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ShiSaber is the het ship between Artoria Pendragon (Saber) and Shirou Emiya from the Fate fandom.
Canon[]
Fate/stay night[]
Artoria Pendragon is the true identity of King Arthur of British legend. Shirou accidentally summons Artoria early on in the story, before the point of divergence between the routes. As such, he becomes an initially unknowing participant in the Holy Grail War, wherein mages summon heroic spirits and battle for the control of the Holy Grail. Shirou was able to summon Artoria because of her connection as the servant of his adopted father, Kiritsugu Emiya, in the previous Grail War. Shirou calls Artoria "Saber", as this is her class and it is considered important for masters to keep their servant's true name a secret. It is some time before Artoria reveals her true identity to Shirou.
In the first route of the story, Shirou and Artoria gradually form a romance through their partnership. In life, Artoria had suppressed her desires and wishes in order to pursue her ideal image of a King. Shirou plays an important role in helping her to reconnect with herself. Saber initially hopes to win the Grail so as to erase her own existence from history, but through Shirou's support she comes to terms with her inability to live up to her own hopes for herself. At the end of the route, Artoria vanishes, and Shirou dedicates himself to one day reuniting with her.
The second route of the story, Unlimited Blade Works, focuses instead on Shirou's relationship with his fellow master and classmate, Rin Tohsaka. In this route, Artoria is captured fairly early on by Medea, and she and Shirou are not reunited until much later. As such, Shirou instead grows in his bond with Rin. Saber disappears at the end of the route, with Shirou now dating Rin. An alternate "good" ending is however present wherein Rin saves Artoria, and the three of them live together, seemingly polyamourously.
In the third and final route, Heaven's Feel, Shirou and Artoria are separated even more quickly and remain so for the remainder of the route. Artoria is turned into "Saber Alter", a tainted version of herself, and is antagonistic towards Shirou. Towards the end of the route, Shirou defeats and kills Saber Alter.
Fanon[]
ShiSaber is one of the most popular ships in the Fate/stay night and broader Fate fandom, given its status as the first pairing of the original visual novel. It is typically considered by fans to be Shirou's "main" pairing, although no route of the story is treated as more or less canon than any other. ShiSaber also began the trend of romance between masters and servants in the Fate series, and male-to-female genderbends of historical/mythological figures, which has remained a reoccurring story element since.
What criticism the pair receives typically focuses on the concept of a heroic figure like Artoria being paired with a teenage boy, a criticism series creator Kinoko Nasu admitted in an interview. Fate/Zero writer Gen Urobuchi described Shirou and Artoria's relationship as seeming less like a "realistic relationship between a male and a female" and more like a "a complicated relationship with a boy who became a girl." Nasu responded that, while he was aware of the problems, he wanted to push their relationship towards a "girl-meets-boy story" anyhow. Urobuchi comments that Shirou and Saber's relationship "isn't a relationship fueled by instinct" but rather a "romance of logic between two people who need each other from the heart." Urobuchi expresses his belief that this is what makes Artoria's story refreshing, and why she has become so popular. [1]
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Emiya Shirou/Artoria Pendragon | Saber tag on AO3
- Emiya Shirou & Artoria Pendragon | Saber tag on AO3
- FAN ART
- Shirou/Saber tag on Pixiv
Gallery[]
Fate/stay night (Visual Novel)[]
Official Art[]
References[]
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| Fate Ships • Fate Characters | |||
| SHIPS | het | Cleosar • Diarturia • Gilturia • KirIri • OdyCirce • ShiRin • ShiSaber • ShiSaku | |
| slash | Patrochilles | ||
| femslash | AnneMary | ||
| non-binary | NeroHaku • TamaHaku | ||
| CHARACTERS | male | Arthur Pendragon • Henry Jekyll • Heracles • Merlin • Odysseus • Robin Hood | |