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◎ Name: Len
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moes◎ Contact:
- ( AIM ) hightouches
( PLURK )
( E-MAIL ) tsunderbolts@gmail.com
◎ Current Character(s): Himeko Inaba (
dereban)Character Info
◎ Character's Name: Illyasviel von Einzbern
◎ Character's Canon: Fate/stay night
◎ Character's Age: 18
◎ Canon Point: Heaven's Feel route ➨ "At the end of a miracle"
◎ Background/History: Wiki + Heaven’s Feel
◎ Is the character a hacker and/or do they have a sixth-sense? While Illya herself is not a hacker, being the vessel of the Holy Grail means that she has a very powerful sixth sense.
◎ Personality:
At first glance, Illyasviel von Einzbern — Illya for short — appears to be a rather ordinary girl with a complicated lifestyle. However, regardless of the fact that Illya acts like a child, something unbefitting of her true age as an adult, when you break down the components of the girl called Illysviel von Einzbern, you soon see that there's more to her than meets the eye.
Illya herself is a good example of "don't judge a book by its cover"; while she may have the appearance of a small, innocent girl, she is anything but that.
When Illya first introduces herself to the group, she is described as innocent, pure. The reason behind this is because Illya herself is a homunculus, a doll created by the Einzberns in order to participate in the Holy Grail War, which is why she looks like a child rather than an adult, regardless of the fact that she has lived eighteen full years. However, with this innocence comes a strange naivety to her - she considers killing to be some sort of game, and even enjoys the idea of killing the first two Masters - which happen to be Emiya Shirou, the protagonist of the series, and Tohsaka Rin, another person of noble standing - that she sees without any hesitation. She is completely ruthless when it comes to her enemies and won't dare flinch when it comes to killing them. However, if things don't go her way, she'll immediately get bored and quit. She doesn't like it when things aren't as planned; after all, she's supposed to be the strongest Master, better than all of the others. Because she has this idea that she's strong, she has a rather powerful will that shows her bolstering overconfidence in her abilities. She doesn't have a thought in her head that she could possibly lose, nor does she believe that is even remotely possible. After all, Berserker - her Servant - is strong; he's managed to protect her and continued to do so for a long time.
It's easy for her to put up a cruel personality towards the people she doesn't care about and doesn't even bother hiding her hatred towards them in the slightest. Being an aristocrat allows her to look down at others, speaking scornfully to the point where she could honestly care less about them; it's just plain indifference to her.
In order to understand why exactly she is so cruel is to delve back into her past. Ten years prior the the Fifth Holy Grail War, which Illya herself was created for ("…I was given birth to this world to win the Holy Grail War. My mission is to kill you [Emiya Shirou] and Kiritsugu.") she was really close to her family. She was extremely attached to Kiritsugu, her father, and Irisviel, her mother. However, the Fourth Holy Grail War tore her parents away from her to the point where her mother ended up dying and her father never returning to her. Because her father never came back to her like he promised, jealousy soon grew in the young girl's heart. Jealous that her father betrayed her by not keeping her promise. Jealous that her own father abandoned her to the point where he ended up adopting. Which is why she has to take revenge. It's one of the few reasons she has for staying alive, after all.
She was then secluded from the world in her castle for ten long years with nobody to take care of her. She just had to deal with the other homunculi like her that were being sacrificed for the ritual - something that she found pitiful, especially since she was to become the vessel of the Grail and sacrifice herself, so why should anybody else be sacrificed? Even if homunculi are, essentially, dolls, they still have living souls, living personalities. She just deems it as something that's cruel, which is partially the reason why she closes her heart off and joins the war so that she doesn't have to see anybody else like her die. And this way, if the ritual fails, there will be no need for the Einzberns to make any more homunculi - seeing as Illya is the most special homunculi of all, having been born naturally, unlike the rest of them. And because she doesn't like this, she even states outright that she "doesn't like having vessels besides [herself]", which is one of the primary reasons why she ends up disliking Sakura, someone who was forced to become a vessel of the Holy Grail. But at the same time, because she is a homunculus, she doesn't fully understand the mindset of a human being. Even more so when it comes to living forever. She knows that nobody can live forever; it's even more impossible for her, who can't live very long.
Being alone for ten years has caused the petite girl of winter to nearly stop growing mentally. Because she was left alone, she was unable to live out her life as an ordinary girl. And because of that mere fact, Illya herself, having practically stopped growing at the age of eight, overexaggerates a childish personality; she acts like a proper young lady, bowing politely when it's appropriate and even referring to Shirou, who is actually younger than her as her "onii-chan" (older brother). However, all of that is just a simple facade, a front that she puts on to protect herself. If she kills her emotions, she's able to actually smile like an ordinary girl. It's the same reason why she can act cold towards others and kill without any remorse.
Since Illya was left all by her lonesome for so long, there were only a few things that could comfort her. And that was the idea that even though that her mother was never going to return, as she had been told ("Mother told me that even if we wouldn't see each other anymore, she will always be by my side. I don't have to be sad, she has been telling me, before going to bed. So Ilya will always be with mother.") she would still have her, and there were times when Angra Mainyu / Avenger would show up in her mother's form, taunting her, tempting her, pushing her urges for revenge that she so deserved. That was the only comfort she had in ten whole years prior to summoning Berserker (Hercules) a month before the War started. When she summoned Berserker, she could have cared less about him. At first, she placed all the blame on him, saying that it would have been better if she was alone all the time - regardless of the fact that's hypocritical of her. But those words are simply lies, excuses that she tells herself in order to hide her weaknesses. After all, she was born with little to nothing and for one purpose alone and in the end she was fated to have nothing and lose it all to become the vessel. She knew that all along and simply accepted her fate.
Although Illya shows herself off as the strongest Master, she also has a weak side to her as well. Regardless of the fact that her desire is to take revenge on Kiritsugu, the mere fact that he's already gone, that he died before she managed to see him again. This realization makes her upset because it only goes to show how lonely she is in the world ("Yeah, I'm a bit tired. There's nobody here, after all.") but at the same time, when she realizes that Shirou, the adoptive son of Emiya Kiritsugu is just as lonely, she feels sorry for him. So she knows, as the older sister, she has to help him out, even if it's just a little bit. Although she does feel remorse for her own father dying, she doesn't like to show those emotions that she had locked up in order to participate in the Holy Grail War. Instead, she usually hides it, only allowing those who she feels close to as family or friends to see her true self.
When it comes to people she cares about, she can show her more big sister role. Even if she can be cruel at times and close her heart from other people, she can also be gentle and caring. She shows her affection a lot of the time by being a little too over-energetic, and sometimes even physically. Even if she might be a little over-the-top about it all, she genuinely cares about other people she's close to - particularly Shirou - and doesn't want them to do things that could recklessly kill them. It's her job to do the killing, and she won't allow anybody else to do it.
She's even a bit stubborn and over-protective of things that she thinks rightfully belong to her - she rightfully claims Shirou as hers and even fights with Tohsaka over his ownership. But because of that, she also knows that she has to be the one to protect him. After all, "…Yeah. I'm the older sister. So I have to protect my younger brother." The same goes for Berserker. She knows that she's weaker and fragile and can't do much - she hides that under a mask - but she doesn't want to lose him, or anybody she cares about. The sole idea of losing someone is just so painful for her; it's practically twisting a knife in her heart and a sheer act of betrayal.
All in all, Illya is a girl who comes off as deceitful: she has a cruel, cold side of her as a Magus and a childish, kind side of her as the older sister. To people she doesn't like, she could be completely indifferent about them, but to people she cares about, her heart goes out for them. Even though she might tease them just a little bit.
◎ Powers/Abilities:
- Magecraft — As an Einzbern, her innate sorcery trait is Wish-granting, meaning that she can skip the thaumaturgical process and recreate miracles through the use of magical energy. She also knows Healing Magecraft and the Transference of Consciousness. Transference of Consciousness allows Illya to place a person's soul into another body or object, and if the person who has been affected by this has their original body disturbed in any way, they will be returned to their original body. She can also implant false personalities into inanimate objects.
Transmutation — She is able to create familiars using strands of her hair that are rather strong, quick, and are supplied with a good amount of prana. They are usually birds and can shapeshift into swords, but it is entirely possible that she can turn her familiars into other objects.
Magic Circuits — Illya's body is 70% composed of Magic Circuits that cover her from head to toe. It also acts as her Command Spells. Illya herself has an unlimited supply of prana, given the fact that she is innately a vessel for the Holy Grail and can control most Servants with ease.
Master — As a former Master for the Holy Grail War, Illya is able to make a contract with any Servant or Heroic Spirit and form a spiritual connection with them.
Vessel of the Grail — As the Grail's vessel, Illya can hold up to four Servants (or souls) in her body without losing her personality. If she takes in more than four, she will no longer function as a human being and turn into the Holy Grail. She is also able to use the Dress of Heaven and call upon the Third Magic. The Third Magic allows for the materialization of the soul, where she can perfectly place a soul into another container. As the Grail's Vessel, she can also conduct miracles - however, this is only possible if she obtains enough Servants inside her body. It is also heavily implied that when she takes in a soul into her body, she gains knowledge of that soul, along with their memories.
Languages — Although this isn't any special ability, truthfully, Illya is able to speak several languages. Those languages are English, Japanese, Latin, and German - though there might be some brief knowledge of other languages that might have been used in magecraft.
◎ Weapons & Other Special Inventory: She will only have her regular winter outfit along with the Dress of Heaven.
CEREALIA-Specific
◎ Element: Water.
◎ Sense: Sight. Illya herself can send people's visions into another place, as well as contact them with vision by using her magic.
◎ Seven Character Traits: ( powerful, outgoing, kind ) | ( cruel, childish, lonely ) + mischievous
Samples
◎ First-Person Sample: Here.
◎ Third-Person Sample: Exempt, as I already play Himeko Inaba in game.
◎ Is your character retaining any previous game memories? Nope.
revisions; 1/2
Illya's cruelty is simply a front that she reveals to other people to hide the real issues that she has with the Holy Grail War. She shows a Stepford Smile and easily talks about killing others by giving the simple excuse that it's simply what she was born for. She looks down on others and shows that she barely cares about other people, as is shown when she says, "That's not right. I don't have any enemies. Other Masters are just harmful bugs, but I can let you go if you behave yourself." Illya herself is simply indifferent towards others and just sees them all as nuisances, rather than her enemies. However, Illya herself does not see things such as killing others or winning the Holy Grail War not as something good or bad to her, but as something she's indifferent towards.
She reveals herself as someone who simply, at first, doesn't care about other people at all, saying, "You don’t interest me one bit. Besides…what do you expect me to say to someone who’s going to die here?" Basically, she can easily kill someone with nearly no regrets. She only has one purpose in her life, and that's to win the war and grab her revenge towards the person who betrayed her.
That's exactly why she can just simply smile at one moment and act like a child, and then the next moment act like a cold Master whose only duty is to obtain the Holy Grail at all costs, showing absolutely no fear in her actions.
Kiritsugu—
For the longest of times, Illya felt a strong pang of abandonment towards Kiritsugu. While she knew that her mother would not come back at the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War as is shown in the Fate/Zero novels as she says goodbye to them both before, she believed that her father, who she called by his name, would come back for her. For the longest of times, she held a dear affection towards her father, something akin to adoration. She used to play winter sprout searching games with him; the two of them were rather close.
So when she finds out from Angra Mainyu - or rather, the tainted Holy Grail, that she was betrayed all this time and was even tempted as it told her, taking Irisviel's form that he was a traitor, that "...he thought only of himself until his end, never even coming back for us." However, Illya denies all of this; she outright states aloud that it has nothing to do with her. Her denial of her father's existence even shines through a little when Shirou asks her if she knows a man named Emiya Kiritsugu, she outright rejects it, telling him at first that she doesn't know him. She closes herself off from the idea that she's even related to him because she wanted so hard to forget about him. She had decided on her own that she was going to live her life on her own and just simply forget about him.
But in reality, Illya was simply lonely. No matter how many days she waited, he never managed to return to her. He was deemed as a traitor by others, but her naive way of thinking still had a shred of doubt at first- but as the days passed by and she grew older, she tried her best to stay strong. She told herself that she could live on her own, do her best on her own, and that she didn't need other people. Kiritsugu was already dead, so did she have a reason to live anymore? That's why the tainted Grail had to tempt her, give her a reason for living. If she continued living, she can continue being the vessel. The Greater Grail wasn't completely destroyed, so the fighting could continue soon enough.
And the reason for her to continue living is just as the Grail said, "But it has to do with you. Because he (Emiya Kiritsugu) had a child. That man had a family. A family other than me (Irisviel)." Those words alone were the final stab into Illya's chest, revealing to her that Kiritsugu had truly betrayed her. It gave her a full reason to live, and a full reason to fight in the War. The boy who was a part of her father's betrayal would soon be someone who she would soon kill. After all, it's his fault that she was left alone all these years, it's his fault that her father forgot and betrayed her in the first place. Little does she know, however, that actually wasn't the case.
Homunculi—
Illya is the crowning achievement of the Einzberns; she is a homunculi created using her father's- Kiritsugu's- sperm along with the magic of the Einzberns. Of course, since the Einzberns predicted that the Fourth Holy Grail would be a failure, they decided to tamper with Illya's body so she would become the most suitable vessel, even more so than any past homunculi, seeing as Illya herself is special, having both human and homunculi components. While staying in the Einzbern castle, she sees many like her die for the sake of a miracle, for the sake of the Holy Grail. When she sees it, she inherently believes that the War is something stupid; if it's humanity salvation, as she calls it, how will it bring happiness to them? She's not human, nor does she see herself as one, so she simply doesn't think that it's fair that all of these homunculi have to die in front of her, just for the sake of a miracle that the Einzberns have been wanting to achieve. And if Illya fails, then even more homunculi will die, as the factory will shut down.
She shows sheer hatred towards the Einzberns because of what they've done, having created many homunculi - beings who Illya herself considers as living - just to have them die over the span of a thousand years. Believing that it's honestly unfair that everything that they've done was out of duty, that they are just dolls that are made for one sole purpose and then tossed away, they aren't seen as real, living people by others. They had no self identity to begin with, just because they were created.
And because of that, Illya regresses herself to a state prior to the Holy Grail War; she exaggerates the harsher parts of a childish personality, flaunting out how stubborn she acts when she doesn't get what she wants, acting all innocent towards other, more trivial things about the world. She closes herself up in her shell because if she dares to open herself up, then the others will experience the same fate as she once saw before: death. This is why she flips back and forth between her personalities, acting cold and indifferent at first towards Sella and Liz, her servants, even to the point where she says that she doesn't care anymore.
However, that is not the case. While she may act cold towards her servants, who are also homunculi, she actually cares about them, regardless of her harsh words. When Sella says that she, along with Liz, place their lives at her disposal, Illya rejects that as well, saying, "I don't want it. I don't want anything like that." This goes to show that she genuinely cares about others like her and just simply wants to protect them, regardless of how she acts towards them. It's also the real reason why she doesn't like the idea of Sakura, a human being, becoming yet another vessel. The vessel of the Holy Grail is someone who is fated to die by fulfilling the miracle, after all. It's someone who has to sacrifice their own lives to create the Second Magic.
Berserker—
At first, when she sees Berserker, all she sees him as a tool; he's simply a means to an end for her. He's her way into the Holy Grail War, her way into getting the revenge she so rightfully deserves. She's already told herself multiple times over that the Holy Grail War is stupid; it's a dumb ritual to her anyway - one that's been done for over a thousand years, and for what? A miracle to occur? Illya doesn't care about that, however; she's not planning on winning the Holy Grail for the Einzberns.
She's doing it solely for herself - to prove that she's the most power Master in the world. Illya goes as far as to completely immerse herself in that role — if she sees herself as the most powerful person, as someone who can't be defeated, then there would be nothing to worry about. Besides, she can do everything all on her own with nobody else's help.
However, she's proven wrong immediately when Liz tells her that she needs Berserker, someone who's strong, someone who can protect her. However, Illya doesn't agree at first, she just sees a Servant as a lower being, a familiar bound to the world through the Greater Grail. Something that would, as Illya puts it, betray her. She's been betrayed before, so there's no reason for her to trust in anybody anymore. Words aren't enough for her anymore, so why should she trust them? In the end, she's only going to be betrayed by them; she knows that all too well from ten years of seclusion; being all by herself for ten full years without growing, aging, or being able to act like a normal girl.
And when she actually does manage to do several things that a normal girl like Illya would do; she even says it herself: "No, I can't do that. I can't come and see you myself. Yesterday was a one-time only cheat." She's basically telling herself that she can't be a normal girl because she wasn't one to begin with; after all, she's a homunculus, a being that was created for one sole purpose, and that was to open and close the Gate to the Greater Grail.
However, when she was finally thrown into a training regimen meant to make Berserker and Illya into the strongest Master and Servant team, she soon realized how her life was like hell. She would only insult and scorn Berserker because he seemed to give her only pain. She put on a brave face and mocked, telling him that he was no good as a Servant to the extent where she abandons him during the final test, saying that since the test was to get back to the castle, all she would have to do is simply summon a new one; one that won't hurt her, one that won't frighten her at all in the slightest. After all, a Servant was just some Heroic Spirit, a familiar who would only obey her because of her powerful Command Seals and Magic Crest.
But Illya soon realizes during that final test that was given to her that Berserker, like her, isn't just some sort of tool, or even just a regular familiar. He didn't protect her from the wolves because she ordered him to, or because of who he is. He did it out of his own free will, to protect her, because he knew all too well that they were both alone. The only things that they had were each other. He was the only person in that castle that she had talked to, after spending ten long years in isolation.
That is why, to Illya, Berserker is her closest friend and companion. He is the first person that she managed to trust after feeling betrayed. So when he's taken in by Sakura and sees him still in this world, she can't help but mourn for him. That he's being used for something like that just doesn't sit well with her at all, and just bothers her immensely.
no subject
To Illya, Emiya Shirou is a very important person to her. Even though the two of them aren't related by blood, she still considers him very important to her. After all, he is one of the reasons why she felt abandoned all of these years. So when she sees him, her immediate reaction is to warn him - she tells him that "if he doesn't summon it (his Servant) soon, he'll die", if only because she has plans to kill him. She even says it herself, with a sad look in her eyes that. ("I'll never forgive you if you leave me alone before I kill you.")
Her loneliness makes a huge part of personality, because it's one of the driving forces that makes Illya who she is today. Around Shirou, she tends to play the role of both the younger and older sibling. She calls him onii-chan ("older brother") affectionately because of how she must look to him, and because she overly exaggerates that part of her a lot both physically and mentally. Illya acts a lot like a child quite often towards Shirou to the point where it's difficult to tell that she's actually already an adult.
Because of the big impact betrayal has on Illya, she doesn't exactly like liars, either. In fact, she even gets rather pissed when Shirou contradicts himself ("Oh, you're a liar! You said you won't get mad, but you're mad!") and is even rather stubborn as well when she's told her question was insignificant and that she shouldn't be asking an important question such as if he [Emiya Shirou] liked her because she was the one who attacked him first. ("......It's important to me. You're an idiot, Shirou! If I hadn't stopped him you'd be dead right now, but you still want to talk big.")
Even though at first she considers him as someone who had a huge impact on Kiritsugu's betrayal, she soon finds out that Shirou isn't a bad person; he was ignorant and as much of a victim to the war like she was. Which is why she decides that she can be his ally, no matter what happens. Just as long as he doesn't abandon her again like her father once did, she won't abandon him.
She genuinely cares about him, and it's very evident in Heaven's Feel when she decides to sacrifice herself for him. When she does it the first time, Shirou slaps her in the cheek, telling her that she's a bad girl and even chastises her.
It just goes to show how devoted Illya is towards the people she cares about. She puts up a front and reveals her cold face and even sends people off with a fake smile upon her lips, when in reality, she doesn't want to do that. She doesn't want to die, even if it's for the sake of other people. But even so, Illya herself has managed to accept her fate. Because she's a homunculi, and one built for a single purpose, she knows that she can't live all that long. Her lifespan just doesn't last to that extent. Yet, because when she's living with Shirou, she feels comfort and safe, regardless of what's happening in the War, she just simply bottles up all of her emotions and pretends that everything is normal, if only because she knows all too well what's in store for her. ("That's not possible. I can't live long, and you (Emiya Shirou) can't live long either. So it's not possible to live together.")
While Illya does wish that she could live peaceful days with Shirou, ("…Heehee. But it's a bit vexing. I wish you'd said it a bit sooner. If you had… fate might've taken a different turn.") she knows that the both of them are in similar situations - Illya can't live very long due to being the vessel, and Shirou cannot either because of the arm he has obtained. Besides, Illya prefers that Shirou would live in the end anyway; he has a lot more to live for than she does, after all. Then again, she is the older sister. It's only right for her to want to protect him, isn't it?