Fate: 10 Things You Never Knew About Archer (2025)

One of the few Servants in theFatefranchise not to be based on a mythological or historicalfigure, Archer has developed a strong fanbase thanks to his interesting backstory, strong characterization, and awesome fight scenes. He is also referred to either as EMIYA or the Nameless One in works that involve multiple members of the Archer Class likeFate/Grand Order.

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Due to not every installment or supplement of theFatefranchise being translated into English, there is a ton of information on Archer that is not known to English speaking fans. This article seeks to reveal some little known facts about everybody's favorite mysterious Counter-Guardian.

10 Not The Only Counter-Guardian

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One of Archer's many unique aspects is the fact he is a Counter-Guardian, an agent of Earth's consciousness that seeks to stop threats to its existence. While Archer is the most well-known Counter-Guardian, he not the only one in the franchise.

One Counter-Guardian is an alternate version of Kiritsugu Emiya that was never hired as a master for the Einzbern family in the Fourth Holy Grail War. Another is an alternate version Okita Souji create to blow a Singularity created in 1945 Tokyo. The final known Counter Guardian is the humorous tower-defense side gameCapsule Servant, who is a future version of Rin send by the Earth to end the over-saturation of Grail Wars in the Multi-Verse.

9 His Fate/Extra Version Has A Different Back-Story

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Since Archer's backstory being heavily tied to the events ofFate/Stay Night,his backstory is heavily changed forFate/Extra. These changes are mostly a result ofFate/Extra's universehaving little magic and a different Grail system.

While this version of Archer is still a future version of Shirou Emiya who embraced his desire to become a hero of justice, their back-story diverges from there. The main difference being thatFate/Extra version of Archer was executed for the crime he committed in the name of justice and did not become a Counter-Guardian. This leads to this version of Archer being more content with his past and less willing to change it in comparison to hisFate/Stay Nightcounterpart.

8 His Alter Version Was Corrupted, Battling Kiara

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Another alternate version of Archer is his alter version. This is a version of Archer, who in his quest for justice has become a completely remorseless killer. WhileFate/Grand Orderdoes come out say the complete reason for why this happened, his in-game profile provides enough evidence to figure out what happens.

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The backstory of this version of Archer was that his quest for justice leads to him to confront the cult lead by that timeline version of Kiara Sessyoin, the main villain ofFate/Extra CCC. To take her down, this version of Archer had to kill a ton of cult members. This action hardens Archer to become a more remorseless lead to him being the Buddist equivalent of being damn leading to his altered appearance.

7 His Red Coat Was A Gift

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While the many physical differences between Archer and his younger self are explained throughout Fate/Stay Night, one element remained unexplained. That being the origin of his signature red coat.In 2010, an answer was provided in the third volume ofFate/Complete Work that tied Archer's backstory with anotherType/Moon property

The origin of Archer's red coat was that it was a gift given to him by a member of the Church who imply to be Ciel. Ciel is a character from Type/Moon's earlier gameTsukihime,which takes place in the same multiverse as theFate franchise. While the details remain unexplained, it surely must be an interesting story.

6 His Dual Swords Are Based On A Actual Legend

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Despite being a part of the Archer class, Archer is more well known as a swordsman using two distinctive white and black short swords. These two swords have the names ofGan Jiang and Mo Ye and are based on swords that were supposedly forged in China's past.

Gan Jiang and Mo Ye were supposedly forged by legendary Chinese blacksmith Gan Jiang as the request of the King of Wu, who wanted a sword without a sense of purpose. The process to make the swod would lead his wife Mo Ye to sacrifice herself to provide theQito make the swords, which he named after himself and his wife. The Swords which in theFateuniverse is in the realm of the god is one of the many legendary weapons copied by Archer.

5 Most Of Archer's Copy Weapons Are From Servant That Would Appear Later In The Franchise

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Archer's signature skill is his ability to create a copy of any legendary sword that he has encounter in a lifetime. The only restriction being is these copies are not perfect and usually lack the full magic power of the original. The prominent of the legendary swords used by Emiya like Caladbolg and Durandal lead to their original showing up later in the franchise

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Both weapon's original form would both show up inFate/Grand Order.Caladbolg would show up with its original owner Fergus mac Róich. Durandal would both show up wield by Roland in a one-off event and by Hector in its original spear configuration.

4 He Is The Only Servant Summoned By A Reverse Catalyst

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Another aspect of Archer that makes him stand out from his fellow-Servants is a unique way that he was summoned. Instead of traditional being summoned by a Master using an item associated with the desired Servant. Instead, Archer was summoned by Rin was the result of him having an item owned by Rin, a reverse catalyst of sorts.

That item being Rin's pendant, which was used by Rin to save Shirou Emiya's life in most timelines. Archer's copy of the pendant would become a major plot point when Shirou finding out that Archer had his copy of it leading to his true identity being revealed.

3 Respect Murasume Despite His Host Body

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Due to him blaming his younger self's desire of being a hero of justice lead to him becoming a Counter-Guardian, he has a strong hatred of his Shirou Emiya. This hatred, however, does not extend to the Servant Mursaume who uses Shirou's body for his physical form.

While this might simply be the result of Archer inFate/Grand Order is a more mellow individual than hisFate Stay/Nightcounterpart. He also mentions in the Servant profile section ofFate/Grand OrderMaterial that he somewhat impresses with Murasume despite using he using his younger self's body. The reason is likely that this result from mutual respect between one sword maker to another.

2 His Fate/Grand Orderincarnationis explicitly him afterUnlimited Blade Works

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Archer inFate/Grand Orderappears as a much nicer person than inFate Stay/Nightwith him lacking much of the cynicism seen in that incarnation. He also seems to be less of a loner with him helping out with Chaldea's kitchen and shown to be willing to act less seriously. While some of these characterization changes can be explained by him appearing in the mostly humor-focused event, there is an in-universe reason.

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That reason being that the Archer seen inFate/Grand Orderis the same one seen in the"United Blade Works" route. This can be seen by him more willing to embrace the aspect of his personality that resembles his younger self which fits with his character development from his path. His dialogue also expresses familiarity with all the characters fromFate/Stay Night.

1 His Coat Represent His Current Mindset

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InFate/hollow ataraxia, a spin-off more focus on seeing the cast ofFate/Stay Nightinteract without the whole Holy Grail War issue, Archer is seen throughout without his signature red coat. While it mainly uses to signify the spin-off's more peaceful fell, their a more character-based reason.

That reason being that Archer's consider wearing his red coat as a sign that he prepared to fight any potential foe he comes across. So him not wearing it in Fate/hollow ataraxiarepresent him being at peace and not currently looking for a fight.

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Fate: 10 Things You Never Knew About Archer (2025)
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