Kiritsugu Emiya

Lore & Background

Kiritsugu was born in Fuyuki City and raised on Alimango Island, where he lived with his father, Norikata, a mage specializing in time magic. He had a crush on a local girl named Shirley, but she became a vampire after drinking one of Norikata's potions. Their village was overrun by Executors from the Church and Enforcers from the Mages' Association. Realizing his father intended the village to be a testing site for research on immortality, Kiritsugu shot his father to prevent a similar tragedy. He then came under Natalia Kaminski's wing, assisting her as she hunted rogue mages. During one mission, he chose to kill Natalia to prevent a worst-case scenario. Around eleven years before the Fourth Holy Grail War, he took on a child soldier he rescued as his apprentice, naming her Maiya Hisau, training her as Natalia had trained him. Maiya later became his mistress. Two years later, Kiritsugu was hired by the Einzbern family to be their representative in the coming conflict. Believing the Holy Grail could grant his wish for world peace, he left his former work as a mercenary.

In Their Own Story

During the Fourth Holy Grail War, Kiritsugu operates mostly in the background, ambushing other Masters while they are occupied. Saber partners with Irisviel and acts openly to avoid conflict with Kiritsugu, as their methodologies clash. In his final fight with Master Kirei Kotomine, Kiritsugu is dragged into the Grail, which takes Irisviel's form and identifies itself as 'Angra Mainyu.' Kiritsugu realizes the Grail would interpret his wish by killing every person on Earth except himself and his family. He orders Saber to destroy the Grail, but Angra Mainyu chooses Kirei as the winner, granting his wish of casting a huge fire. Kiritsugu looks for survivors and discovers an amnesiac boy he names Shirou and adopts. He spends months trying to retrieve his daughter Illya but is forbidden from doing so. Years pass as Kiritsugu wastes away from the Grail's curse. A young Shirou takes his father's dream before Kiritsugu dies peacefully.

Reader's Guide

In Fate/stay night, Kiritsugu is first mentioned as the late adoptive father of Shirou Emiya. He taught Shirou basic magecraft and passed on his ideals before his death. Because of Shirou's young age, Kiritsugu asked a friend, Taiga Fujimura, to look after him after he died. Throughout the story, Shirou meets Kiritsugu's daughter Illyasviel von Einzbern and learns Kiritsugu participated in the Fourth Holy Grail War. In its aftermath, Kiritsugu passed Shirou the scabbard Avalon: The Everdistant Utopia to protect him from danger. In Fate/Zero, Kiritsugu is the main protagonist. He is introduced as the husband of the homunculus Irisviel von Einzbern and father of a younger Illyasviel. Despite being the true Master of the Einzbern family, he operates mostly in the background during the conflict. His Servant is Saber. His most known weapon is a Thompson/Center Contender, and he also uses a Calico M950. He employs a spell known as the Origin Rounds. An alternate Kiritsugu appears in Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya as a married man with Irisviel who works overseas, with Illya as his daughter and Shirou as his adopted son. Another version appears in the sequels and film Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya: Oath Under Snow, where Kiritsugu and Shirou search for a child named Miyu Satsuki. He also appears in the video game Fate/Grand Order as the Servant 'Assassin,' an alternative Kiritsugu who did not separate from Irisviel.

Did You Know?

• Kiritsugu is voiced in Japanese by Rikiya Koyama, who first voiced him in the 2006 anime adaptation of Fate/stay night; in the English dub, he is voiced by Matthew Mercer.
• Miyu Irino provides Kiritsugu's Japanese voice during flashbacks as a child, while Marin Miller voices him in English when he was a child.
• Kiritsugu's most known weapon, a Thompson/Center Contender, served as one of the main ideas that led to the creation of Fate/Zero, inspired by Lance Henriksen's performance in the 1993 film Hard Target.
• In the making of the character, Kinoko Nasu stated that Kiritsugu used 'boku,' a first person pronoun most generally used by young boys, as part of Nasu's character design.
• An alternate Kiritsugu appears in the video game Fate/Grand Order as the Servant 'Assassin,' who did not separate from Irisviel.