Kiritsugu Emiya (Japanese: 衛宮 切嗣, Hepburn: Emiya Kiritsugu) is a fictional character first introduced in the Fate/stay night visual novel by Type-Moon and further explored later in the light novel prequel Fate/Zero by Gen Urobuchi. Kiritsugu is introduced as the recently deceased adoptive father of a teenager named Shirou Emiya whom he met after he saved him from a fire. Before he died, Kiritsugu taught the child basic magecraft and divulged his dreams of becoming a hero. While Shirou and the player know more about Kiritsugu in the story, the light novel reveals him to be a fighter from the Fourth Holy Grail War, a conflict between mages from Fate/Zero. Kiritsugu participates in the Fourth Holy Grail War a decade before Fate/stay night, supporting his spouse Irisviel von Einzbern and his Servant Saber. Kiritsugu has also appeared in multiple spin-offs based on the Fate franchise.
