having been born in the deathbed of the, Li Shuwen distinguished himself soon after beginning to take lessons in , ascending to the point of being extolled as the strongest in the history of Chinese martial arts. A prominent martial artist in the history of, renowned as "a second strike is needless, so long there is one it will suffice". Otherwise he is known as Demon Fist Master (魔拳士) of the. Rather than learning 1,000 techniques, he personified a literal one-hit kill by thoroughly polishing up a single technique.

The progenitor of the Li clan's branch of Bājí, Li Shuwen excelled in the use of spear to the point of being nicknamed "Divine Spear Li" (神槍李). The "" that he used was a basic weapon of the Bājí-branch and, if one is to accept this extreme logic, it can be said that the unarmed techniques of the Bājí-branch (the Bājíquán) are nothing but preliminary steps to learn the techniques of this great spear.

It is said he have brought too much hatred due to killing too many opponents and finally had his life ended by being served poison from the victims relatives. 

Appearance
In his youth he has long tied back red hair. He also wears traditional Chinese clothing. Hakuno describes him to be a sinister man with piercing eyes whose clothing looks aflame. In his older days, he has short gray hair, he wore a tan coloured Chinese clothing. He wore a fur long coat over his shoulders. While making the original design, Takashi Takeuchi also drew an older version much like how he is said to appear when summoned as Lancer.

Personality
A master of martial arts who fundamentally keeps the morality of the innate goodness of man, but at same time also accepts evil. As a Servant, Shuwen's morality had deviated from the general common sense, but his humanity itself is that of a "sensible person" that esteems rationality. He does not see great difference in justice and evil, but if someone's behavior offends his rationality, he will bring swift and inevitable death. At a first glance this would seems as an act of chivalry, but since the chivalry of China is "pick up a sword out of passion", his way of thinking is the exact opposite. Rather than rational, Li Shuwen's character is something better described as being close to that of modern people. Li Shuwen was someone who simply (not purely) sought for strength, but it has been said that, in his late years, he discovered the valor of the strength of conviction, one's way of life, instead the strength of violence. He acknowledges that he is a kind of professional killer rather than a martial artist, but that is neither a self-depreciation nor a boast. Given that he often learned, often fought and often murdered in his previous life, he really does not carry any regrets or grudges. Since he was summoned as a Servant, he swings his wicked fists as the concealed weapons of his master Julius without hesitation. He starts to find the Holy Grail War enjoyable as Hakuno and Hakuno's Servants manage to survive his attacks. Making conversation and getting to know the opponent is the ultimate luxury to him. He believes that Martial Arts is to fight on one's life, with the weight of years behind one's fist. The opportunity to crush each other's lives is rare for him. He is very compatible with his master Julius and he is grateful to be summoned by him to fight once again.

Assassin is prideful, serious, and energetic when fighting in battle. But when his Master refused to be deleted from the program and infused Command Seals he got from another Master he killed previously, a Master with a Berserker class Servant, Li Shuwen loses his mind with the new Command Seals and his class changes to Berserker.

Fate/Extra
He was summoned by Julius B. Harway as an Assassin class out of compatibility.

After the battle against Dan Blackmore, Hakuno Kishinami would stumble across bodies of dead students. Assassin would force Hakuno to be teleported into an arena and attacks, however Hakuno's Servant would appear to protect it is master.

During the fifth round, Hakuno fights against Julius. Assassin ambushes Hakuno's Servant during conversation with Julius on first day in the arena, fatally wounding them, however Hakuno is able to restore his/her servant to health in a few days time. They confront Julius and Assassin, who challenges them to duel in school but are halted by Kotomine. Instead, they fight in the arena. The battle ends with Hakuno's Servant unable to land a single hit on him due to his Sphere Boundary. Hakuno discusses this with Rani/Rin and sets a series of traps that she uploaded into the arena. Though he acknowledges Hakuno's presence, he falls into his/her trap and lost the ability to control his Sphere Boundary. Though he lost one of his abilities, he taunts Hakuno's Servant to show their true power.

After he loses in the elimination battle, he talks to Julius and tells him to accept his fate. However, Julius refuses and tries to resist the Moon Cell's deletion and the two disappear in a flash.

He appears along Julius again on first day of the final week. Due to Julius' new command seal, which he stole from the Master of a Berserker, Assassin is now of the Berserker class, however most of his abilities are restrained because he lost his sanity and cannot control them.

Fate/Extella
He returns, but this time as a selectable playable character for Hakuno Kishinami. Gawain in Nero's party along with Nero, Nameless, Gaiwen and Cú Chulainn.

Abilities
Originally his Servant class was supposed to be Lancer, but in this case he would appear with the figure of his late years. It is thought that he appeared as Assassin due to his Master, Julius, desired a young and ferocious Li Shuwen out of compatibility. He later becomes a Berserker after avoiding deletion, Hakuno describes him to have the attributes of Berserker and Assassin, his power is incredible. He can utilize Fierce Tiger Forcibly Climbs a Mountain as a Noble Phantasm. An additional digression, it seems there was once a swordsman who, similar to Li Shuwen, could use just human techniques to freely create split selves, without using any Magecraft. The name of this secret sword was Tsubame Gaeshi. Oddly enough, it was a mystic art from the Assassin Class. In the Moon Cell Holy Grail War, he stands out from the other Assassin class Heroic Spirits because of his unique skill “Presence Concealment” which he uses to impede the protagonist as an invisible assassin.

Chinese Martial Arts
He is a strong practitioner of Bajiquan and a true master of the arts earning him a high rank in his Chinese Martial Arts (中国武術) skill. Li Shuwen's blows are almost always fatal, whether he throws a hard blow designed to kill or a simple feint to draw his opponent into an attack. As someone who earned "A Second Strike is Needless" in the history of Chinese martial arts, this was the second name conferred to a martial artist famous as one of the strongest. It said he can snatch away the life of his opponents during matches just by touching them, no matter how light of a touch.

There is much debate as to whether Li Shuwen actually uses his Ki (気) to defeat his opponents, although there are very few who have managed to survive a confrontation with him report suffering all of the effects associated with this attack, such as obscured senses, heightened state of paranoia, and the feeling that their nervous system was under almost unendurable strain.
 * Cosmic Orbit, Focused Qi (周天、気を収める) - He utilizes Focused Qi to conceal his presence and increase strength for his next move. He will always use this Skill on the 1st move. This is a requirement for his Noble Phantasm.
 * Cosmic Orbit, Heightened Qi (周天、気を高める) - He utilizes Heightened Qi to increases the effectiveness of his attack, the effect would only last for 3 turns. He will use this Skill on the 5th move.
 * Cosmic Orbit, Charged Qi (周天、気を満たす) - He utilizes Charged Qi to increases defense. The effect would only last for 3 turns.
 * Assassin's Fist (暗拳暗器) - Inflicts Stun on an enemy when using BREAK. The effect would only last for 3 turns. He will use this Skill on the 3rd move.

Sphere Boundary
Though Assassin is lacking in the standard class skill of Presence Concealment (気配遮断), he is capable of achieving a lack of outward discernibility through use of the meditative Qi technique of the Sphere Boundary (圏境). It is a technique only a handful of Martial artist, most notably Bajiquan masters of the Qing dynasty were able to mastered the ways of becoming one with nature and the universe by manipulating Qi. Unlike Presence Concealment, Sphere Boundary allows the user to attack while being invisible.

If Assassin is caught in an Anti-spirit trap (対精神トラップ), it will stop his invisibility. The trap follows the disciplines of Tao and the knowledge of a Tensen (天仙), it uses all Hakkero (八卦炉) of the Onmyō [In'yō] (陰陽) to channel both Heaven and Earth thus disrupting his Qi back to himself.

Under normal circumstances, the utilization of vast quantities of magical energy serves as a telltale indication of any form of invisibility attained through Magecraft, clearly indicating to a magus of sufficient training that "Magecraft is being used". Being that elimination of presence through the use of the Sphere Boundary, a martial arts technique, is unreliant upon and unrelated to Magecraft, it effectively functions as an 'invisibility' technique that those trained solely under the system of thaumaturgical theories will absolutely fail to perceive—a technique beyond the domain of man.

Incidentally, though this is a digression, Assassin's capacity to become indiscernible is an essential point of meditation in accordance with the method of the Sphere Boundary.

Combat
Although the Assassin class is one of the weaker classes at fighting, this Assassin makes up this flaw with his Chinese Martial Arts Bajiquan. With the combination of Sphere Boundary skill and No Second Strike, he is pretty much invincible as he is undetectable and able to cause a vital one-hit K.O. Each impact of his fist can easily break bones, injuries inflicted by him takes about the next 3–4 days to heal.

Reception

 * In the Type-Moon's 10th Anniversary Character Poll, Assassin was ranked 104th.