Sword Art Online Characters: Sword Art Online is a well-known anime series that keeps viewers all around the world enthralled with its heart-pounding battle sequences, intriguing narratives, and an unforgettable cast of characters. The series has a large cast of characters, all of whom have their own distinct powers, as well as both strengths and flaws. In this piece, we will discuss the top 10 best characters from Sword Art Online and rank them.
Table of Contents
Kirito
Kirito, also known as Kazuto Kirigaya, is the main character of the series and is considered to be one of the game’s most powerful players. He is an accomplished swordsman who possesses a natural ability for the game as well as a strategic mind that enables him to easily adjust to any circumstance. His inherent talent for the game helps him to win more often than not. As Kirito fights his way through the many stages of the game and develops as a person, the character arc that he goes through is one of the primary focuses of the anime series.
Kirito being the protagonist of Sword Art Online, is one of the ten thousand players who became trapped in the game after joining the official version of the game after participating in the closed beta. He made friends with Asuna early on in SAO. Due to the raid party’s reliance on Argo’s public beta test version of information about the monster, Diavel perished during the 1st Floor Boss fight after failing to acquire the Last Attack bonus due to Illfang the Kobold Lord’s altered armament and attack patterns.
The resulting animosity towards beta testers threatens to spiral out of hand. Kirito chose to defuse the situation by declaring that the vast majority of beta testers were poor gamers, with just a select few, like himself, leading to the development of the category Beater; this meant that Kirito played almost exclusively solo for the duration of the game. Kirito’s black leather trench coat, awarded to him for being the first player to defeat the 1st Floor Boss, becomes his signature look throughout the series.
Asuna
Asuna, a seventeen-year-old friend, girlfriend, and in-game bride of Kirito in Sword Art Online and Alfheim Online, is the major protagonist of the seventh volume and the Progressive series (which chronicles the whole Aincrad Arc in her perspective). The second in command of the Knights of the Blood Oath, a sizable guild often regarded as Aincrad’s most formidable.
As one of the few women who play SAO and a noted beauty, she is frequently courted and offered marriage. Asuna is a fiercely independent player known as “the Flash” for her lightning-fast rapier skills in-game. After she rescues Kirito from Kuradeel, the two fall in love and get married in-game. At the end of the SAO arc, she sacrifices herself to protect Kirito from a fatal strike from Heathcliff. However, this was simply an illusion, and after Heathcliff is killed, she and Kirito quickly find each other again.
Sinon
Sinon is the protagonist of the Phantom Bullet Arc. Her father was killed in a vehicle crash when she was just two years old.A postal robber tried to shoot a pregnant woman nine years later, but Shino bit his hand and he dropped the gun. After that, she killed him with three shots to the head. Since then, she has developed a severe aversion to firearms, to the point where she has panic attacks anytime one is in the vicinity. So, her classmates pick on her at school, and all it takes to set off her anxiety is a finger gun. Her friend Kyji Shinkawa suggested she play Gun Gale Online to help her cope with her experience.
Sinon, also known as Shino Asada, is a skilled sniper and one of the main characters of Sword Art Online. She is a survivor of a traumatic event and uses her skills in the game as a way to overcome her fears. Sinon is a complex character with a strong sense of justice and a desire to protect others.
Eugeo
A little boy who was also Alice in Underworld’s “childhood friend” and Kirito. His memories of Kirito are erased along with those of the other villagers, although he is able to regain some of them later. After the Axiom Church abducted Alice, he became obsessed with finding her again. Kirito taught him “Aincrad-style” swordsmanship, and he adopted the “Blue Rose Sword” as his primary weapon. During his time in the Underworld, Eugeo became Kirito’s closest buddy.
Later, in order to protect his students from aristocrats with a vendetta against him and Kirito, he becomes the first AI fluclight to successfully shatter the “Seal of the Right Eye” by breaking the Taboo Index. Eugeo and Kirito’s “crime” causes tension between them and the Church’s Integrity Knights as they work to rescue Alice and end Quinella’s rule over the Human Empire.
Alice
Alice is another key character in the Alicization arc of the series. She is a skilled swordsman and a loyal friend to Kirito and Eugeo. Alice is also a key player in the larger conflict of the arc, as she battles against the game’s administrators and fights to protect her friends and the people of the game world.
Kirito’s “childhood friend” in Underworld; she and Eugeo are both shrouded in mystery. She is “captured” by the Integrity Knights and “taken away” to be executed for “entering” the Dark Territory. Years later, Alice proved she is still alive and remembers both Kirito and Eugeo by contacting him in spirit form and helping him recover from an injury. She begged them to find her as well. In Volume 11 of the light novels, it is revealed that she became an Integrity Knight. Alice is initially hostile and chilly towards Kirito and Eugeo due to her loss of childhood memories brought on by the Synthesis Ritual.
Alice decides to join Kirito and Eugeo in their fight against Quinella when Kirito discloses the truth about her old identity and the corruption behind Administrator’s authority. Eugeo was killed, and Kirito is in a coma, but they were successful in killing Quinella. After forming a strong attachment with Kirito, Alice brings him to Rulid Village to be with her younger sister Selka.
Mito
Misumi, Asuna’s middle school classmate and exam-topping anime original character from the Progressive movies, is always at the top of her class. Misumi is a dedicated gamer who participates in local tournaments, despite her appearance as an impenetrable beauty and honors student to most pupils. Asuna and Misumi play video games together routinely after school on the roof. Misumi, who played a beta version of Sword Art Online under the alias Mito, later convinces Asuna to join her in the game on its release day.
After Kayaba traps the SAO players within the game, Mito and Asuna team up to strengthen themselves and clear the first floor. Mito felt terrible sorrow over leaving Asuna behind when they accidentally ran across a group of pitcher plant monsters and she had to flee for her own safety. Later, she joins a team that engages in the first-floor boss fight, when she learns that Asuna isn’t dead and is actually there. They join Kirito in the fight against the first boss while Mito tries in vain to apologise to Asuna, but Asuna reassures her that she done nothing wrong. Mito says goodbye to Asuna and leaves with the other survivors of the boss battle when she decides to follow Kirito to the second floor. Her original SAO character is a short, stout old dwarf.
Leafa
Leafa, also known as Suguha Kirigaya, is Kirito’s cousin and a key character in the series. She is a skilled player in the game and a loyal friend to Kirito, with a strong sense of justice and a desire to protect others. Leafa’s character arc is a central focus of the Fairy Dance arc, as she struggles to come to terms with her feelings for Kirito and her own identity in the game world.
Suguha, is Kazuto’s cousin. she was raised by her mother following the death of Kazuto’s parents; however, neither Suguha nor Kazuto knew this until much later. She has been training in kendo for eight years and is a hard worker who started the sport in part to combat her feelings of isolation and loneliness.
While playing Alfheim Online as a Sylph to better understand Kazuto Kirigaya, she learns that he is not her biological brother but rather her cousin who was adopted into their family when he was young. This revelation comes after Kazuto Kirigaya becomes trapped in Sword Art Online. Since he is confined within SAO, Sugu develops feelings for him that she does not fully comprehend; yet, she never acts on these impulses. Kazuto’s awakening from his coma two years later brings back those emotions, but she knows by then that he has fallen in love with Asuna.
Yuuki
Yuuki is a key character in the Mother’s Rosario arc of the series. She is a skilled swordsman and a member of a powerful guild in the game. Yuuki is also a tragic character, as she is suffering from a terminal illness in the real world. Despite this, she is a positive and determined person, with a strong desire to make the most of her time in the game and to protect her friends.
A pivotal figure from the seventh volume. She was an Imp in ALO who began challenging anyone who offered an 11-hit Original Sword Skill as a reward for defeating her, earning the moniker “Absolute Sword” for her perfect record in duels. Asuna eventually confronts her and is defeated. In the aftermath of the battle, Yuuki pleads for her assistance in killing the 27th Floor boss on behalf of her guild, the “Sleeping Knights,” so that they can permanently inscribe their names on the Monument of Swordsmen.
After a series of events—including the boss fight—it’s revealed that Yuuki has AIDS and the other guild members are terminally ill patients being used as guinea pigs for Rinko Koujiro’s Medicuboid device. As a tribute to her older twin sister Aiko Konno, who passed away, Yuuki develops deep feelings for Asuna.
Heathcliff
Heathcliff, also known as Kayaba Akihiko, is the creator of Sword Art Online and the primary antagonist of the first arc of the series. He is a complex and enigmatic character, with a mysterious past and a deep connection to the game world. Heathcliff is a formidable opponent, with a mastery of the game’s mechanics and a strategic mind that allows him to outwit his opponents.
Being the Director, writer, and primary SAO bad guy Akihiko Kayaba is responsible for both Nerve Gear and Sword Art Online. By blocking brain signals using NerveGear, he effectively locks all SAO players inside the virtual world. If the user were to die in-game or try to remove the NerveGear, they would actually die.
He is eventually exposed as Heathcliff, the real leader of the Blood Oath Knights. Despite having the ability to make his avatar eternal as an administrator, he is revealed to be an effective player even without this perk thanks to his familiarity with the SAO game mechanics, which he had invented. His entire existence was dedicated to actualizing Aincrad.
Oberon
The Alfheim Online arc’s primary adversary is Nobuyuki Sug. He is to blame for the continued imprisonment of 300 NerveGear victims, among them Asuna, long after SAO’s conclusion. He did this by shipping everyone to ALO to participate in fulldive technology-based experiments on the subjugation of human beings. He also plans to use his marriage to an unconscious Asuna to seize control of RECT Progress Inc. He shows a sick desire to finish this marriage while Asuna is unconscious.
In ALO, he assumes the persona of Oberon, King of the Fairies, and crowns Asuna, Titania. When he and Kirito finally meet, he impales Kirito and raises Kirito’s pain threshold as a show of strength and as a demonstration of his study. However, unlike Kayaba, he is a weak fighter, and he is ultimately vanquished by Kirito after the awareness of Akihiko Kayaba reminds Kirito about the day they fought and how Akihiko was ultimately defeated by Kirito’s resolve.
After increasing Sug’s pain threshold to the maximum, Kirito blinds and dismembers him. Sug makes another attempt to assault Kazuto when he travels to Asuna in the real world, blind in one eye and crazy from his loss, after all 300 victims are released from ALO. But Kazuto again overcomes him and uses the unarmed combat skills he acquired in SAO to successfully sever his neck. Sug is subsequently found alive after the attack and questioned about his criminal activities.
Final Thoughts
Sword Art Online features a rich and diverse cast of characters, each with their unique strengths, weaknesses, and personalities. From the powerful and determined Kirito to the loyal and courageous Asuna, these characters have captured the hearts of fans around the world. Whether you’re a fan of the series or just looking for an engaging anime with memorable characters, Sword Art Online is a must-watch.
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