Souichirou Kuzuki

is the acting Master of Caster in the Fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail War of Fate/stay night. He is known as the strict homeroom instructor of Rin's class, who is not a magus, but simply happened upon Caster while she was fading away and agreed to become her Master.
==Profile==
===Background===
Young Kuzuki.png|A young Kuzuki
Kuzuki training (Ufotable).jpg|Kuzuki about to start training as an Assassin.
Before he came to Fuyuki City, Souichirou had been raised from childhood by an organization that trained young children to become professional assassins, the same organization that Soujuurou Shizuki from Mahoutsukai no Yoru is from. The children were raised while isolated from the rest of society in places like forests. They were taught skills required for killers and were treated as if they were tools. Teaching knowledge on living as normal humans was minimal to ensure the skills of the potential assassins in their care would remain adequate and efficient.
He left the organization and appeared in Fuyuki City, two years before the Fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail War. He chose to become a school teacher, which was to serve as a cover for his job as an assassin. He primarily lectures on World History, though he also holds classes in Ethics. Kuzuki is well respected among staff and students. He was well-liked by the chief priest at the Ryuudou Temple and was granted residency in the temple.
===Appearance===
Soichirou is usually seen wearing a dark green suit and a pair of glasses. He is rather stoic and expressionless. Despite his seemingly lean physique, he does not have even one milligram of useless muscle, its the penultimate concentration of muscle as such his muscles' build and definition are perfect. 
===Personality===
Souichirou is widely regarded as a strict, austere and impersonal man. He is serious, sometimes emotionless and does whatever Caster says in battle even though he does not care about the Holy Grail. He often displays a blank expression.
Souichirou found that when he accomplished his first and only mission, he felt only emptiness rather than any other emotion. Hoping to find meaning in his life, he left the organization and became a school teacher. He found no meaning and found that he could acknowledge only his own existence. He described himself as a .
When he met Caster, he felt something move within him. While he had no interest in the coming Holy Grail War, Souichirou helped her just because she asked for it. His motive to fight is similar to Shirou Emiya.
According to Fate/hollow ataraxia, he finally realizes that he regretted his whole life and how he killed others, knowing and understanding that what he was doing was wrong yet still continuing that kind of life. Uncertain of how to make expiation for his guilt, he suffered during his whole life yet managed to find some peace with Caster.
==Role==
===Fate/stay night===
Souichirou is not a mage, but a highly trained assassin. After Caster killed her previous Master and summoned the servant Assassin, she chose Souichirou to be her new Master. He has no interest in the Holy Grail War and acts mainly according to the will of Caster. It seemed that the two have a strong love interest in each other. It's implied that he sleeps with her on at least one occasion to restore her mana, as Shirou Emiya had done with Saber.
His identity as a Master is not made known in the Fate route and his fate there is thus unknown. In Fate/hollow ataraxia, it is revealed that he and Assassin were both killed by Gilgamesh while Caster was absent. In the anime adaptation of the Fate route, he is revealed as a Master and asissts Caster in the same way he does in the Unlimited Blade Works route. He squares off against Shirou with mystic enhancements from Caster until the struggle is interupted by Gilgamesh who strikes both Kuzuki and Caster down (in a manner similar to how Archer did in the UBW route); he dies after Caster does, but not before having a flashback to when he met Caster for the first time and then assuring he is alright as Caster vanishes to put her at ease.
Kuzuki plays a more significant role in the Unlimited Blade Works route, in which he is revealed as Caster's Master. He is shown capable of single-handedly defeating Saber. His background as an assassin is also revealed. After Caster sacrifices herself to protect Kuzuki from Archer's hail of swords, Kuzuki chooses to continue fighting against Archer despite knowing he stands no chance against a Servant. After declining Archer's offer to leave unharmed he is quickly killed.
In the Heaven's Feel route, he is only mentioned in passing, when Saber confronts Caster at the temple. Shirou and Saber find her covered in blood with Rule Breaker out and coated as well, a man Shirou recognizes and believes to have been Caster's Master, stabbed fatally and in a pool of blood on the floor, already a corpse. Caster does not seem to know she killed him, however.
In the adaptation, Heaven's Feel I. presage flower, Kuzuki is found by Caster, having been fatally wounded by True Assassin. She uses Rule Breaker on herself to rescind her contract with Assassin as per his demands to save Kuzuki's life. However, he kills Kuzuki by throwing a dirk into his head after stabbing Caster in the throat to kill her.
===Fate/hollow ataraxia===
Fate Hollow Ataraxia Kuzuki verge of death.JPG|Kuzuki Death
Fate Hollow Ataraxia assassin souichirou.JPG|Souichirou and Assassin fighting against the dog-shadows
In Fate/hollow Ataraxia, he lives with Caster and Assassin, with Caster attempting to fill the role of a loving housewife to him.
In one of the loops, he fought and died against Gilgamesh.
When Shirou/Avenger makes his final move to stop the world loop that he caused and release Bazett Fraga McRemitz, Souichirou fights the dog-shadows right beside his Caster and Assassin.
===Fate/unlimited codes===
CasterUCopening.jpg|Caster Opening
CasterUCending.jpg|Caster Ending
===Fate/tiger colosseum series===
KuzukiTCending.jpg|Kuzuki Ending
CasterTCending.jpg|Caster Ending
===Carnival Phantasm===
Kuzuki rarely appears in Carnival Phantasm, with the exception of Episode 7, which focuses on his relationship with Caster. Kuzuki receives a good luck charm from Caster that repels danger and leads him to win a string of awards and receive money.
At the end of the episode, he proposes to Caster.
===Today's Menu for Emiya Family===
Kuzuki is a minor, background character in Today's Menu for Emiya Family. His largest appearance so far is in Episode 9, when Caster's desire to cook a special dish for him kicks off the episode's plot. He also has small appearances in Episode 4 and Episode 11.
===Hana no Miyako===
In the world of Hana no Miyako, he is the father of Ami. He is seen over protective with her daughter and tells her to disguise herself in school. He is glad to see Ami made a friend with Arima Miyako.
===Other appearances===
In the Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA 2wei! manga, Kuzuki makes a cameo appearance during Extra Chapter: The Girl's Reasons. He is seen walking alongside Rin Tohsaka in the corridors of the Homurahara Academy, when she crossed paths for the first time with Shirou Emiya while he was with Issei Ryuudou.
==Abilities==
Kuzuki is the Master of Caster, but he is not a magus nor does he have Magic Circuits or Command Spells. He only acts as her anchor to the world, while she must subside off of the magical energy taken from the leylines and the town in order to upkeep her existence. His sperm was still capable of stabilizing her enough to establish their contract after she was brought within Ryuudou Temple’s Barrier.Fate/hollow ataraxia - 10/09 - Temple - Dream of a distant utopiaFate/stay night - Unlimited Blade Works route - Day 13: VS berserker - Interlude 13-1: Princess Due to his martial prowess and Caster's reinforcement, he is a rare Master capable of only fighting opponents directly rather than acting from a support role.Fate/stay night - Unlimited Blade Works route - Day 9: Mydear, straydead - Poisonous snake / Saber defeated
===Physique===
Kuzuki is a master martial artist whose strength is above that of regular humans, able to deliver blows to a man's temple with enough force to crush their skull.Fate/hollow ataraxia - Broad bridgeFate/stay night - Unlimited Blade Works route - Day 14: Knight stay night - Ideal In his pursuit of mastering his martial art in his daily training, he has come upon the ideal form of breathing and walking techniques for a human that not even the talented Saber could attain through training. While not in the realm of those who naturally possess the ability to replicate potent thaumaturgy, his training has "affected him in the perfect way", bringing about a natural and controlled way of breathing and steps that produce no wasted movement. Saber admires and praises him as the greatest she has seen in that one respect.Fate/stay night - Unlimited Blade Works route - Day 4: One Day III - Breathing
Despite his strength, he, as a regular human, cannot fight Servants on his own, showing an inability do more than slightly budge the head of one with a strike. Caster uses Reinforcement magecraft to strengthen his fists and body to ten times that of a normal human, making him even more fearsome when combined with his already superhuman base strength. Even with that, he is still a human at his core, so fighting and overwhelming a Servant barehanded is an unthinkable feat that even leaves all those around him, even including Caster, in pause.Fate/hollow ataraxia - 10/11 - Temple - A cat, a priest, and a stubborn teacher. His fists become "iron clubs" to crush opponents and physically strike Servants. He is able to physically repel threats on the same level as Assassin, so he is referred to as a "front-line Saber-class defender" who can help support Caster even against a threat like Berserker. The strengthening requires Caster's upkeep, so his strength immediately drops upon her death.
His fists are strengthened to the point where they can be called steel. He is able to destroy Rin's head with a single blow, removing everything above her neck, and he is able to create a hole through Shirou's chest with a single strike. He can shatter Shirou's wooden sword, reinforced to where its can be considered a metal rod, with his fist. He can strike and deflect Shirou's projected Noble Phantasms, and attack with enough force to damage Shirou's arms just from defending against his attacks. While his fists do not have enough strength to destroy a Noble Phantasm, he is able to destroy Shirou's imperfect replications with pure force. He can catch a full powered slash from Invisible Air between his elbow and knee without suffering any damage, and he can strike Saber's armor directly with no effect to his hands.
While enhanced by Caster, he is still only a human with no magic resistance, so a magus able to attack from a distance is more of a threat to him than a Servant. He fights on the front line while Caster is to support him and deal with enemy projectile attacks. Caster must protect him from effects such as the drain from Blood Fort Andromeda and the effects of her own magecraft while in her temple.Fate/stay night - Unlimited Blade Works route - Day 14: Knight stay night - Rin's clever attack Despite the weakness, he displays quick judgement in being able to easily close the distance to Rin before she can even realize it, strike the center of her body to render her unable to breath or use magecraft, and then decapitate her in an instant.Fate/stay night - Unlimited Blade Works route - Day 9: Mydear, straydead - Killer Against Caster in a serious fight, it would be a "conditional battle" where the winner is decided by whoever gets the first strike, Kuzuki with a quick, unseen strike or Caster with her overwhelming magecraft.
===Assassination===
Kuzuki was tempered by his organization to become a "lethal weapon", acting as a "tool" for their usage and trained in his one primary "function", murder, until they needed to utilize him. Normally kept from regular human knowledge due to it being excess "extra functions", it was necessary to allow him to become a "pseudo-human" to fulfill his primary "function." Those handling him felt that such common knowledge would make him inconsistent, acting as dead weight to slow down his primary function of finding the target without being detected, killing the victim before they are even aware of it, and then killing himself. He is able to use a social position as a teacher granted by the organization to blend in with the area, and even after leaving his duties, finds himself able to master the basic knowledge and skills to keep up with the job without difficulty.
He is extremely unassuming in his daily life, appearing to be completely ordinary at first sight. The insightful Saber notices him to be "no ordinary man" at first glance, but cannot help feel "the more I look at him the more ordinary he feels" as she confidently declares that Kuzuki is not a Master. She only notices that his breathing is too natural and too controlled for a regular person. This trait is not enough to make her suspect anything "special" about him other than praising him for the extraordinary ability. She ranks him as physically being on par with Shirou, and not knowing of his fighting style, feels that he would do as well in battle as any regular human.
He uses his normal appearance to gain an advantage over opponents who underestimate him, quickly moving to strike to kill the opponent before he is even noticed. When ready to fight, he does not radiate any enmity or bloodlust, and simply enters his battle posture while giving off a clear murderous intent that hides his scariness. He is called more like an assassin than Assassin due to this. He is able to move about without making any sound or let any part of his presence be felt, surprising Caster by appearing before her without alerting her.Fate/stay night - Unlimited Blade Works route - Day 12: moonlight (II) - Holy woman violated He is the only one to notice Shirou observing them at the church, and as he does not have any emotion towards enemies, he is able to quickly attack without hesitation. He is unable to notice Archer before he kills Caster because he cannot detect magical energy.
===Snake===
Snakestrikes.jpg|Various curving strikes.
Snake.jpg|Kuzuki's striking the back of Saber's head.
Kuzuki overwhelming Saber.gif|Kuzuki using Snake against Saber.
Kuzuki hitting Saber's back.gif|Saber striking Sabers back in the Anime.
Kuzuki punches Saber inthe stomach.gif|thumb|Kuzuki punches Saber in the stomach.
Kuzuki striking Saber.gif|Kuzuki hitting Saber in the front.
Kuzuki uses a fighting style called that was the basis for his means of assassination, keeping him without a weapon so as to allow him an easier chance at getting close to his target. He is an extremely fast learner, having mastered the art years before he was set to fulfill his "function", all while still keeping up his daily routine to perfect it over twenty years. Despite such aptitude, he was not taught any new techniques due to only being "created" to be a "snake tool." It is a fighting style that aims at vital weak points like the forehead, throat, heart and spine, each strike launched with extreme precision and quick speed to the point where he can deliver three fatal strikes in a single breath. He has a policy of always attempting to deliver deathblows to the opponent, so those like Shades that can move even without heed of things like destroyed heads or spines require him to change his tactics to disabling their limbs.
The crux of the fighting style is to keep his arms flexible like whips while quickly moving at unexpected right angles in order to keep it from having a concrete shape. He keeps his arms and stance steady like a rock while waiting to strike, and he is able quickly close in without revealing any hints as to how he advanced. His arms quickly extend, and his forearms move even more quickly from that point to strike with his "mountain-like fingers." The strikes come from the outside to the inside, the swinging arms changing direction using the elbow as the fulcrum to strike from impossible directions. He can easily strike the back of the head from a very close distance completely unbeknownst to the target. Even if that strike is seen through, he can easily alter the circular orbit of the path into a straight line directed from above to smash down on their head. He can quickly reach through an opponent's guard to strike them with the "serpent's fangs", and then use the "body of the snake", an elbow, to deal an additional blow.
Each is accurately aimed at the target's vital points and weak spots, and under Caster's reinforcement, they can damage Saber bluntly through her armor to directly target the core of her body. They are heavy and rapid in their intensity, rendering them almost invisible to an unexpecting fighter, but they are not an instant kill to someone like Saber. They are dull and sharp, and contain a poison that will lead to death, allowing him to go for the kill if the opponent even drops their guard for a second. Dodging the attacks does little, as his fists are "live snakes" capable of changing path to come back to the target. Saber is damaged badly because she has the reflexes to dodge the strikes, thus she got repeatedly "bitten", differing from Shirou who cannot see the fists and does not posses the reflexes to dodge them. He can only desperately parry and receive glazing blows. Kuzuki can also use the style in defense, making him able to react to a perfect surprise attack, in charging speed, footwork, timing, and the attack itself, from Saber and catch an invisible sword horizontally slashing at him with only his elbow and knee. While techniques to stop an enemy's blade with bare hands are practiced by experts in the present, the idea of a human doing such to a Servant is unbelievable to Saber.
KuzukiSaber.jpg|Kuzuki lifting and strangling Saber.
Kuzuki lifting and strangling Saber.gif|Kuzuki lifting and strangling Saber in the Anime.
Kuzuki throws Saber.gif|Kuzuki knocking out and throwing Saber to a wall.
All of the strikes up until that point are performed with only his left hand, as he does not use his right hand until the final strike. Unlike previous attacks that follow an arcing line, he executes the attack as a point and thrusts his fist like a lance directly at his target. Using precise accuracy, the attack can pierce through a throat, break bones, and smash a head to pieces. The attack managed to slay Rider, ripping her neck apart in one blow as if someone used a jack to rip off the meat and bone by crushing it, and it is capable of destroying Shirou's Kanshou and Bakuya guarding his chest and still blow him five meters away into a wall from the impact. Even if the strike is dodged, he can instead dig his fingers into the target's neck, as they can easily forget that a hand is originally something used to grab rather than punch. He can lift Saber with just his hand from this position and throw her at a speed of two hundred kilometers per hour due to his enhanced strength, knocking her out of the fight for a time after she collides into a wall. He mentions that he underestimated her, and that should have applied one more attack afterward.
He is able to accurately adapt his attacks in order to defeat opponents. He focuses his attacks on Saber's body and arms due to her protective armor, all while waiting to launch a fatal strike at the head. He does not attempt to follow her while she retreats, but instead uses various blows to keep her from escaping his range to keep his advantage over the reach of her sword in close quarters. The blows are not too heavy even though she cannot avoid them, but the pain from each blow numbs her mind. She becomes unable to counterattack from the heavy rain of attacks, and even her Instinct eventually fails her during the final moments of the battle. Kuzuki recognizes that Shirou relies on his Noble Phantasm to defend, so he makes it his goal to destroy the Projections in order to land a fatal blow.
The main idea of the style is to confuse the opponent and slay them before they can understand the mechanics of it, and it is further backed by his normal appearance that does not give away the idea of him being a trained killer. As an assassination technique only meant to be used once before the assassin kills themselves, it is something that must be fatal on the first strike. While the blows are strong, they are too odd and easily seen through if the opponent is not confused, showing the difference between a "technique" that is trained to an art and an "action" that is trained to the utmost limits. Catching Saber's blade and striking her in the back of the head unsettles her greatly due to her belief that he is just a normal human and her inability to understand the nature of such techniques. Due to experiencing the strange attacks for the first time, she is not able to understand the fighting style with her eyes, leading to her taking most of the attacks, and must rely on her honed Instinct simply to avoid the decisive blows.
While easier to comprehend on subsequent battles, it is still strong enough of a style that Shirou is barely able to hold him off for a minute at most even with Noble Phantasms and Archer's fighting style on his third battle with Kuzuki, as he cannot even begin to comprehend how to fight against the style. It would not work on Saber twice, so he retreats from her with haste once she is ready to fight again. While Shirou could never cope with it no matter how many strikes her receives, Saber is already used to them after their one exchange. Rin believes Archer would have no trouble with him due to having knowledge of it. Servants are more emphasized by their talent than their hand-to-hand prowess, so Bazett Fraga McRemitz, an expert at hand-to-hand combat thought of and developed by human beings, may be able to adapt to the style more quickly. He would likely win their first fight, very easily if Bazett underestimates him for a normal person, but she would be able to completely win against him in a second engagement. Out of himself, Bazett, and Kirei Kotomine, he would win as long as it is limited to one fight and he starts with a surprise attack.
Even with repeated sparring matches against the skilled judo practitioner Reikan Ryuudou while Reikan goes all out against him, Kuzuki, who holds back on connecting with his strikes, can easily defeat him without being hit a single time. Otoko Hotaruzuka is amazed that someone Reikan cannot even hit exists, while Reikan comments that he needs another decade of training before he is worthy of being Kuzuki's opponent. Kuzuki comments that they are overstating his ability because he is only a "master of one art" and that if they were fighting with judo holds being accepted that Reikan would likely defeat him without issue.
==Development==
Kinoko Nasu claims that Kuzuki was listed as number one amongst the characters to be further explore in the Fate/hollow ataraxia sequel.
 first voiced Souichirou in the Studio Deen version of Fate/stay night, Fate/tiger colosseum series and Carnival Phantasm. voiced Souichirou in Fate/Unlimited Codes. is the latest voice actor who voiced Souichirou in the Ufotable adaption of Fate/stay night and in the PS Vita version of Fate/hollow ataraxia.
===Reception===
*In the first Popularity polls of Fate/stay night in 2004, Souichirou was ranked 17th.
*In the second Popularity polls of Fate/stay night in 2006, Souichirou was ranked 30th.
*In the Type-Moon's 10th Anniversary Character Poll, Souichirou was ranked 100th.
==References==
it:Kuzuki Souichirou
Category:Characters in Fate/hollow ataraxia
Category:Characters in Fate/stay night
Category:Characters in Fate/tiger colosseum
Category:Masters
Category:Normal humans
Category:Humans
Category:School teachers
Category:Introduced in 2004
Category:Residents of Fuyuki City
Category:Characters of unknown origin