Illyasviel von Einzbern

Illyasviel von Einzbern
Fate/Stay Night character
In-universe information
Nickname	Ilya
Title	Master of Berserker
Occupation	magus
Relatives	Taiga Fujimura (legal guardian), Kiritsugu Emiya (father : deceased), Irisviel von Einzbern (mother), Shirō Emiya (stepbrother)
Nationality	German

Illyasviel von Einzbern, often referred to as Ilya, is a character from the Japanese visual novel and anime series Fate/stay night by TYPE-MOON. Due to her white-blonde hair and red eyes, she is often considered an albino.

A young German aristocrat, she travelled to Japan to participate in the Holy Grail War as a Master. Illyasviel has an angelic appearance and unsurpassed potential as a Master. She lives in a castle on the outskirts of Fuyuki City, accompanied only by her Servant and two maids. Illyasviel asks those she feels comfortable around to call her "Ilya". Her mother, Irisviel von Einzbern, fought alongside Saber and Emiya Kiritsugu during the previous Holy Grail war. In the Heaven's Feel scenario she wears what is called the Dress of Heaven, what was worn long ago by her ancestor Lizleihi Justica von Einzbern.

The original voice acting for Ilya was done by Mai Kadowaki, and she is voiced in English by Stephanie Sheh.

Past

Ilya initially appears as an enemy to Shirō Emiya. The reason she is after him is because his step father, Kiritsugu Emiya, was a Master working for her family in the previous War, but betrayed them by destroying the Holy Grail. After Berserker is defeated, she has no desire to continue fighting and stays at Shirō's house.

She is in reality a Homunculus, an artificial human given life by applying sorcery to sperm cells, originally created and raised by the Einzbern family. She is actually slightly older than Shirō, her childlike appearance being a result of a distorted growth rate. During the Heaven's Feel scenario, it is hinted that the sperm used to create her was donated by Kiritsugu Emiya (confirmed in Fate/zero), making her his biological daughter and Shirō's adoptive sister. Her personal interest in Shiro seems conflicted, due to the fact that Kiritsugu, whom she had loved as her father, remained in Japan as Shiro's guardian after betraying her family by destroying the long-sought Grail. Einzbern then trained Ilya harshly in order to groom her as the next vessel for the Grail, and a Master who would finally bring the Grail to the Einzbern family. Ilya, with her mother dying during the Grail War and her father abandoning her shortly after, became angry with Kiritsugu, and consequently, Shiro. She feels that Kiritsugu abandoned her for Shiro, and is jealous of Shiro for that. Though Kiritsugu had unsuccessfully tried many times to take back his daughter before he died, Ilya remains unaware of the fact. However at the same time, she also feels very close to Shiro for his relationship with Kiritsugu.

The Einzbern, one of three families of sorcerers involved in the Holy Grail War (the others being the Tōsaka and the Makiri/Matō), were responsible for creation of the vessel which the souls of the defeated Servants would go into, while the Makiri created the system of Masters and Servants and the Tōsaka supplied the land which became Fuyuki City. As such, Ilya was prepared by her family to act as a living vessel for the Grail.

In Fate/Zero, the process of the Grail's creation was detailed. As each servant dies, its energy would flow into her artificial body. When six servants die, her body would be destroyed and give birth to the Holy Grail. Thus, by having Homunculus participate in the war, the Einzbern master would never be able to make a wish even when they win. The Einzbern family is fixated on victory alone because they are the family that came up with the Holy Grail War, but never won a single war.

Role

In Fate, Ilya serves as the initial adversary for Shirō and Saber, and eventually ends up living peacefully with Taiga after her defeat. Notably, she is somewhat attached to Shiro, and believing Taiga to be an annoyance, she is often at odds with her, for example where she says that she will smother her with a pillow while she is asleep.

In the Unlimited Blade Works route She has her heart torn out by Gilgamesh and during Heaven's Feel, she aids Shirō throughout his fight and eventually gives up her body to become the Holy Grail.

In Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, she is one of the few people who knew what's happening since the beginning of the fake grail war.

Ilya is the main character of an alternate universe spin-off manga entitled Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya. This manga centers around Ilya, living as a normal girl with Shiro (who is depicted as her brother) until she suddenly gains possession of Tohsaka Rin's Kaleidostick, thus granting her the powers of a magical girl.