Shirou Kotomine

Shirou Kotomine (シロウ・コトミネ) is the Ruler-class Servant of Einzbern Master‎‎ in the Third Holy Grail War and the Master of Assassin of Red in the Great Holy Grail War of Fate/Apocrypha. It then makes contracts Caster of Red, Archer of Red, Lancer of Red and Rider of Red.

Identity
Shirou's real identity is Amakusa Shirō Tokisada, the teenage leader of the. Born in the, he was a boy of miracles who could nearly be called a saint.

The Shimabara Rebellion
The rulers of the land, the had drastically raised the taxes causing famine and overtaxation to the people. This action forced the weak to fall in despair as they were unable to even resist. As they continued to be exploited, the people found salvation in Christianity, the words filled with love that couldn’t be defeated by starvation, poverty or despair. However the Matsukura clan tried to take even that from them. For them it was no longer exploitation but it was murder. The people were provoked and they rose up and revolted. They feared of having their right to live taken away overcame their fear of dying in battle. Amongst them was Shirou Tokisada Amakusa, a young boy at the time. Nobody knew whether his presence there was a coincidence or the will of God, but before anyone realized it, Shirou was leading them. Their battle should have no defeat and no victory either. Because by rising up, they were both losers and victors at the same time. All they had left was the power to rise up, however the act of rising up itself was a necessary act. They rose up for the sake of what they believed in—that in itself was important and what they wished for. They believed the sacrifices would be kept to a minimum, and even if several people including themselves became sacrifices, the world wouldn’t die, but would instead be reborn.

Shirou brought forth a miracle, he utilized the power of the Counter Force in order for the possibility of victory that should have been impossible. In his own words, he was granted miraculous power granted by God because God will occasionally exercise malice due to good will. Shirou led the defense of, and defeated the strongest of the Shogunate attackers in a series of coordinated defensive surges. Unfortunately, Shirou attained victory. Everyone went wild and became excited over the victory. They clung to Shirou, who had won a battle where victory should have been impossible, as a child of miracles. That foolish purity of theirs troubled the boy. Shirou believed they shouldn’t have won. Winning was not an option. He had been caught up in saving lives in the near future and averted his eyes from the bigger picture. They may bite a cornered cat—but after being bitten, the enraged cat would retaliate by slaughtering them.

Death
After his rebellion ultimately failed, Shirou was sentenced to execution by decapitation. Before his death, Shirou felt he was naïve and he witnessed a scene like hell as his comrades were slowly killed off. The decapitated heads of the elderly, men butchered up like experimental animals, babies pierced by spears, girls raped in the pursuit of lust and then thrown away afterwards. He was convinced that the countless lives gathered were not taken away by the enemy but by himself. Shirou without once changing expression, accepted this result with a will of steel and it made him impossible to yield and give up. He merely gazed at this scene of ruin. He revealed no resignation or sorrow and even overcame the pain of his dismembered arms. He accepted that he had lost, the responsibility for his comrades death and his inevitable death. But the one thing he couldn't accept was that everything would fall to ruins after this. He couldn’t accept it. After having wasted so many lives, he absolutely could not accept that nothing would be gained as a result.

"So, God. Give me another chance. Next time, I won’t lose sight of the bigger picture. I will eliminate all obstacles, enemies and hardships in my way. Next time, I will obtain all the good in the world. A world where everyone is happy, everyone is good, and everyone is perfect. I will exterminate all evil and create a new, pure world."

- Shirou Tokisada Amakusa's last prayer

Background
Differing from the timeline of Fate/stay night's Third Holy Grail War where the Einzbern family summoned the Avenger-class Angra Mainyu, they abuse one of the systems installed in the Greater Grail and brought forth Shirou as a Ruler-class Servant who was meant to be an impartial authority whom regulated the progress of the War. The Einzberns wished to call forth a proper Heroic Spirit befitting of the Ruler class rather than some nameless Eastern hero. However the act of summoning a Ruler was already a severe interference in the normal operating format of the Holy Grail War so he was a compromise with the advantage of his Command Spells.

As the third war drew to a close, the Einzberns clearly stood closer than any other to the Greater Grail. Shirou had fought to the death against the Servant Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia had summoned. However Darnic successfully stolen the Greater Grail, the only survivors in Fuyuki City were Shirou and Risei Kotomine. While his Master was killed in action, Shirou remained materialized due to Shirou having come into contact with the Greater Grail and managing to receive flesh. Risei questions about Shirou's future plans, Shirou lied to Risei about giving up on the Greater Grail but he plans to travel around the world. He had joined with the Church thanks to Risei's connections. He adopted Risei's surname, though he remained distant from Risei's own son. Taking up a position in the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament, there was little information left to be gleamed about him from those who would search for it.

As the Mage's Association decided to seek one Master from the Church in order to have their involvement prove the legitimacy of their cause, Shirou was dispatched by the Church's Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament as one of the Masters of the Red Faction. He gathered with five of the other Masters of the Red Faction, and he used an unknown method to manipulate them into allowing him to control their Servants. He summoned Assassin of Red as his Servant, and she asked him, "Not for naught am I known as the world's oldest poisoner... Are you truly certain that you can wield Queen Semiramis?" He replied to her with, "O Queen of Assyria - in this Great Holy Grail War, I aim not for victory or defeat but for another goal. Will you aid me?" Although initially worried over his strange nature, she eventually came to greatly respect him and decided to aid him without hesitation.

Appearance
Shirou appears to be a tanned-skinned youth with white hair like silver and with dark ageless eyes. He wears the vestments of a priest and a golden cross around his neck. His vestment is a type of a red holy shroud and he wore a red stole over his cassock. He has an innocent, boyish face showing that he has yet to have aged past twenty years of age. Though incarnated decades ago, Left Hand - Xanadu Matrix has granted him his still youthful appearance. He is eternally seventeen years old despite he is over seventy years old. He hasn’t emotionally matured regardless of how much knowledge and experience he has gained. His body is covered in scars and he has two Command Spells on his chest, the seals are very similar to Kirei Kotomine.

In his Servant form, he has long hair tied into a ponytail. His clothing is a mixture of traditional samurai outfit with European influence. He wears a jinbaori style haori with Christianity crosses decorated on them. He wears a tradition umanori hakama with Shin guards which had cloth straps that were used to tie the Shin guards to the lower leg. He wears a collar shirt underneath his Kimono and a Cravat tied around his collar.

Personality
In his lifetime, Shirou walked the path of suffering and despair. He and his comrades fought for their faith and beliefs, and in return, they failed and died. He once hated everything, from God to humans. He claims that he hated humans, not because they had killed him or his comrades, but how humanity easily accepted it as a repeating system in history where life is priceless yet has no value. He finds humanity to be just like, eating themselves in order to grow. Shirou admitted to his failure, his mortality and his guilt. So, he forsook his heart filled with hatred, for the sake of humankind's salvation. He claims he doesn't hate humanity anymore, and that he will save the current six billion people and the people from past and future. He desires to make use of the Holy Grail to fulfill his own ambition. He simply wished the happiness of all mankind, for innate goodness to be found in the heart of all humanity and the annihilation of Angra Mainyu: All the Evils of the World.

Shirou appears to be a benign man with an innocent smile; he is in actuality a manipulator who would destroy his adversary with no hesitation in order to fulfill his own ambition. He is essentially a character who looks light on the outside and has a darker personality inside. Kairi sees him as being overly judicious given his supposed age.

Other appearances
In Fate/strange fake, he is mentioned in the opening of Rider narration. It is said that if the Holy Grail War had existed when Shirou lived, he may have even been able to summon his more powerful future self, an icon of heroism.

Abilities
Shirou Tokisada Amakusa was summoned as a Ruler-class, he was a figure whom had been as close to a ‘Saint’ as you could possibly find in the Far East, the sainthood of this tragic youth had never been recognized. He possesses two Noble Phantasm, Left Hand - Xanadu Matrix and Right Hand - Evil Eater. Due to the unique nature of his Noble Phantasm, his arms are connected to the Thaumaturgy foundation (魔術基盤) which allows him to effectively use any sort of Magecraft with its. Shirou was neither outstanding in combat nor proficient in Magecraft to the level of a Caster-class Servant, but he continued to win, and survive, in the Third Holy Grail War. He was ever heedful and never gambled, fulfilling his duties even as he thoroughly cemented his defenses. His speed was beyond abnormal, he can easily exceeding sixty kilometers per meter as he ran.

As a Ruler class, he gains True Name Discernment (真名看破) class skill. Status information such as the true identity, Skill and Parameters is automatically revealed when he directly encounters Servant. There are certain limits, Servants with hiding capacity such as Saber of Red's Noble Phantasm Secret of Pedigree can mask out her identity, however it depends on his luck level to bypass this. As he was dispatched by the Church with the duty of being the overseer of this Great Holy Grail War. He possessed the Spirit Board (霊器盤) that was given to the overseer and could perfectly grasp the state of all fourteen Servants. As his "True Name Discernment" skill needs to be directly encounter to see the Servant status, Shirou must rely on Spirit Board to track down any Servants and learn their identity. It was particular useful when Saber of Black had committed suicide and Shirou suspected something was odd since his name wasn't entirely gone from the board.

While he holds a Magic Resistance (対魔力) skill equivalent to a strong Saber-class, he does not cope with the sacraments of the church.

God's resolution (神明議決) is the highest privilege for the Ruler class skill. Normally Ruler-class would possess two Command Spells for each Servants that participated in the Holy Grail War. However as Shirou isn't a participant of the Greater Grail War, this skill has been lost. As he participated as a Master, he only has three command spells for Assassin of Red. While he leads the Red Faction, he made sure that the Red faction Servant don't interact or meet with their respective Master. While he could steal the command spells by cutting their arm but Shirou decided to avoid this method. The reason is that he wants to avoid lying to Lancer of Red who was excel at perceiving deceptions. This is the main reason why he'd manipulated the red faction Masters into his puppet, so they could peacefully hand over the three command spells of their Servants and provide enough Magical Energy until his connection to the Greater Grail. Eventually he obtained their Command Spells, his arm was engraved with eighteen Command Spells of Archer, Lancer, Rider, Berserker, Caster and Assassin.

Revelation (啓示) is a personal skill equivalent to "Instinct". Instinct is a sixth sense regarding battles, but "Revelation" accommodates all matters related to the achievement of a goal (for instance, choosing the most suitable path while traveling). Because there is no basis (so he thinks), it cannot be explained well to others.

Charisma (カリスマ) is the natural talent to command an army. Although he cannot run a nation, he can share those with his like-minded and strong ties comrades to death. Thanks to his charisma, it is possible to make others believe in the contents of the "Revelations" skills without basis.

Baptism Rite (洗礼咏唱) is a type of magecraft that changed style into a church form. It is effective on a spiritual body. By linking his two Noble Phantasm, it is even possible to make a Servant go through a sublimation process. His Baptism Rite was extraordinarily powerful that it wasn’t possible for a human. He used this chant on the nameless monster, who had once been Lancer of Black and Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia. The nameless monster very existence was melting away as he began to emit white smoke, the vampire evaporated away right down to the final fragment of himself.

Combat
As part of the Church's Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament, Shirou is skilled at using Black Keys (黒鍵). These were the thrown-type Conceptual Weapons favored by agents of the Church and they were strong enough to purify Dead Apostles but the power of his Black Keys was far too extraordinary and abnormal. The Black Keys were particular useful against the Nameless vampire. He is seen capable of running and throwing four Black Keys without even looking back when he used it to slow down Berserker of Black.

He is an adept swordsman and he wields a katana when Black Keys aren't effective against his opponents. Shirou’s sword technique was almost average. He was above the level of a rank-and-file warrior, but he was far from being a master. The katana is a first-rate famed sword and it was once the favored blade of a certain master swordsman. Though the basic shape was the same as a Japanese sword, it bore various aspects due to the soul of the swordsmith. If there were beautiful and lovely blades that possessed a shine worthy of being called works of art, there were also broadminded and deadly blades like the one Shirou held that specialized in cutting something. Because the sword was incredibly famous, Caster of Red successfully enchanted it as a C ranked Noble Phantasm that can easily cut down homunculi or golems. Shirou managed to catch Berserker of Black off guard and was able to cut off a patch of her skin. No matter how many blows were exchanged with her mace, the blade did not break or bend or even receive a single scratch.

Development
In the Type-Moon franchise, he was first mentioned in the opening of Rider's narration in Fate/strange fake.

Creation and Conception
Before Nasu wrote Fate/stay night, he claims he was a big fan of, which involved battles between dead historical figures from around Japan. Shirou Tokisada Amakusa was the major antagonist in Samurai Resurrection who commands the historic dead. The character Shirou Kotomine was planned by Nasu, Takeuchi and Higashide, but the character development was written by Nasu. Ototsugu Konoe explains that he had troubled over designing Shirou in terms of balancing him in various ways but he believes he succeeded well with the final design. He further claims that he is interested in Kotomine's family home life like in this universe.