Irisviel von Einzbern (アイリスフィール・フォン・アインツベルン, Airisufīru fon Aintsuberun?) is a homunculus. She is the wife of Kiritsugu Emiya and the mother of Illyasviel von Einzbern.
Profile
Background
For the Fourth War, Jubstacheit von Einzbern decided to create a humanoid shape as the Grail vessel that has a consciousness and can be independent to defend itself from harm. He used the archetype base of Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern to create Irisviel, thus referred to as a Justeaze-late model. The one who became the mother body of the ultimate homunculus among all Einzbern homunculi in the past, she is the only one who experienced motherhood and gave birth to a successor.
Kiritsugu Emiya first met Irisviel when she was created inside a tube. Through his interactions with her, he found her to be useless and Kiritsugu expressed his frustration to Jubstacheit regarding Irisviel's lack of understanding towards protecting herself and interacting in society. In response, Jubstacheit decided to prove Irisviel's durability by casting her into the wastes of the Einzbern forests. Disgusted with Jubstacheit's actions, Kiritsugu rescued her and personally began educating Irisviel about the current society and the modern world so that she could develop a sense of self. Her rapid development and unexpected insights toward mankind surprised Kiritsugu and they gradually fell in love with one another. However, Kiritsugu knew that their love would end in tragedy as he would have to sacrifice her for his ideals. For his sake, Irisviel wanted to conceive a child for him so that he would have a new hope after the war.
Because the plan of conceiving Illyasviel was decided after Irisviel was coined, her pregnancy of Illyasviel was not much of a natural development since it was an additional role imposed onto her that she originally was not supposed to have. An exception among Einzbern homunculi whose functions are determined when they are designed. It was due to Jubstacheit's judgement that it would be more efficient to nurse a child rather than produce a homunculus.
Thus, despite being a homunculus, Irisviel had a human woman’s experience of giving birth to and raising a child (similar to herself) as a mother, and this had a greater influence over her feelings than Jubstacheit expected. Made to be a puppet with no desires, she managed to find happiness in her existence when she gave birth to Illyasviel.[3]
Furthermore, nine years is a long time to maintain a relationship with a human. Before her, there were no precedents of an Einzbern-made homunculus with such a colorful and eccentric personality. She was the first Einzbern homunculus to be treated like a human being and learn human emotions to such an extent. Originally an existence that surpassed humans solely through the functions of mind and body, her personality did not collapse even after going through an uncommon development, and she managed to attain self-consciousness without any feelings of inferiority just like any human being.
Appearance
As a homunculus of the Einzbern, Irisviel possesses a genetic resemblance to her ancestor, Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, who formed the core of the Holy Grail when the Holy Grail Wars began. Her long silver hair and crimson eyes are distinctive traits of Einzbern homunculi, such that Tohsaka Tokiomi recognizes right away that she is a member of the Einzbern family.
Because of her striking appearance, she tends to stand out, despite her attempts to dress informally. Irisviel dresses in long white gowns trimmed in gold in the Einzbern castle, but wears more functional clothing when she goes to Japan. Her clothing choice, though considerably less formal than her usual garb, is still considered by ordinary people to be high-end fashion. Irisviel wears a burgundy blouse with a brooch, a white skirt, thigh-high white boots, and black tights; in cold weather, she also wears an elegant fur-trimmed white coat and a white fur cap.
Personality
Irisviel is quite peculiar compared to other Einzbern homunculi. She was the first to have received the same treatment as a human and the first to have human emotions. Furthermore, she has interacted with humans for nine years and developed such colorful and eccentric mental activity. She was originally a blank slate that did not possesses any human qualities. Her physical and mental capabilities surpasses those of a human, so they did not fail her during her exceptional growth, allowing her to gain self-awareness and emotions.
Her knowledge of human emotion and human experiences is limited due to having lived for only 9 years without ever leaving Einzbern castle and only having Kiritsugu to teach her about the world. This is in contrast with her inherent knowledge and reason, the crystallization of the Einzbern's wisdom accumulated over millennia, that comes with the format of a homunculus. The result is her having both the elegance of an upper-class lady and the innocent nature of a child.
Homunculi normally have their functions determined during their design process, but Irisviel developed the plan to conceive Illya after she was created. Jubstacheit decided to allow a special case in that she was to hold multiple “functions different from the plan”, allowing her to both give birth and rear Ilya. This allowed Irisviel to experience raising a child like a human mother, affecting her character in a way that Jubstacheit could not have predicted.[4]
Before meeting Kiritsugu, Irisviel had no emotion nor any sense of self-preservation beyond ensuring that she would survive as the Holy Grail. After Kiritsugu taught her the modern world, she developed a sense of self. She loves Kiritsugu Emiya, her husband, and Illyasviel von Einzbern, her daughter. Despite his normally restrained attitude, Kiritsugu calls her "Iri" out of affection.
Though she acts as one who is sheltered and innocent, Irisviel displays a mature attitude and understanding towards Kiritsugu and the agony he suffers, as well as the knowledge that she will likely die in the war because of his actions. She also tries to present Saber with a better impression of Kiritsugu since Saber feels her Master's cold nature derives from his belief she is unsatisfactory as a Servant because she is female.
She approved of Kiritsugu’s ideal and vowed to sacrifice herself for its sake, but the truth is that she never actually understood that ideal. She simply wanted to walk the same path together with the person she loved, but – in order not to burden Kiritsugu – she decided to behave as a woman who would die for that same ideal rather than just a woman that would die for her husband. Although she wished for Kiritsugu and Saber to keep winning and end the fighting, she had little desire towards achieving the Third Magic, which was the Einzbern family’s ambition.
She enjoys driving, but she is not very skilled. Kiritsugu bought her a "toy", a Mercedes-Benz 300SL, famous for being Japan’s Yujiro IshiharaWP’s favorite car, to educate her about modern science. It is a bit classical in terms of education because part of the reason it was chosen was Irisviel’s own taste. While it was a custom model ordered by Kiritsugu, it lacked any substantial modifications. It was later stored in the Einzbern mansion after the Fourth War, happily becoming Illya's toy.[5]
Role
Fate/Zero
During the 4th Holy Grail War, Irisviel became the provisional Master of Saber while relying not on the Servant System, but simply through the vows of chivalry. Saber's actual Master is Kiritsugu Emiya, the Einzbern family's representative in that war who decided to act independently from his Servant and arrived in Fuyuki City without her. After Kiritsugu summoned Saber, he made Irisviel hide Avalon – which served as the catalyst to the summoning of Saber – inside her body so to serve as insurance while she performed her act of proxy Master. Irisviel’s and Saber’s role at the time was to openly take action and serve as a decoy in order to lure out enemies, while Kiritsugu worked in the shadows with his assistant, Maiya Hisau.
Due to her secluded and isolated upbringing, she is fascinated with Fuyuki City and openly explores the city with Saber as her escort during her first day. Incidentally, the fact that Saber, who could not dematerialize her spiritual body, disguised herself as a man at that time was mainly due to Irisviel's tastes, proof of how her carefree nature extended itself to her relationship with Saber. The two got along well and became close enough friends for Saber to be willing to tell the story of her past to Irisviel.
Like the Einzbern Masters of the past, Irisviel is skilled in Magecraft but is not suited for combat, making her generally left to be an observer whenever Saber entered in battle. At the same time, she also relays information to Kiritsugu through technological methods, such as tracking devices and mobile phones, which remained undetected by other Masters. She and Saber meet with Kiritsugu and Maiya a limited number of times during the war to decide which Masters and Servants to focus their attacks on, but rarely worked together.
After Assassin, Caster and Lancer are defeated, she agrees to a ceasefire proposed by Tokiomi Tohsaka under the stipulations of “offering information about Rider and Waver Velvet’s hideout” and “Kirei Kotomine’s deportation overseas”.
As the vessel of the Holy Grail, Irisviel grew increasingly weaker as the Heaven's Feel progressed since as the Servants were being defeated, her functions as a human being had to be suppressed so that her body could act as a Holy Grail. However, due Kiritsugu implanting Avalon inside of her, it was possible to preserve her human functions to an extent by remaining at Saber’s side though Saber was not made aware of this. Nonetheless, even Avalon's protection had its limitations and eventually she became physically incapacitated and was unable to do anything but lie inside a magic circle and talk. When Kiritsugu came to say goodbye before she became incapable of remaining conscious, she entrusted Avalon to him.
During the final days of the war, Kiritsugu and Saber searched for the remaining Servants and Masters while Maiya was left to protect Irisviel. They are confronted by Berserker, in the guise of Rider, who abducted Irisviel and mortally wounded Maiya. Following her abduction, she is taken to Kirei Kotomine, who asked her what Kiritsugu's wish for the Holy Grail was due his personal interest in the man. Displeased with her answer that Kiritsugu wanted to create a world without conflict and that Kotomine would never understand her husband, she was knocked unconscious; in the anime, Kotomine killed her.
With the war drawing to a close, Irisviel's consciousness begins observing visions induced by the Holy Grail, including one with piles of homunculi bodies with her form. When Irisviel begins dreaming of Illya asking when her father will return, Irisviel tries to comfort her daughter when she spoke of her frightening dream of becoming a "cup" being filled with "seven big lumps". However, Irisviel soon realizes that her consciousness has merged with the Holy Grail; the tainted artifact adopted Irisviel's personality.
When Kiritsugu is submerged in the contents of the Grail during his battle with Kotomine, he encounters the spirit of the Grail in the form of Irisviel, who goes on to show him how his wish would be granted by the tainted Grail. After seeing all his loved ones massacred in order to fulfill his wish, Kiritsugu realizes his true wish was to revive Irisviel and be with Illya. Unfortunately, he found that he could not accept the Grail, stating that the cost far outweighed any benefit it could give. Destroying the illusions of his wife and daughter, he awakens from the vision presented by the Holy Grail and decides to destroy it.
Einzbern Consultation Room
The Einzbern Consultation Room takes place in the same continuity as Tiger Dojo, separate from the actual events of the story. After Irisviel's consciousness merged with the Grail, she saved a young girl who was chased by a pack of Shades and a void-like male figure. After saving the young girl, she took her back to a abandoned school and used a room to establish Einzbern Consultation Room. She found out that the young girl had amnesia and nicknamed her as Zecchan. Iri thought the young girl to be a Master who had lost her memories prior the Fourth Holy Grail War and died in the process. However it turns out, Zecchan was from the future who accidentally stumbled inside the Grail.
Abilities
The Magecraft that she inherited involves the creation and forging of matter, as well as its applications. Her grade as a magus surpasses that of Kiritsugu. However, her abilities are ill-suited for the direct combat required in the Holy Grail War.
Her weapons are thin, long and flexible wires which she uses to either produce an instantaneous homunculus with alchemy that attacks the enemy while having the ability to transform itself into numerous shapes. She may also use her weapon to immobilize her target.
She is also proficient at Healing Magecraft.
Because of her nature as a homunculus, she does not require food so long as she has a supply of prana.
Irisviel's other skills include driving a car, which she learned from Kiritsugu. Though she is capable of operating a car, she tends to drive in a haphazard fashion as a result of failing to understand traffic laws and street signs and from treating a car as a toy rather than a vehicle. Furthermore, she initially learned to drive only in the confined grounds of the Einzbern castle in Germany, thus she finds driving on the long stretches of highway in Fuyuki City to be exciting, which increases her dangerous driving habits. She also has limited experience with using modern technology such as radio transmitters and cellular phones to communicate information to Kiritsugu while he is remotely monitoring a situation.
Vessel of the Grail
Irisviel was developed as a vessel of the Holy Grail capable of defending the Grail from harm.[6] Compared to Illyasviel, she is a less-refined model. As each Servant dies, its energy would flow into her artificial body. When six Servants have died, her body would be destroyed and give birth to the Holy Grail. With Avalon stored inside her, it delayed the effects of her losing her functions as a human being.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9
[] Fate/Zero material - Characters: Irisviel von Einzbern, p.030-033 Irisviel von Einzbern
Height: 158cm
Weight: 52kg
Blood type: Unknown
Birthday: February 1
Image color: Silver
Three sizes: B85/W56/H84
Talents: Forging Magecraft
Things she likes: Her husband and daughter
Things she hates: Frugality, traffic safety
Worst enemy: Kirei Kotomine
Urobuchi's comment
In a certain way, the rough draft that gave the character her direction in the series. Tights! And then boots! [Gen Urobuchi]
Comment for Irisviel
Takeuchi: Mama heroine. I was thinking of a concept that would try to express the combination of the two sides of mother and maiden, but her causal clothing was too adorable, so I regret it just a little.
Urobuchi: No, rather, that gap is the very best! The world's mother should all be more adorable! Like parent-teacher conferences! Or field day!
Takeuchi: I also kind of wanted to use the contents of the working of her wires a little more. During her villain turn at the end, allowing Iri to develop into a different character might have been fun.
Urobuchi:Black Iri, well, in terms of the truth, is more like "Angri" with the appearance of Iri, so she's something completely different. For some reason, I thought of her being in the same costume as Black Sakura.
Takeuchi's comment
Using her wires. It's a legendarily hot method of attack. [Takeuchi]
Takeuchi's comment
Iri's initial design. It was discarded for being called too cute. In truth, I put into her motifs of heroines from the manga I drew in the past. [Takeuchi]Urobuchi's comment
Comment for Irisviel
武内:
虚淵:
武内:
虚淵:'
Takeuchi's comment
Takeuchi's comment - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Fate/Zero Anime Visual Guide II - Irisviel von Einzbern entry, p.020
- ↑ Fate/Zero, translated Prologue: 8 years ago
- ↑
[] Fate/Zero material - Encyclopedia: Irisviel von Einzbern [Person's name], p.090 Irisviel von Einzbern [Person's name]
A homunculus modeled after Justizia Lizleihi.
Although the Einzbern homunculi have their functions determined during the design process, Irisviel only developed the plan to conceive Illyasviel after she was created. Thus, as a special case, she was allowed to hold multiple “functions different from the plan”. That is, not only did she give birth, but she was also given the role of rearing Illyasviel. Although Justabcheit determined that this method would be more efficient than using a newly-constructed homunculus as a wet nurse, it was still a special case when it came to the Einzberns' standard. Anyhow, the result was that although a homunculus, Irisviel obtained the experiences of raising a child as a “mother” just like a human would, and it produced an effect on her character that even Acht could not predict.
Even compared to other Einzbern homunculi, there had never been an example of one who had interacted with humans for as long as 9 years, or had such colorful and irregular mental activity. In other words, for the Einzbern, Irisviel was the first to receive the same treatment as a human, and the first to have emotions like a human. Because her physical and mental capabilities originally surpassed those of a human, those mental processes did not fail her after her exceptional growth, and she finally possessed self-awareness and emotions equal to those of a normal human.
Even so, compared with the inherent knowledge and reason, the crystallization of the Einzbern's wisdom accumulated over millennia, that comes with the format of homunculus, her emotions and human experiences have only accumulated over a mere 9 years, which results in her having both the elegance of an upper-class lady and the innocent nature of a child, making her a troublesome princess.
Some additional information: during the time when Zero’s plot was being set, apparently the setup of Angra Mainyu in Hollow wasn't well-known yet. How in the world the author came up with "that ending", even for us, couldn't be scarier.アイリスフィール・フォン・アインツベルン【人名】
ユスティーツァ・リズライヒな鋳型として錬成されたホムンクルスの一人。
設計段階から用途を特定され、肉体も精神もその目的に最適化された状態で産み落とされるのがアインツベルンのホムンクルスだが、アイリスフィールについては鋳造された後からイリヤスフィール受胎の計画が発案されたため、特例的に「本来とは違う役割」を兼任させられることとなった。即ちイリヤスフィールの出産のみならず育成までも任されたのである。乳母役のホムンクルスな新造するよりも効率的であろうというユーブスタクハイトの判断だったのだが、これはアインツベルンの基準に照らせば異例のことである。ともあれ結果としてアイリスフィールは、ホムンクルスでありながら人間の女性と同様に子な産み育てるという「母親」として経験を積むこととなった。これが彼女の情操面において、アハト翁が予想だにしたかった影響を及ぼすことになる。
他のアインツベルン製ホムンクルスと比べても、九年の長きに渡って人間と交渉し、多彩で変則的な精神活動を行った個体は過去に例がない。言い方を変えるなら、アイリスフィールほどに人間同等の扱いを受け、人間的な情緒を身につけたホムンクルスはアインツベルンにおいては初だった。もとより心身の機能においては人間をむしろ凄駕する存在だけに、異例の成長を遂げた後もその精神構造は破綻せず、ついには一般的な人間と何ら遜色のない自意識と感情を備えるに至った。
とはいえ、ホムンクルスのフォーマットとして生まれつき持ら合わせている知識と理性がアインツベルン千年の英知の結晶であるのに対し、情動面を育んだ人生経験はたったの九年に過ぎず、結果として彼女は貴婦人としての風雅と幼児的な稚気を兼ね備えるという、ちょっと困ったお姫様になってしまった。
余談ながら、Zeroのプロットが確定した段階では、ホロウにおけるアンリマユの設定をまだ聞かされていなかったんだよなぁと思い返してみると、いったい筆者は〝あの結末″に至るまでをどういう経緯として書く気だったのか、我ながら空恐ろしいことこの上ない。 - ↑
[] Fate/Zero material - Encyclopedia: Mercedes-Benz 300SL [Other], p.105 Mercedes-Benz 300SL [Other]
A toy that Kiritsugu bought for his wife to educate her about modern science. Although the choice was a bit classical in terms of education, part of the reason was Irisviel’s own taste. Since it was Kiritsugu’s custom model, you would expect it to have options like machine guns or missiles or passenger-seat ejection or a gasoline atomizer, but there probably aren’t any.
After the Fourth War ended it was stored in the Einzbern mansion situated in the forests near the outskirts of Fuyuki, and happily became Illya’s toy. Incidentally, it is famous for being Japan’s Ishihara Yujiro’s favorite car.メルセデス・ベンツ300SL【その他】
切嗣が妻の近代科学啓蒙のために買い与えた玩具。なんか啓蒙にしてはクラシカルなチョイスだが、おそらくアイリスフィールの好みもあったのだろう。切嗣カスタムである以上は機開銃やミサイルや射出式助手席やオイル噴霧器といったオプション装備も期待したいところだが、たぶんない。
第四次戦の後は冬木郊外の森のアインツベルン城に保管され、めでたくイリヤの玩具として継承される。ちなみに日本では石原裕次郎の愛車として有名。 - ↑
[] Fate/Zero material - Encyclopedia: Vessel of the Holy Grail [Other], p.098 Vessel of the Holy Grail [Other]
The substitute prepared to facilitate the descent of the Holy Grail. In the first three Grail Wars it was merely an object, but in the fourth war the Einzberns sought to gain an advantage in the struggle for possession of the vessel by implanting it with a will of its own and a sense of identification with the Einzbern family.
Although Irisviel's homunculus body is unmistakably organic, the inorganic Holy Grail was broken down and fused with her organs.
While it's certainly true that making the vessel required to win the war a member of their own faction is a reprehensible act of cheating, technically their only obligation is to "deliver a vessel to Fuyuki", which they did. Besides, it's a war. Is there really that big of a difference between stealing somebody's possessions and killing them then taking the body?聖杯の器【その他】
四度目に用意された聖杯降臨のための憑代となる器は、それそのものに自衛のための自我とアインツベルン家への帰属意識を植え付はて、器の争奪戦を優位に運ぼうという発想のもとに作られた。
ホムンクルスとしての肉体は行機物に違いないが、その内臓に無機物の聖杯が分解された状態で血合しているのがアイリスフィールである。
その所有権が勝判条件のひとつとなる器を、勝手に自分たちの戦力となる駒として改造してしまったわけだから、卑怯極まるチート行為ではあるのだが、そもそもアインツベルンの義務は「器の役目を果たすものを冬木に持ち込む」ことだけなので、これはぺつたん白眼視されるはどの逸脱ではない。所持品を奪うか、殺して死体を持ち去るかの違いは、聖杯戦争において大した落差ではないのである。
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