Shirou Kotomine's History
Ruler's True Name and Shirou Kotomine's true identity is Shirou Tokisada AmakusaWP (天草 四郎 時貞WP, Amakusa Shirō Tokisada?), the teenage leader of the Shimabara RebellionWP.[5] Born in the Edo periodWP, he was a boy of miracles who could nearly be called a saint.[6] However, how exactly he was discovered and, in fact, at least a good half of his lifetime is wrapped in mystery. He who concentrated on his studies since childhood began to perform many miracles at the frontier for a time. Having healed wounds and walked on water, he eventually began to be enthusiastically worshiped as son of God by the peasants that believed in a prohibited religion.[3] In reality, he was merely a Spellcaster. He wasn't taught Magecraft but it was something that came to him naturally but very rarely. His use of Magecraft was mostly subconscious, so he had not even realized it himself. It just so happened that he was born with the power to exercise the miracles called Magecraft, and no one around him ever pointed it out, and so he was revered as a boy of miracles. Perhaps Mori Souiken and his peers had suppressed those whispers.[7]
The Shimabara Rebellion
The rulers of the land, the Matsukura clanWP had drastically raised the taxes causing famine and overtaxation to the people. This action forced the weak to fall in despair as they were unable to even resist. As they continued to be exploited, the people found salvation in Christianity, the words filled with love that couldn’t be defeated by starvation, poverty or despair. However the Matsukura clan tried to take even that from them. For them it was no longer exploitation but it was murder. The people were provoked and they rose up and revolted. They feared of having their right to live taken away, then overcame their fear of dying in battle.[8]
Amongst them was Shirou, a young boy at the time. Nobody knew whether his presence there was a coincidence or the will of God, but before anyone realized it, Shirou was leading them, though under the instruction of several RōninWP.[3][8] Before long, former-vassals of Konishi YukinagaWP had him as leader established a rebel army against the Edo ShogunateWP. Together with the peasants of Shimabara, who were suffering with the harsh environment of the times, they raised a large-scale insurrection.[3] Their battle should have no defeat and no victory either. Because by rising up, they were both losers and victors at the same time. All they had left was the power to rise up, however the act of rising up itself was a necessary act. They rose up for the sake of what they believed in—that in itself was important and what they wished for. They believed the sacrifices would be kept to a minimum, and even if several people including themselves became sacrifices, the world wouldn’t die, but would instead be reborn.[8]
Amakusa Shirou's Rally Flag (天草四郎陣中旗?)
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Shirou brought forth a miracle, the possibility of victory that should have been impossible. In his own words, he was granted miraculous power granted by God because God will occasionally exercise malice due to good will. Unfortunately, Shirou attained victory. Everyone went wild and became excited over the victory. They clung to Shirou, who had won a battle where victory should have been impossible, as a child of miracles. That foolish purity of theirs troubled the boy. Shirou believed they shouldn’t have won. Winning was not an option. He had been caught up in saving lives in the near future and averted his eyes from the bigger picture. They may bite a cornered cat—but after being bitten, the enraged cat would retaliate by slaughtering them.[8]
Death
Despite taking the uprising lightly at first, the Edo Shogunate got serious due to its punitive forces being defeated and sent out Elder Matsudaira Nobutsuna as the supreme commander.[3] Shirou led the defense of Hara CastleWP, and defeated the strongest of the Shogunate attackers in a series of coordinated defensive surges. Matsudaira Nobutsuna brought on starvation tactics to the revolting army that had shut themselves in Hara Castle, and estimated the time when they were running out of food and ammunition to start his general offensive. It has been told that 37,000 people, including Shirou were massacred by the shogunate forces, with the exception of a single betrayer (there are various theories about this).
After his rebellion ultimately failed, Shirou was sentenced to execution by decapitation. Before his death, Shirou felt he was naïve and he witnessed a scene like hell as his comrades were slowly killed off. The decapitated heads of the elderly, men butchered up like experimental animals, babies pierced by spears, girls raped in the pursuit of lust and then thrown away afterwards. He was convinced that the countless lives gathered were not taken away by the enemy but by himself. Shirou without once changing expression, accepted this result with a will of steel and it made him impossible to yield and give up. He merely gazed at this scene of ruin. He revealed no resignation or sorrow and even overcame the pain of his dismembered arms. He accepted that he had lost, the responsibility for his comrades death and his inevitable death. But the one thing he could not accept was that everything would fall to ruins after this. He couldn’t accept it. After having wasted so many lives, he absolutely could not accept that nothing would be gained as a result.
« So, God. Give me another chance. Next time, I won’t lose sight of the bigger picture. I will eliminate all obstacles, enemies and hardships in my way. Next time, I will obtain all the good in the world. A world where everyone is happy, everyone is good, and everyone is perfect. I will exterminate all evil and create a new, pure world.
