Unlimited Blade Works

:This page is about the Reality Marble. For other uses, see Unlimited Blade Works (disambiguation).
 is the Noble Phantasm of EMIYA and his Fate/EXTRA counterpart and the Reality Marble of Shirou Emiya and his counterpart from Miyu's World in Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA. 
EMIYA does not have a true Noble Phantasm that is the crystallized embodiment of a hero's existence like many demonic or holy swords, but if a Noble Phantasm is defined as a symbol of the Heroic Spirit, then the Reality Marble is his Noble Phantasm. 
It is a high-class magecraft that embodies the user's internal worlds and imprints them upon the World as a Bounded Field for a short amount of time. It is their one true specialization of magecraft, the result of the concept of swords being both their Origin and their Elemental Affinity, and the basis of their Projection and Reinforcement skills. It is the definite ability obtained by someone whose life was saved by a sword, actually merged and lived with a sword, and acted as a sword all of their life.
==Invocation and appearance==
Both EMIYA and Shirou Emiya use an incantation to facilitate the invocation of the Reality Marble. It is close to a Ten-Count incantation, using a poem about the caster as the basis, a sorrowful elegy in EMIYA's case, used to activate Grand Magecraft.Reference Image - Translation: "You should have seen it just now.""As their swords clashed, Shirou and Archer became one. The incantation of "UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS" flowed into him; it was a sorrowful elegy. And Shirou saw it -- atop a hill of swords, the shape of the man who made a victim of himself in order to protect something else." Shirou describes it as a suggestion to change himself and the words that will "connect Shirou Emiya". Their incantations differ slightly due to the different experiences in their respective lives. The lines of the incantation can be said at any time without requiring preparation, and EMIYA is able to stop between lines to speak and then resume without issue. The first line is often used in order to strengthen a Projection, such as with EMIYA's use of Caladbolg II and Shirou's use of Rho Aias.
Once the incantations have been completed, an illusionary fire that does not emit any heat spreads out to form a boundary and wall for the Bounded Field. The bright light fills the vision of those present, and manifests an open, barren desert with monolithic black gears gyrating in the distance. It is a kingdom of rubble littered with thousands, perhaps a countless number, of swords anchored in the ground like grave markers in a wasteland, yet are well preserved. It is a world likened to a steel mill, filled with weapons, flames, and giant gears. The basis for the world in the Reality Marble is a hill of swords that spreads infinitely in their minds. It is the final illusion Archer saw on the verge of death, the only pride left within himself, and it is where Shirou makes his vow to uphold his ideals during the Unlimited Blade Works route.
Emiya Shirou’s journey to become Archer stemmed from his strong sense of justice. To him, justice means bringing peace and prosperity to those who need it while serving up punishment to those who deserve it. A true hero of justice is one who can do just that even in the hardest moment and the toughest sacrifices. As such, throughout his life, he committed to always sacrifice himself for the others. At the world’s end, he eventually sacrificed himself to save everyone by committing to being the Archer of justice to preserve the world for everyone. To his dismay, his ideological justice does not match up with the kind of justice that is required of him. He had betrayed his ideology many times by punishing the weak and rewarding the strong to preserve the world. Having lived hundreds and thousands of years, Emiya Shirou’s ideology was utterly destroyed as he had become the hypocrisy and false hero that he used to despise to save a world of ungrateful and undeserving beings. Hence, both mentality and physically he had become exhausted and wished for everything to end, which is why he wanted to kill his younger self to prevent himself from ever reaching the world’s end.
EMIYA's Noble Phantasm is the ability to bring what he imagines, thinks, and sees into life. That is why his ultimate power was a Reality Marble that reflects how he sees himself, his life, and his future. Complete bleakness with no end that is just a world of blades for everyone and everything to use. The chant he uses reminds him of what he sees himself as a means to create a vivid image in his mind to bring about the Reality Marble.
:The different meanings of the incantation are as follows
*"I am the bone of my sword" reflects how EMIYA sees himself as a tool for others to use and literally his bone makes up the core of it. 
*"Steel is my body and fire is my blood" reinforces the imagery of his physical being a sword that the world wields for their purpose. A sword has no thought or purpose but simply perpetuates those of the wielder, which can be good or evil. 
*"I have created over a thousand blades" refers to himself having been made to commit thousands of atrocities. 
*"Unknown to death nor known to life" shows how EMIYA's bleakness of no longer the meaning of neither life nor death just like a sword wouldn't known what these things are either. This mentality differs severely from his younger self who still had a strong sense of justice and understood the importance of life and death. 
*"Have withstood pain to create many weapons" once again refers to himself having to contradict his previous belief in order to preserve this ungrateful world over and over again. 
*"Yet, those hands will never hold anything" paints a picture of sadness that he himself being the weapon will never be the wielder but just a tool to be wielded by somebody else and that he will never achieve happiness or justice or anything at all. 
*"So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works" is the final chant to create the Reality Marble that shows his deepest desire to end this suffering by praying he no longer must serve as the Unlimited Blade Works.
The reflection of this inner world depends on their state of mind and their experiences in life, which means that they are completely different and incompatible with each other. EMIYA's is formed from the basis of having been betrayed by everything, including by his own ideals, and in the end having only been granted this one single spell. Shirou is able to realize his version upon deciding that his ideals and dreams, while borrowed, flawed, and hypocritical, are still worth striving for and upholding.
Shirou's version is bathed in twilight from the extended horizon, while EMIYA's version has its view opaqued by a thick haze formed from embers and wisps of black smog rising from the ground, produced by the forging of iron. If their perspectives are to interact, such as when Shirou obtains Archer's arm, he is able to utilize the recorded knowledge of stored weapons, but is unable to actualize the Reality Marble due to the difference in their internal worlds. The version projected by the Shirou of Miyu's World is a dark winter scenery with blowing snow, the innumerable stuck swords give the impression of the mountain of corpses, with no stars or roads, and whose only light is the moon in the sky providing faint illumination. The reflection of this inner world symbolizes how lifeless Shirou's being has become by losing everything he had, yet still choosing to disregard himself and the lives of others for a single person's happiness, with the moon representing his connection with his sister, Miyu Edelfelt.
==Usage==
Fire.jpg|The boundary of Unlimited Blade Works.
UBWclash.gif|EMIYA and Shirou's versions together.
Archer launching his blades at Shirou's group (Movie).gif|Archer launching his blades at Shirou and Saber.
Shirou shoots down Gil's projectiles.gif|Shirou shooting his blades at Gilgamesh's portals.
Shirou blocking Gil's swords (Ufotable).gif|Shirou analyzing and sending his blades at Gilgamesh's blades.
Shirou (Miyu's World) UBW outpacing Gate of Babylon (Oath Under Snow movie).gif| Shirou (Miyu's World)'s Unlimited Blade Works outpacing Gate of Babylon.
The Reality Marble's purpose is a steel manufacturing factory that produces the countless famous swords that are without their owners, extending into the horizon. It contains all of the raw materials and sorcery needed for the formation of the weapons, and it records and analyzes all weapons and defensive armaments encountered by the user. The number of unique weapons encountered and recorded by EMIYA exceeds thousands, most of which are Noble Phantasms. Their entire histories, compositions, and designs are all perfectly recorded, allowing for instant proficiency with the weapons by inheriting all combat skills and techniques utilized by their original owners. This allows for the reproduction of Noble Phantasms, which would generally be impossible. They can also be modified to the user's taste with reinforcement as shown by EMIYA's Caladbolg II and Kanshou and Bakuya. During his lifetime, EMIYA would customize his weapons from their usual states, projecting Noble Phantasms that appears to have been arranged with designs that are easier to use.
Bladed weapons such as swords, spears, and halberds are the main focus of the Reality Marble in accordance with Shirou Emiya's Origin of "Sword", which also makes it impossible to record or reproduce modern weaponry like guns and other mobile weapons. 
Shields and defensive armaments can be reproduced with a much greater effort as the cost in magical energy is high, two or three times greater than a sword, and the effects are merely transient compared to the originals. Weapons encountered are immediately analyzed with a single glance, enabling them to be projected immediately afterwards. Once projected, they are stored within the Reality Marble for later use. Shirou is able to instantly recognize dozens of weapons being fired from the Gate of Babylon at an extremely high rate and instantly counter with projections of the same weapons before they can strike.
The analysis of weapons is limited only to the direct use of human senses, meaning that blueprints and materials will be unable to provide the necessary information for a proper analysis. Shared memories, such as dreams shared with a Servant, can allow for weapons to be analyzed and projected, even if they have been lost in present times like Caliburn. The quality of projected weapons will always be degraded by one rank due to humans being unable to fully conceptualize the existence of an object through only one sense, and they will never equal the originals without a technique such as detonating them as Broken Phantasms. The one exception for Shirou is Avalon, which can be projected perfectly due to having been fused with him for many years. No Name, EMIYA's counterpart from Fate/EXTRA, under the conditions of the Moon Cell, is noted to be able to project objects with no inherent rankability (EX Rank Noble Phantasms) should he have support from the original owner.
Without being deployed, the Reality Marble allows for Projection and Reinforcement in the real world. Weapons are produced within Unlimited Blade Works and then brought into the world, which greatly lowers the cost of reproducing them and allowing for numerous weapons to be prepared and projected at the same time. Weapons can be summoned directly to the user's hands, or they can be summoned to levitate within the air and fire upon the enemy as projectiles much like the Gate of Babylon. Once the Reality Marble is deployed, all of the weapons are available for use without the need to project them from scratch as they are physically there in the Reality Marble, and any weapon can immediately be called to the user's hands, pulled from out of the ground, or levitated even while the user is in direct combat. 
The weapons reproduced once the Reality Marble is first activated will not consume magical energy, but those used or destroyed within it will add to the cost of maintaining the Bounded Field. The amount of magical energy used to reproduce weapons that did not exist after the Bounded Field was expanded and the amount of eagical mnergy used to recreate weapons destroyed while it is activated is extremely costly.
EMIYA and Shirou have access to a large number of Noble Phantasms that they have encountered during their lifetimes, which include Caladbolg, Durandal, Hrunting, Kanshou and Bakuya, Rho Aias, and numerous weapons from the Gate of Babylon. Divine Constructs, such as Ea and Excalibur, are unable to be replicated, though there may be degraded Noble Phantasms with similar abilities stored within the Reality Marble. EMIYA claims that it is possible to reproduce an imperfect version of Excalibur, but this is likely to drain him of all of his Magical Energy and would be a suicide attack. Shirou using EMIYA's arm in Heaven's Feel states that he would be able to project it if Saber Alter were to give him time, but believes that he cannot handle the sword and that the difficulty of doing such a high level Projection in battle would make it impractical.
Shirou, during Heaven's Feel, requires a weapon to destroy the Greater Grail and used his image of "the greatest Noble Phantasm [he knows] of." The image in his head is that of Excalibur Morgan, and the weapon utilizes a large beam of light as an attack at the cost of his life during the normal ending. The conditions for where wrought iron is possible are enhanced within the Moon Cell, removing the limitation and allowing for the Projection of holy sword-class weaponry. Their performance is still inferior to the actual weapons, limiting No Name to projecting a degraded version of Excalibur, Excalibur Image. Characters in the world of Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA show some ability to replicate Divine Constructs through special means.
The Reality Marble is a natural counter to Gilgamesh, allowing Shirou, a below average magus, to overwhelm and defeat him. Though Shirou would be no match against other Servants who have mastered their own weapons to the utmost limit, Unlimited Blade Works being a somewhat troublesome ability to them. But the fact that both he and Gilgamesh are "owners" of numerous weapons places them on a level playing field. Neither has a specialized weapon with which they can be called a "wielder", so Shirou's ability to counter each and every weapon fired by the Gate of Babylon places Gilgamesh at a disadvantage. 
Outside of the Reality Marble, Shirou is barely able to keep up with Gilgamesh's assault while he was simply playing around with Shirou. But once within the confines of the Reality Marble, all of his weapons are produced and ready to attack, which means that the Gate of Babylon's slightly slower summoning rate allows Shirou to hone in on Gilgamesh to fight and defeat him at close range. He is unable to handle Shirou's attacks, which forces him to allow his own weapons to be destroyed in order to counter Shirou's projections, and Shirou even has time to instantly recognize Ea as Gilgamesh is drawing it and quickly chop off his arm before he can utilize it. Even with the advantages, he claims that Gilgamesh would win if he were to have time to regain his composure.
===Known Projections===
Weapon 	User 	Original owner
Aestus Estus 	No Name 	Nero Claudius Caesar
Avalon 	Shirou 	King Arthur
Caliburn 	Shirou 	King Arthur
Caladbolg II 	EMIYAShirou 	Fergus mac Róich
Caladbolg III 	Illya & Chloe (Class Card) 	Fergus mac Róich
Durandal 	EMIYANo Name 	Roland
Excalibur 	Shirou 	King Arthur
Excalibur 	Illya & Chloe (Class Card) 	King Arthur
Excalibur Image 	No Name 	King Arthur
Excalibur Galatine 	No Name 	Gawain
Gáe Bolg 	No Name 	Cú Chulainn
Hrunting 	EMIYAShirou (Miyu's World)Kuro (Class Card) 	Beowulf
Ig-Alima 	Shirou (Miyu's World) 	Gilgamesh
Jeweled Sword Zelretch	Shirou 	Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg
Joyeuse 	No Name 	Charlemagne
Kanshou and Bakuya 	EMIYANo NameShirouShirou (Miyu's World)Chloe (Class Card)	N/A
Kibisis 	Shirou 	Perseus
Nine Lives Blade Works	Shirou 	Heracles
Fake Nine Lives 	Chloe (Class Card) 	Heracles
Nine Lives 	Shirou (Miyu's World) 	Heracles
Rho Aias 	EMIYAShirouShirou (Miyu's World)Chloe (Class Card) 	Aias the Great
Rule Breaker 	Shirou EmiyaChloe (Class Card) 	Medea
Sword of the Cypriots 	Shirou 	Iskandar
Sul-sagana 	Shirou (Miyu's World) 	Gilgamesh
Tawrich & Zarich 	Shirou 	Angra Mainyu
Vajra 	Shirou 	Indra
===Unconfirmed Projections===
It has been stated that Archer can project Harpe and Lord Camelot,Fate/Grand Order - Thomas Edison Interlude I: Can You do It? but this has so far not been shown. Archer has also altered Mordred's Clarent into a gun at her request,Fate/Grand Order 4th Anniversary ALBUM p.25 which could mean he can Trace it as well but it is not certain. When Shirou Emiya fights Gilgamesh at the end of the Unlimited Blade Works route, he sees several Noble Phantasms that could be projected to counter the onslaught of the arsenal, including Houtengeki, Vajra, Dainsleif, Gram, and Merodach, but it has not been confirmed if he can thus now project them.
Vajra was the first to be confirmed, being projected in The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II.The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 8: Fem's Casa (Lower) - Chapter 3
==Outside Effects==
The Reality Marble is able to invade Shirou's body in the form of numerous blades during severe trauma to heal and overwrite wounds. It changes the nature of the regeneration provided by Avalon into an indirect form that “changes his muscles into blades in order to knit his wounds with swords.” It replaces and reinforces broken bones and muscles with swords after he is wounded, allowing him to survive a blow to the chest from Rider's dagger. It also allows him to survive a kick from her that would normally gouge out his stomach. When she realizes his innards are too durable to fatally wound him, she kicks him out of a window to kill him instead, and the ability goes out of control after he hits the ground during the "Rafflesia Umbrella" bad ending where blades burst from his chest and cause a fatal wound. The ability manages to keep him from having his entire body destroyed from an attack by Gilgamesh, and makes him appear to have "masses of blades shaped like muscle fibers" as he heals.
blades.jpg|Unlimited Blade Works replacing parts of Shirou's breaking down body with numerous blades.
Blades coming out from Shirou's arm.gif|Shirou's body being invaded by Archer's Reality Marble in the Anime.
In the Heaven's Feel route, Shirou is completely invaded by Archer's Unlimited Blade Works after having Archer's arm grafted on to him to produce his own. The more he uses the abilities from the arm, the harder it becomes for him to suppress the Reality Marble. It will create an infinite number of blades inside his body rather than outside, causing a thousand blades to eventually pierce and kill him instantly if he lets it go fully out of control.Fate/stay night Heaven's Feel: Day 15 - Return Home - Emiya's Living Room/Truth - Anti-Hero Angra Mainyu 
The arm eventually begins to start permanently replacing parts of his breaking-down body with blades as it frantically tries to keep him alive due to him overusing its abilities. His joints gradually become harder to move properly as they begin to take on a metallic, grating sound when he moves, and hundreds of blades protrude from numerous areas on his skin as they prepare an inescapable death by skewering. During his duel to the death against Kirei Kotomine, it makes the latter unable to strike Shirou without also hurting himself on the blades, and it increases Shirou's durability so that only a fatal strike to his head will kill him. Before his body completely gives out, he states that even his senses are turning into steel as well.
==Variations==
===EMIYA===
<tabber>
English=
 I am the bone of my sword
 Steel is my body and fire is my blood 
 I have created over a thousand blades
 Unknown to Death,
 Nor known to Life.
 Have withstood pain to create many weapons 
 But yet, those hands will never hold anything 
 So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works.
|-|
Literal English=
 My body is made out of swords.
 My blood is of iron and my heart of glass.
 I have overcome countless battlefields. 
 Not even once retreating,
 Not even once being understood.
 He was always alone, intoxicated with victory in a hill of swords.
 Thus, his life has no meaning.
 That body was certainly made out of swords.
|-|
Japanese=
 体は剣で出来ている。
 血潮は鉄で心は硝子。
 幾たびの戦場を越えて不敗。
 ただの一度も敗走はなく、
 ただの一度も理解されない。
 彼の者は常に独り、剣の丘で勝利に酔う。
 故に、生涯に意味はなく。
 その体は、きっと剣で出来ていた。
|-|
Romaji=
 Karada wa tsurugi de dekiteiru 
 Chishio wa tetsu de, kokoro wa GARASU 
 Ikutabi no senjou wo koete fuhai 
 Tada no ichido mo haisou wa naku 
 Tada no ichido mo rikai sarenai 
 Kare no mono wa tsune ni hitori, tsurugi no oka de shouri ni you
Yue ni, shougai ni imi wa naku
Sono karada wa, kitto tsurugi de dekite ita
</tabber>
===No Name===
<tabber>
English=
 I am the bone of my sword
 Steel is my body and fire is my blood 
 I have created over a thousand blades
 Unknown to Death,
 Nor known to Life.
 Have withstood pain to create many weapons 
 Yet, those hands will never hold anything 
 So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works.
|-|
Literal English=
 My body is made out of swords.
 My body is of iron and flame.
 Not chosing the battlefield.
 Never yielding,
 Never amassing anything.
 Never knowing victory.
 Thus, his life has no meaning.
 That body was certainly made out of swords.
|-|
Japanese=
 体は剣で出来ている。
 その体は鉄と炎。
 戦場を選ばず。
 折れる事はなく、
 築く事はなく。
 勝利を分かつ事もなく。
 故に、生涯に意味はなく。
 その体は、きっと剣で出来ていた。
|-|
Romaji=
 Karada wa ken de dekiteiru
 Sono karada wa tetsu to honou
 Senjou wo erabazu
 Oreru koto wa naku
 Kizuku koto wa naku
 Shouri wo wakatsu koto mo naku
 Yue ni, shougai ni imi wa naku 
 Sono karada wa, kitto ken de dekiteita
</tabber>
===Shirou===
<tabber>
English=
 I am the bone of my sword.
 Steel is my body and fire is my blood.
 I have created over a thousand blades.
 Unaware of loss,
 Nor aware of gain.
 Withstood pain to create weapons, waiting for one’s arrival.
 I have no regrets. This is the only path.
 My whole life was Unlimited Blade Works.
|-|
Literal English=
 My body is made out of swords.
 My blood is of iron and my heart of glass.
 I have overcome countless battlefields.
 Not even once retreating,
 Not even once being victorious.
 The bearer lies here alone, forging iron in a hill of swords.
 Thus, my life needs no meaning.
 This body is made out of infinite swords.
|-|
Japanese=
 体は剣で出来ている。
 血潮は鉄で心は硝子。
 幾たびの戦場を越えて不敗。
 ただ一度の敗走もなく、
 ただ一度の勝利もなし。
 担い手はここに孤り、剣の丘で鉄を鍛つ。
 ならば、わが生涯に意味は不要ず。
 この体は、無限の剣で出来ていた。
|-|
Romaji=
 Karada wa tsurugi de dekiteiru
 Chishio wa tetsu de kokoro wa GARASU
 Ikutabi no senjou wo koete fuhai
 Tada ichido no haisou mo naku
 Tada ichido no shouri mo nashi
 Ninai te wa koko ni hitori, tsurugi no oka de tetsu wo utsu
 Naraba, waga shougai ni imi wa irazu
 Kono karada wa, mugen no tsurugi de dekiteita
</tabber>
===Shirou (Miyu's World)===
<tabber>
English=
 I am the bone of my sword.
 Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.
 I have created over a thousand blades.
 Unaware of beginning,
 Nor aware of the end.
 Withstood pain with inconsistent weapons, my hands will never hold anything.
 Yet, my flame never ends.
 My whole body was still Unlimited Blade Works.
|-|
Literal English=
My body is made out of swords.
My blood is of iron and my heart of glass.
I have overcome countless battlefields.
Not even once retreating,
Not even once being victorious.
The orphan is alone again, striking diamond dust on a hill of swords.
But this life is not yet over.
This false body was still made of swords.
|-|
Japanese=
体は剣で出来ている。
血潮は鉄で、心は硝子。
幾たびの戦場を越えて不敗。
たった一度の敗走もなく、
たった一度の勝利もなし。
遺子はまた独り、剣の丘で細氷を砕く。
けれど、 この生涯はいまだ果てず。
偽りの体は、 それでも剣で出来ていた。
|-|
Romaji=
Karada wa tsurugi de dekiteiru
Chishio wa tetsu de kokoro wa GARASU
Ikutabi no senjou wo koete fuhai
Tatta ichido no haisou mo naku
Tatta ichido no shouri mo nashi
Ishi wa mata hitori, tsurugi no oka de saihyō wo kudaku
Keredo, kono shōgai wa imada hatezu
Itsuwari no karada wa, soredemo tsurugi de dekite ita
</tabber>
===EMIYA Alter===
===Senji Muramasa===
==References==
vi:Unlimited Blade Works
Category:Noble Phantasms
Category:Unclassified Noble Phantasms
Category:Anti-Unit Noble Phantasms
Category:A++ rank Noble Phantasms
Category:A+ rank Noble Phantasms
Category:A rank Noble Phantasms
Category:A- rank Noble Phantasms
Category:B+++ rank Noble Phantasms
Category:B++ rank Noble Phantasms
Category:B+ rank Noble Phantasms
Category:B rank Noble Phantasms
Category:C+++ rank Noble Phantasms
Category:C++ rank Noble Phantasms
Category:C+ rank Noble Phantasms
Category:C rank Noble Phantasms
Category:D rank Noble Phantasms
Category:E rank Noble Phantasms
Category:E- rank Noble Phantasms
Category:Reality Marbles
Category:Spells
Category:Noble Phantasms introduced in Fate/stay night
Category:Noble Phantasms of EMIYA (Archer)
Category:Shirou Emiya (topic)