Kinoko Nasu
Before writing "Fate/stay night", Kinoko Nasu wrote the "Fate" route of the visual novel in his spare time as a high school student. Nasu originally imagined Shirou Emiya as a female character named who wore glasses and Saber as male. Nasu swapped their genders due to his experience writing the novel "Tsukihime" and because Type-Moon believed a male protagonist would better fit the target demographic. Shirou's role in the story was meant to highlight parts of his personality and growth based on the paths the player picks. The first Fate storyline shows his slanted mind; the next, Unlimited Blade Works, presents his resolve, and in the last storyline, Heaven's Feel, he becomes Sakura Matou's ally and abandons his life-long passion of becoming a hero. Shirou was created with the idea of being a stubborn man with ideals that would change the way his role in the story based on the different routes, something the Type-Moon originally wanted to make with the protagonist of "Tsukihime". Furthermore, Nasu wanted to portray him as a typical teenager while artist Takashi Takeuchi did not want him to have too much individuality in order to make players project themselves into him. By the end of the making of the visual novel, Nasu described Shirou as a joyless hero disinterested in the war, denying himself personal happiness in order to save as many people as possible. Shirou's character theme, "Emiya", while remixes and other themes were created to focus on important scenes related to his character.