

Who was Rin's servant Archer in Fate Stay Night? In the anime, it shows no
reference to who he is or how he became a heroic spirit. But in the Manga, it
only shows how he became a heroic spirit.

The Holy Grail takes the soul or spirit from people of legends and myths. So
who was Archer in Fate Stay Night?

  * Only answer from Fate Stay Night, anime or manga. It would get confusing if somebody gives an answer that is true from a different universe or timeline.


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2013-02-15T17:35:06.710
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question
fate-stay-night
Who was Archer?


Unlike the other herioc spirits (Aurthur, Alexander the Great, etc), Archer
is:

> Shirou Emiya of an alternate future timeline who made a contract with
> [Gaia](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Gaia) and became the Heroic Spirit
> _Emiya_ , acting as the [Counter
> Guardian](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Counter_Guardian#Counter_Guardians)
> of the world to fulfill his contract.

There were hints about this when Archer sees Shirou for the first time
because:

> He purposely wanted to be summoned into an era where the young Shirou Emiya
> would be around for the Grail war so that killing the younger version of
> himself may cause a paradox that would break his contract.

So the simple answer to your question is that:

> Archer is the future version of Shirou Emiya.


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First of all, it should be mentioned that Archer is a Counter Guardian and not
a Heroic Spirit. He is an agent of Gaia (the will of Earth) and is not stored
in the Throne of Heroes like the other participants of the Holy Grail War.

Archer´s true identity is that of:

> Emiya Shirou from an alternative timeline of the Fate route (Saber route),
> where he went into despair after Illyasviel passes away 1 year after the
> war. He tried to become a hero by saving the majority by killing the
> minority (like his father, Emiya Kiritsugu). Eventually the people he saved
> turned on him and shunned him, throwing him further into despair,
> culminating in him sacrificing his life by making a pact with Gaia to become
> a Counter Guardian in exchange for a few hundred people´s life. He is
> summoned into the war with the pendant he always carried on him that Rin
> used to save him as the catalyst, since Rin had no catalyst herself.

If you want a more indepth answer, play the visual novel, as the second route,
Unlimited Blade Works, revolves mainly around him and Shirou.


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