TV-Series
Description
Assassin of Red is the Servant of Shirou Kotomine in the Great Holy Grail War. Her true name is Semiramis, the legendary queen of Assyria and the oldest poisoner in human history. Her legend tells that she was born to a human man and the Syrian mermaid goddess Derketo, then abandoned by her mother at the water's edge. She was kept warm by the wings of doves and fed with their milk until a shepherd found and raised her. After marrying an old general named Onnes, she was taken by the Syrian king Ninus, who fell in love with her beauty. This led to her husband's suicide. Semiramis then earned the king's favor with ingenious battle plans, married him, and poisoned him just days later to take revenge for her late husband. She reigned as regent over Assyria for decades afterward.
Described as a peerless beauty with a depraved or decadent atmosphere, she wears a dress as dark as midnight and exudes a pleasing aroma. Her appearance is striking, with long black hair, golden eyes, and pointed ears, and she is known for the spikes that protrude from each of her hands. As a person, Semiramis indulges in luxury and flamboyance, yet she does not hate simplicity. She is passionate, proud, and haughty, believing that a ruler must be superior to others and have greater desires. To her, kings are naturally tyrants, and she sees frugality in those with authority as a mere game.
Beneath this arrogant exterior lies a deep-seated rejection of others. She does not enjoy solitude but prefers to be aloof and demands that all humans serve her without question. This mindset is why many of her allied Servants intuitively dislike her. Having been abandoned as an infant, she holds her mother in contempt for falling for a man and abandoning her duties, though she is grateful that her mother's divine blood flows through her veins. She considers weak women who are manipulated by men as despicable and sees men who claim women thoughtlessly in the same light.
Semiramis is summoned by Shirou Kotomine and becomes deeply involved in his plan for humanity's salvation. Initially confused by his claim that he seeks neither victory nor defeat but another goal, she considers finding a new Master. However, she comes to respect him and eventually adopts his wish as her own. Shirou is unique because he values her for her abilities rather than her beauty, which is the first time she has experienced such a thing. This confuses her feelings, initially creating a sense of fondness, then strange anger, and finally a heartache she cannot name. She finds herself drawn to a man who moves forward without looking back at her.
Her primary role in the story is as one of the masterminds of the Red Faction. Along with Shirou, she takes control of the other Red Masters, using her doves to deliver messages and her poisons to manipulate them. She is instrumental in constructing her greatest Noble Phantasm, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, to serve as the faction's mobile flying fortress. Throughout the war, she oversees battles from her throne room within the Gardens, using its magical defenses to attack enemies and orchestrate the flow of combat. She demonstrates particular animosity toward Saber of Red, Mordred, who compares Semiramis to her own mother Morgan for her manipulative nature. She also finds Caster of Red, Shakespeare, troublesome due to his unpredictable actions.
Semiramis does not undergo a dramatic personality shift, but her relationship with Shirou Kotomine reveals a hidden depth. What lies at her core is an absolute rejection of others, yet Shirou shatters this simply by not caring about her in the way others do. She begins as a calculating tyrant who only seeks to rule the world, but by the end, it becomes unclear if that was ever her true wish. In her final moments, what she truly sought remains something she cannot understand, perhaps something as pure as clean water.
Her abilities are exceptional due to a rare trait called Double Summon, which grants her the class skills of both Assassin and Caster. Her Presence Concealment allows her to move undetected, which she combines with her mastery of poison to deadly effect. She possesses the skill Item Construction, but she can only create poisons rather than a variety of tools. Her Territory Creation is directly linked to her Noble Phantasm. She also commands gray doves as familiars, which she uses for reconnaissance and delivering messages across great distances. Her two Noble Phantasms define her combat capabilities. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is an EX-ranked Anti-World fortress that floats in the air, requiring days of rituals and vast material resources to construct. While inside it, her parameters are raised, and she gains access to powerful magical attacks and defenses. Her second Noble Phantasm, Sikera Ušum, or Arrogant King's Alcohol, allows her to poison the surrounding environment, including the air and magical energy itself. She can summon phantasmal species associated with poison and alter the type of poison she deploys.
Described as a peerless beauty with a depraved or decadent atmosphere, she wears a dress as dark as midnight and exudes a pleasing aroma. Her appearance is striking, with long black hair, golden eyes, and pointed ears, and she is known for the spikes that protrude from each of her hands. As a person, Semiramis indulges in luxury and flamboyance, yet she does not hate simplicity. She is passionate, proud, and haughty, believing that a ruler must be superior to others and have greater desires. To her, kings are naturally tyrants, and she sees frugality in those with authority as a mere game.
Beneath this arrogant exterior lies a deep-seated rejection of others. She does not enjoy solitude but prefers to be aloof and demands that all humans serve her without question. This mindset is why many of her allied Servants intuitively dislike her. Having been abandoned as an infant, she holds her mother in contempt for falling for a man and abandoning her duties, though she is grateful that her mother's divine blood flows through her veins. She considers weak women who are manipulated by men as despicable and sees men who claim women thoughtlessly in the same light.
Semiramis is summoned by Shirou Kotomine and becomes deeply involved in his plan for humanity's salvation. Initially confused by his claim that he seeks neither victory nor defeat but another goal, she considers finding a new Master. However, she comes to respect him and eventually adopts his wish as her own. Shirou is unique because he values her for her abilities rather than her beauty, which is the first time she has experienced such a thing. This confuses her feelings, initially creating a sense of fondness, then strange anger, and finally a heartache she cannot name. She finds herself drawn to a man who moves forward without looking back at her.
Her primary role in the story is as one of the masterminds of the Red Faction. Along with Shirou, she takes control of the other Red Masters, using her doves to deliver messages and her poisons to manipulate them. She is instrumental in constructing her greatest Noble Phantasm, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, to serve as the faction's mobile flying fortress. Throughout the war, she oversees battles from her throne room within the Gardens, using its magical defenses to attack enemies and orchestrate the flow of combat. She demonstrates particular animosity toward Saber of Red, Mordred, who compares Semiramis to her own mother Morgan for her manipulative nature. She also finds Caster of Red, Shakespeare, troublesome due to his unpredictable actions.
Semiramis does not undergo a dramatic personality shift, but her relationship with Shirou Kotomine reveals a hidden depth. What lies at her core is an absolute rejection of others, yet Shirou shatters this simply by not caring about her in the way others do. She begins as a calculating tyrant who only seeks to rule the world, but by the end, it becomes unclear if that was ever her true wish. In her final moments, what she truly sought remains something she cannot understand, perhaps something as pure as clean water.
Her abilities are exceptional due to a rare trait called Double Summon, which grants her the class skills of both Assassin and Caster. Her Presence Concealment allows her to move undetected, which she combines with her mastery of poison to deadly effect. She possesses the skill Item Construction, but she can only create poisons rather than a variety of tools. Her Territory Creation is directly linked to her Noble Phantasm. She also commands gray doves as familiars, which she uses for reconnaissance and delivering messages across great distances. Her two Noble Phantasms define her combat capabilities. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is an EX-ranked Anti-World fortress that floats in the air, requiring days of rituals and vast material resources to construct. While inside it, her parameters are raised, and she gains access to powerful magical attacks and defenses. Her second Noble Phantasm, Sikera Ušum, or Arrogant King's Alcohol, allows her to poison the surrounding environment, including the air and magical energy itself. She can summon phantasmal species associated with poison and alter the type of poison she deploys.