Archer MATOU

Class: Archer
Alternative Class: N/A
True Identity: Shinji Matou
Titles/Nickname:
Origin: Japan
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Strength: C
Endurance: C
Agility: B
Mana: B
Luck: C
Noble Phantasm:

Class Skills
Independent Action - B
It is possible for a Servant to stay in the world for two days without a Master. However, this is the ideal value achieved by maximally conserving mana and avoiding battle and Noble Phantasm usage.

Magic Resistance - C
Cancel spells with a chant below two verses. Cannot defend against magecraft on the level of High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals.

Personal Skills
Collector - B
Archer is a man who collected many items and Mystic Codes in his life. Using both efforts, a bit of luck and the funds he had he came to gather a large number of items that helped him in his goals. Holding a number of items it is also a “luck” that draws rare items into the possession of Archer.

Part of what allowed Servant Archer to attain success in life was not an innate ability or some grand talent. His talents were geared for that of normal life, of being a normal person. The answer is simply just the collection of items, trinkets and Mystic Codes that he has collected through his life to allow him to live the life of a pursuer of power.

Mankind has no need to be strong for they can create tools and weapons that are strong in their stead. A philosophy of Atlas and indeed the modern world. In a way Servant Archer who was a normal human and yet became a freelancer who was able to compete to some extent in the magical world through not his inborn potential but through the tools and items, he used to grant him the strength he did not have exemplifies this. Yet despite this, he did not realize that usefulness and continued to pursue the slightest hopes of becoming strong himself as a person.

Multiple items are held by Servant Archer of varying and sometimes overlapping effects. He is a servant who is absolutely weak and cannot answer the legendary skills and talents of a true hero. Yet his flexibility in tools and more normal magical items is rarely matched. He is a “hero” who is a user, rather than a warrior

Magecraft (False) - B+
Having forcibly created that which makes thaumaturgy possible and imbuing himself with the knowledge and powers of his family Servant Archer is well-versed in the ways of modern Magecraft. On top of that, his theoretical knowledge is higher than most non-magi having spent most of his youth reading on the Magical World. Due to the nature of his magic circuits and his arm he is most adept in magecraft relating to that which the attribute of Absorption can be applied.

Self-Modification - C
Having modified himself to attain Magic Circuits, or rather a “Magic Circuit” that takes the shape of an “arm” Servant Archer is able to add things to his body and change himself. However, the higher the rank this skill is the farther one is from a true hero. Someone who is already little more than a Wraith, a Counter Guardian who has no legend, Servant Archer can only be called a hero in the loosest of terms.

'Noble Phantasm'
Dubhlámh: 'Five Hundred Year Grude' - N/A
Anti-Unit(Self)
The right arm of Archer. In truth, it is a false conceptual weapon created by a certain puppet master, using the oldest worms that once composed Matou Zouken and by borrowing the concept of the Airgetlám. A magical armament that has posthumously been elevated from something "tied to the spirit" to something "tied to the soul".

While in life, Archer was not born with Magic Circuits, the possession of this arm has granted him them. Within it is contained the attribute of Absorption, the hallmark of Matou Zouken himself. As a result, though, Archer's use of magecraft is limited accordingly, as all magecraft cast is along this attribute and becomes "something which will return to the user".

The true power of this armament, however, is the grudge contained within it. Due to the age of the worms and the grudge of the existence they originally were, the holistic armament has become something similar in nature to Len. It is a separate spiritual entity that is summoned as a result of Archer himself being summoned, like Grendel to Beowulf, or Fafnir to Siegfried. It has become something akin to "that which Absorbs by existing" as opposed to "that which uses a process to Absorb", placing its capacity for energy drain at the absolute peak, the usage of this absorb is through the unnamed bow he uses which was made by a friend his powers his 'makeshift arrows' as shots which drain away mana from what they pierce and feed it to the arm and in turn Archer.

Consequently, though, Dubhlámh is an existence which erodes at Archer himself. The grudge of the arm, of Matou Zouken, seethes at the soul and continually attempts to absorb its own host and incarnate within him, in a process akin to demonic possession. With each use of the arm's abilities, this erosion accelerates, combating this erosion is difficult however as a Heroic Spirit it would a full week of constant usage before the erosion reached the levels of being far too dangerous.

As an aside, as a being fundamentally formed of "grudges", it is unable to cope with the Sacraments of the Church.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Due to the thinning of their bloodline, the Matou are no longer capable of producing heirs naturally capable of sorcery. This led Byakuya, the eldest son of Zouken Matou, to marry a woman with an "inheritor" sorcery trait, who later gave birth to his son, Shinji. Unfortunately, Shinji was incapable of sorcery.

In the Fourth Holy Grail War, Byakuya sent him to study abroad. Because of that, he does not know that his uncle Kariya participated and died, probably because Byakuya (who despised Kariya) chose to hide this fact from him.

It was this part of his life that had instead changed for some reason or another Matou Shinji was not sent abroad and thus was able to meet his Uncle, was thus able to learn the truth about Sakura and thus did not come despise and treat her like an object, this path still had issues it led him down a life of engrossing himself in the Moonlit World so that he may help his Sister much like Emiya Shirou, Shinji is more of a Spellcaster then a true Magus.

He lacks the attitude and fortitude to be as much and during the Fifth Holy Grail War he aligned himself with Shirou and both came out as the victors during which Tohsaka Rin aided them in the destruction of Zouken and rescuing Sakura from her fate in the process though Shinji had lost his arm and as a replacement with help from a Puppet Master was able to have what remained of Zouken implanted onto him as an Arm, in essence, a Conceptual Weapon of Absorption known as Dubhlámh.

He was still same Shinji for much of his teenagehood and early adulthood essentially acting as a Third Wheel for Shirou and Rin until the two broke off with Rin focusing on her studying at the Clock Tower and Shirou pursuing his dream of becoming a Hero, Shinji ultimately chose to join him in this.

The two were Freelancer's essentially Mercenary's hired by the Association to aid in the destruction of things such as Dead Apostles and even Rogue Mage's, others would join up with them as a form of 'group' with Shirou at the lead even if it meant recklessly going into battlefields to help people, as long as he got the power he wanted he was perfectly adequate with this.

https://i.imgur.com/gApwcOC.jpg
(A picture of Shirou with Shinji and an unnamed man in the background)

He matured over time into a Sensible person, one who got his Ego under control and acted more like a Cold and Sassy friend, a Cynclaistic collector his true strength comes from his Knowledge and Collection of Mystic Codes and other Armaments he gained, which stuck with him after he signed the contract to become a Counter Guardian trading a peaceful afterlife for one of more power and becoming that of a Guardian.

https://i.imgur.com/9Hbz6Ve.png

His wish is nothing like a certain Archer's however it is a rather simple thing of wanting to be able to live a normal life, get married have children be blissful from it all until he can finally rest in the afterlife with no regrets, the ideal normal life for someone in their youth who sought to finally have Magic he now wishes to abandon it for something not normal to him, something he could truly never actually have.

His death came from a similar as Emiya Shirou, he was pinned as the cause of a Conflict and was thus hung, he had plenty of resentment and anger at that moment but, most of it disappeared when he realized it was because he had made choices that consciously lead him down the path of a 'Hero', ironically enough even if that meant dying for the masses to be appeased.

He holds no hatred for his place as a Guardian they are a part of the natural order and if anything the entertainment of essentially acting as a tool for the Will of Humanity is enough he lacks the ideals of someone like Emiya Shirou to truly resent the role and has grown accustomed to it as a result.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Medusa: "I'm not your Master and I never will be, let's do each other a favor and not talk unless it's about strategy."

EMIYA: "Him huh? No, he isn't the guy I know but they are a lot alike we could work well if he bothered to realize I'm not the same guy he may remember."

BB (Sakurafaces): "I see so you really went insane this time!"

Ishtar/Ereshkigal: "Oh don't mind me, master, I'm just amused."

Parvati: "I see, I see... The compability between these two makes sense but it is also rather sad thinking about it.

Perseus: "Not bad... Not bad at all."

Regarding a Master: It all depends on who they are in the case of Guda(ko) he will treat them fine but also act as a form of guide is not how to be a master but rather how to accept things as they are, if anything he is a magecraft 101 for them explaining things that they may not understand. "Formalcraft? Oh, that's rather simple you see-" despite the small superiority he may gain from him it's being able to try and make a successful magus out of them that counts even if he himself is a fraud in that regard.