A SHIROU CHARACTER ANALYSIS!!

There's a lot of misconceptions and unfair hate that Shirou gets, so I'm going to analyze Shirou's mentality and character to help people better understand his character, as I think ubw Shirou is a fantastic character. :)

First off, I want to tackle how Shirou's used to communicate themes that UBW tackles, such as why one must value himself and why one must not be blinded by his ideals by his ideals to a self-destructive point, and how he developed the obsessive and downright self-deprecating

mentality that he has. Emiya Shirou, at his core, is a self deprecating kid who's devoid of any self worth or passion who was inspired into clinging to an impossible dream to justify his existence because of his survival guilt, as well as the fact that he craved the happiness

that the man who saved him felt upon saving him. Shirou is crushed by the amount of guilt that he feels, so he feels obligated to justify his existence and survival by achieving an impossible dream, because that's the only way he can compensate the lives lost in Fuyuki's fire,

as well as the fact that he promised Kiritsugu, who he astronomically looks up to and is grateful to. He wants to be a hero, he knows how to become one, but his guilt and lack of self-worth corrupted his methods of following his dream, causing him to completely disregard his self

in an attempt to fulfill a false dream, which will surely doom him. All of what I mentioned is communicated Shirou's act of learning magic. Shirou practiced learning magic his entire life and dedicated himself to that, all for the sake of others, as well as the fact that he saw

it as something that'll aid him in his quest to becoming a hero and because it's something that Kiritsugu taught him, so he cherished it and continued practicing it. Shirou will do anything that's morally safe, as long as it will help him in his quest to become a hero.

Even if he doesn't like it, he'll still squeeze and pressure himself into doing it, causing him to feel hollow and empty, feel meaningless. Not only that, but the reason he can't find personal joy in mage craft, or anything, is because he thinks he's too worthless for that,

which ties back to his survivor's guilt and how it messed up his mentality. But what caused him to have this sort of mentality? How did he develop it? The best place I can start with is the great Fuyuki fire and how it impacted Shirou's life, as well as his psyche.

Surviving this burned down Fuyuki caused secondary psychological effects on Shirou. Shirou contemplated on why he survived, why he, of all people, survived, and if he survived because of Fate, then what was the reason? To Shirou, surviving that great fire meant that he had

to compensate this world that lost all of these lives somehow. He felt that there must've been a reason for his survival, that he should achieve this purpose that he's been entrusted with and that he shouldn't despair over anything, that he shouldn't have fun, that he shouldn't

have a hobby that he's passionate about, because he doesn't deserve any of it. The fact that he survived, to Shirou, is enough for him. He doesn't feel genuinely happy until he made someone else happy, because that's what he lives for. And even that happiness is warped by his

self-destructive mentality. In addition to that, Shirou believes that being a hero is to save everyone and make everyone happy. While that's idealistic to an obnoxious degree, that unrealistic idealogy is warped by mentality and guilt, which get challenged later on in his fight

with Archer. Shirou's unrealistic ideals get challenged by the future that is told by Emiya Archer, which is that Shirou will abandon his ideals, surrender them to the cruel world, and kill the people who he wanted to save, which goes against the core of what Shirou needs

and wants to become. Shirou saw this as an obligatary challenge for his ideals that he needs to overcome to become a hero, as well as to prove that he's not the same as Archer and won't give in to the world's cruelty. Moreover, Shirou was horrified by what he saw from Archer's

life. He knew that he'd go down this path of self-destruction and despair, but he was still desperately rejecting whatever Archer told him about what will happen to him in the future out of genuine fear and dread of what will happen to him if he fails his dream to become a hero,

even though Shirou, deep down, knew that most of what Archer said about his shallow ideals is right. And even though he agreed to most of what Archer said, Shirou thought that Archer forgot something that was vital to him, something that caused him to go on his quest

to become a hero of justice, which is the fact that he didn't just want to become a hero because he promised Kiritsugu, but because as Shirou was walking across a burnt down Fuyuki, he had a wish to end this hell he was witnessing, which was fueled by Kiritsugu's unfulfilled

wish to only help others, who lost everything in the process. To sum Shirou up, Shirou is a mentally broken kid, who lacks self-esteem and self worth, but hopelessly chases after an impossible dream, believing it to be possible, all to justify his survival, while also being

dubious and hesitant when his ideals are questioned. But through his introspective fight with Archer, in which his ideals were put to the test, a weak spirited Shirou is reminded why he even wanted to be a hero upon witnessing the great fire of Fuyuki, in which he saw Kiritsugu

saving him. Shirou now realizes the difference between him and Archer, what Archer forgot and Shirou remembers, which is that he wanted to become a hero and strive for his ideal world because of his admiration towards Kiritsugu that was built on a wish to help others, not just

the happiness that Kiritsugu felt when saving Shirou, thus fuming Shirou's spirit, causing him to embrace the flaws of his ideals, his hypocrisy, and the bloody path he's walking. He sees a certain beauty in saving those who are in need. He knows he's fake, but he wholeheartedly

believes in his dream, and he will walk down that path, no matter how despicable, because he's Emiya Shirou, a hero, someone who embraced the bloody path he will walk and will continue to move forward, as he strives for his dream.

If you liked this analytical thread, please consider retweeting it, as that would be greatly appreciated. If you're a fate fan, let's follow each other, because I'll make more analytical threads on other Fate characters!! :)