#fate analysis

Shirou is a character who pretty often has the issue of people reading a lot of his more irrational and self destructive actions exclusively as him being stupid rather than as a reaction to his deeply rooted issues. A lot of this comes from the Ufotable versions of F/SN in particular which I don’t think are necessarily bad adaptations but rather struggle with the fact that a lot of Shirou’s characterization comes from his internal dialogue, which is difficult to adapt in a way that feels natural.

However, I feel like there is almost an over correction with people wanting to portray Shirou as being more messed up and worse than he is. I think a bit of this comes from extrapolating things from the fact that Shirou is the narrative foil of Kirei. Shirou is 100% a foil to Kirei and they are extremely similar but their situations aren’t perfect’s opposites.

Another factor for this shift relates to how Shirou describes himself. Shirou views himself as being a completely broken and empty shell of person. However there is a Shirou besides a broken husk.

We see Shirou enjoy things not related to being a hero of justice; it’s just that he feels like he doesn’t deserve to and views being a hero of justice as the only way he can find true happiness. His date with Rin in UBW is an especially good example of this. We also see that he enjoys cooking (which could partially relate a desire to be of service to others but I personally feel not entirely). I’m not denying that Shirou is a person with a lot of major mental health issues. However, he has emotions even if he majorly struggles with experiencing happiness and reacts to things in unexpected ways.

There’s two reasons for this small discrepancy between Shirou’s self perception and the actuality of Shirou. First of all is the societal context Shirou is in, early 2000s Japan. Being in a culture that is avoidant to discussing mental health issues whilst dealing with them would likely lead to feelings of alienation. Shirou feeling as though he is inhuman feels realistic. Secondly is Shirou in a way having reasons to want to view himself as being mentally worse than he is. For Shirou, it’s easier to think of himself as not having felt happiness since the fire than to acknowledge the immense guilt that comes with his rare moments of joy. I’d also argue this ties to Shirou’s repression in a way as well; not allowing himself to acknowledge how much he cared about his birth family and the other people from his past, convincing himself that the person he was before is completely dead and deeply repressing his memories of that time makes the loss hurt less. I don’t think it’s a conscious act but it’s still notable.

You could say it was a decision made of sympathies, but I think it's rather diminutive to suggest that's the only reason. After all, it's still a petty decision for a petty situation, to dismiss everyone who had just wanted to use you for their own gain and instead choose someone who did not. Likewise, for a selfishly motivated Servant, it's a also clear choice to pick someone who would not stand in your way or attempt to dictate your actions either. Sympathies or not, a Master paralyzed by fear with no clear goals of their own is easier to work with than one still seeking to use you, and it's not as though anyone would be able to openly protest the arrangement, either.

That said, it is not a purely selfish arrangement, just as it is not purely kindhearted. Nobunaga is still clearly protective of their Master, paying only her any regard while dismissing everyone else, and they do look after her between pursuing their own ambitions.

Kiritsugu cheating on Irisviel with Maiya to “prepare for his betrayal” is ridiculous and he is a terrible person for it. However, I will never agree with people who say that it’s unnecessary because it serves a purpose. It shows that although Kiritsugu thinks of himself as being rational he really isn’t. The fact that he feels like he has to do this in order go through with his plan shows that although utilitarianism is rational in theory it’s absurd in practice. It’s showing people aren’t psychologically built to be “perfect” utilitarians. Kiritsugu’s affair is immoral and uncomfortable (in general but also especially given what the power imbalance in his relationship with Maiya is like) but it’s supposed to be.

Kiritsugu, Maiya, and Grooming

One of my favorite scenes in Stay Night is Shirou having a dream remembering Kiritsugu’s death. When I first read through the entire VN I thought the scene differed slightly among routes but it’s the same, it’s just made to work in all of them. The sense of Shirou panicking about his inability to be a hero of justice towards the end of the scene reflecting how he feels he can’t live up to his idea of a hero while also working with how UBW Shirou will have to accept that saving everyone is impossible but still striving to and how HF Shirou will end up abandoning being a hero of justice for Sakura.

Shinji Matou Observations

⚠️Fate/ Stay Night Spoilers, discussions of sexism⚠️

Notice

Although I support people who interpret or headcanon Shirou as being a closeted trans woman, I don’t personally subscribe to that reading. Again no hate whatsoever if you do but this is not the interpretation that I take in this essay.

Misogyny

Shirou is somewhat infamously a bit of a misogynist, primarily in Fate route. There’s two main examples of this; his insistence that he should be the one to protect Saber despite her protests, and him hoping that getting mugged will cause Ayako to act like more like a girl and thus be less likely to get hurt again. Some people will argue that he’s not actually a misogynist because of the fact that it’s mostly a front for his self sacrificial behavior which is true, but this doesn’t make his action not misogynistic

Gender roles

As previously discussed Shirou has issues with traditionally masculine behavior exhibited by Ayako and Saber (though with the latter there is some nuance since he does also have valid concerns about her self-dehumanization). Regarding Shirou himself, he expresses a small amount of shame regarding his interest in housework and cooking. One factor that I think is potentially a potential reason for this fixation is a search for identity. Shirou views himself as being empty inside and wants to remedy that, specifically by being a hero of justice. This is mainly because he thinks that will allow him to finally be happy, but also because “Hero of Justice” functions as an ideal future identity. I believe that Shirou’s relationship to masculinity functions similarly, albeit to a lesser degree. He feels like he has nothing so he clings to masculinity so that he has something, hence why it’s brought up constantly.

This is coming from a person who loves Fate/ Zero a great deal but as everyone has said, Saber’s characterization in it is…. not great. Obviously this isn’t new thing to say as it’s pretty widely agreed on.

What I’m going to argue here is that although Shirou and Kiritsugu are in many ways opposites, and their respective relationships to Saber are perhaps even more opposite, there’s one major similarity, which doesn’t get to really be shown due to Saber’s mischaracterization in Zero.

Allow me to elaborate.

Let’s begin with Shirou and Saber. So at the start of Fate Route, Shirou and Saber’s dynamic is essentially they’re mutually kind of upset with each other for being self sacrificial.

In regards to Kiritsugu, I forgot which scene it’s in but it’s stated that as king, Saber would sacrifice one village for the sake of several. Sounds a little familiar?

Saber dislikes Shirou’s lack of regard for his own life and Kiritsugu’s ruthlessness in the pursuit of the good of the many, whilst also possessing some aspects of these traits. Is this hypocrisy? Maybe a little bit but there’s something more at play here. Saber is more capable in a fight than Shirou and also if Shirou gets taken out she basically is taken out as well so she views her sacrificing herself for him to be more justified. She possesses a knight’s honor unlike Kiritsugu and maintains the distance of a king with her sacrifices.

Essentially, you have Saber and Kiritsugu who are like “I have to throw away my emotions and humanity in order to be the individual who does what’s best for the kingdom/ humanity”. Kiritsugu dislikes Saber for this because he feels she was forced into that position and Saber dislikes Kiritsugu for this because of his methods. Rounding out this triangle of hypocrisy, you have Shirou, a broken person who sees nothing wrong in him being used by the people around him or throwing his life away for others but reacts negatively to Saber doing the same thing.