History WebVideo / SwordArtOnlineAbridged

* InsaneTrollLogic: Kayaba explains that the reason for the events of the story is [[spoiler:he didn't want to get bad reviews from Metacritic.]] Kirito points out that [[spoiler:he's more likely to get worse reviews from a game where people are killed deliberately rather than as a bug]]. Kayaba himself acknowledges the insanity, [[spoiler:pointing out at the time he was sleep deprived enough that he believed that MoleMen ran the government, so he actually wasn't quite sane at the time.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: '''Kirito'''.

'''Kuradeel:''' [shaking in fear] R-Really?

It has the same basic premise as the original, centering around the titular Virtual Reality MMORPG and its launch-day players, who become trapped in the game by its creator, Akihiko Kayaba, and must reach the top floor and beat the game to escape- and if they die, they die in the real world. The series stars a {{Jerkass}} version of Kirito, who, along with other characters and the rest of the unfortunate players, work their way up to the top of Castle Aincrad... as if it was in a typical internet fashion. HilarityEnsues as Kirito meets a variety of wacky characters, encounters the game’s many glitches and design flaws, and tries to live out his personal fantasies of being a god amongst foolish mortals, only to encounter events that force him to grow and change as a person.

* {{Revenge}}: Kirito is not the kind of hero who will refrain from taking bloody revenge, as an NPC learns when he leaves Kirito and some of his friends to die.
-->'''Kirito:''' [among sounds of blade slicing] CHOKE ON IT! Choke on my vengeance. ''How does it taste?''

* TheChainOfHarm: In Season 2, it is shown that Kirito's {{Jerkass}} behavior towards everyone around him arose from his [[BigSisterBully Little Sister Bully]], Suguha. In turn, Episode 17 reveals her issues came from [[spoiler:her sexist [[GruesomeGrandparents grandfather]] forcing her through TrainingFromHell to get her to quit kendo, because he was only ever interested in Kazuto taking on the bamboo sword]].

* CrapsaccharineWorld: Marshmallow Island, the in-universe setting of the {{Edutainment}} game ''[=ALfheim=] Online'', is designed to be appealing to children, with cutesy candy-themed names, fairies as the playable characters, a bright and colorful aesthetic, a NarrativeProfanityFilter, and other child-friendly things. However, the game itself is essentially nothing more than a prison for the 300 or so players of ''Sword Art Online'' who Sugou “saved”, then placed in terminals to do torturous experiments on, it has an extremely toxic player-base who display FantasticRacism towards each other and take their in-game war way too seriously, and the educational content is made by conspiracy nuts.
* CreativeClosingCredits: The end of the Aincrad arc had all the cast members listed as if in a high score list.

* CrapsaccharineWorld: Marshmallow Island, the in-universe setting of the {{Edutainment}} game ''[=ALfheim=] Online'', is designed to be appealing to children, with cutesy candy-themed names, fairies as the playable characters, a bright and colorful aesthetic, a NarrativeProfanityFilter, and other child-friendly things. However, the game itself is essentially nothing more than a prison for the 300 or so players of ''Sword Art Online'' who Sugou “saved”, then placed in terminals to do torturous experiments on, and it has an extremely toxic player-base who display FantasticRacism towards each other and take their in-game war way too seriously.

** When [[spoiler:Kayaba shows the clip of the man's head exploding from ''Scanners'']] in Episode 11, it's on [=YouTube=], with the video's real URL, and with additional tabs showing Metacritic, Creator/DolphLundgren's IMDB page and Game Design for Dummies.

* BossRush: In EPisode 4, an offscreen one of at least eight bosses is required to get the revival flower item Silica wants to revive Pina.

* SimpleSolutionWontWork: Kayaba starts to explain why Asuna's idea to blame an anonymous hacker group for everything going wrong wouldn't have worked, [[ExplainExplainOhCrap only to grimly realize the only thing wrong with it was him not realizing he could have done that when it would have still been plausible.]]

* DisproportionateRetribution: Kayaba kills a player just because he pointed out that Kayaba wasn't completely blameless for the moronic player base's misfortunes.

* MythologyGag: In episode 11, [[spoiler:Kayaba said he went three weeks without sleep to finish the game and mistook Reki, the night janitor, for God. For those that are unfamiliar with the source material, Reki Kawahara is the name of the creator of SAO.]]

[[folder: A to E]]

* BreakTheCutie: Let's just say episode 4 was not kind to Silica...
* BreakThemByTalking: Seems to be [[spoiler:(or ''have'' been)]] Rosalia's method of choice, using what Kirito aptly described as "first-year psych-student bullshit" to try and get inside her opponents' heads and psych them out, breaking them until they're a "gibbering mess" so that her Titan's Hand [[{{Mooks}} goons]] can finish the job. Needless to say, [[BullyingADragon this comes back to bite her]] [[DoNotTauntCthulhu when she pushes]] Kirito too far.

[[folder: F to J]]

* ShaggyDogStory: The timer on [[spoiler:Pina's heart runs out just as Silica tries to resurrect him.]]

* CreatorKiller: [[invoked]] ''Sword Art Online'' winds up being this for Argus. Since it was an ObviousBeta [[invoked]] with many awful design choices and outright [[TheMostDangerousVideoGame killing players who die in the game]], Argus is said in Season 2 to have gone bankrupt, with RECT Progress buying up the source code to do their own thing with it.

-->'''Kirito:''' Wait, is this it? Are you kidding me?! Is the final dungeon of this [[NarrativeProfanityFilter gosh-forsaken game]] seriously just a '''giant empty tomb?!''' Ugh, suppose I should always commend them for creating a [[{{Speedrun}} speed-runner]]'s wet dream.

* UncertainAudience: [[invoked]] The Abridged version of Alfheim Online is supposedly marketed towards children, but the blurbs on the back of the box flip flops between kid-friendly activities advertising community and friendship and encouragement of inciting conflict and aerial combat. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Also colouring]]. [[spoiler: And later on, the game is revealed to allow blowjobs and full-on racial conflict.]]
-->'''Kirito''':...''Who is this for?!''\\
'''Tiffany''': [[TakeAThirdOption My guess would be the cast of]] ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'', [[TakeThat but I doubt that's a big enough market]].

** Even from the back of the ''Alfheim Online'' box (or at least its left side) it's clear that it makes ''Sword Art Online'' look miles better by comparison, what with a confused marketing scheme that seems to want you to make it think it's an EdutainmentGame and an aerial combat simulator, a patronizing tutorial that quickly annoys Kirito beyond all reason, and [[Creator/{{Ubisoft}} uPlay]] being the provider of services, [[TakeThat much to Kirito's horror.]]

* DarkestHour: Episode 17 is painted this way. [[spoiler:Kirito is on his own to rescue his wife by mere hours before the night of the wedding, with no support from the rest of [=ALfheim=] players who are too busy fighting against each other to care about rescuing Asuna. On top of that, Kirito ended up alienating his sister, the only one who was willing to help him, who reveals that she's resentful for abandoning her and kendo over programming before shutting him down. The episode ends with Kirito in a very bad spot, with multiple issues to deal with and very little time to deal with them all.]]

* DisabilityAlibi: PlayedForLaughs. Kirito proves that Schmitt couldn't have murdered his friend and fellow adventurer Griselda because Schmitt possesses neither the physical skill nor the wits to actually defeat a veteran player like Griselda.

* VaryingCompetencyAlibi: In Episode 6, Kirito convinces Yolko and Kains that it was impossible for Schmitt to have murdered Griselda by arguing that there was no way he would have been able to defeat her in combat, much to the annoyance of the man he's defending.

* LostFoodGrievance: Shoji and Kyle (two guys Sugou entrusts with his torture setup) have avatars of tentacled slug monsters instead of the usual attractive fairy people. When Shoji gripes asking why that is, Kyle points out that Shoji keeps stealing the modeler's yogurt. Which is medicated for her special dietary needs.

* LostFoodGrivance: Shoji and Kyle (two guys Sugou entrusts with his torture setup) have avatars of tentacled slug monsters instead of the usual attractive fairy people. When Shoji gripes asking why that is, Kyle points out that Shoji keeps stealing the modeler's yogurt. Which is medicated for her special dietary needs.

* WhamEpisode: Episode 17 shakes up the status quo with some big changes the resonate with multiple characters across the series. First, there's the {{Internal Reveal}}s to Suguha that Kirito wasn't making up what was happening to Asuna, along with Kirito learning that Leafa's [=ALFheim=] player is Suguha. During the ending, [[spoiler:Suguha lays out her FreudianExcuse as to why she treats Kirito with scorn: [[WeUsedToBeFriends they used to be best friends]] until Kirito abandoned kendo for computers. Suguha stuck with kendo both in the hope that things could be the way they once were with Kirito if he came back, and because her sexist grandfather wanted Suguha to quit and she refused to give him the satisfaction. When Kirito didn't come back, he became a BrokenPedestal to Suguha. Finally, the wedding between Asuna and Sugou/Oberon is moved up to that night, resulting in Kirito's DarkestHour]].

* WhamEpisode: Episode 17 shakes up the status quo with some big changes the resonate with multiple characters across the series. First, there's the {{Internal Reveal}}s to Suguha that Kirito wasn't making up what was happening to Asuna, along with Kirito learning that Leafa's [=ALFheim=] player is Suguha. During the ending, [[spoiler:Suguha lays out her FreudianExcuse as to why she treats Kirito with scorn: [[WeUsedToBeFriends they used to be best friends]] until Kirito abandoned kendo for computers. Suguha stuck with kendo both in the hope that things could be the way they once were with Kirito if he came back, and because her sexist grandfather wanted Suguha to quit and she refused to give him the satisfaction]]. When Kirito didn't come back, he became a BrokenPedestal to Suguha. Finally, the wedding between Asuna and Sugou/Oberon is moved up to that night, resulting in Kirito's DarkestHour]].

* DarkestHour: [[spoiler:Episode 17 ends with this, with Kirito on his own to rescue his wife by mere hours before the night of the wedding, with no support from the rest of [=ALfheim=] players who are too busy fighting against each other to care about rescuing Asuna and alienating his sister, the only one who was willing to help him, who reveals that she's resentful for abandoning her and kendo over programming before shutting him down.]]

** [[spoiler:Episode 17 reveals what happens when someone is so fixated on achieving a specific goal that they become oblivious to the needs of others around them. Kirito's obsessiveness alienated his sister Suguha, first when he abandoned kendo after mastering it to work on programming, then after focusing everything on recovering Asuna in [=ALfheim=].]]

** Kirito delivers a heartwrenching one to himself in episode 17

-->'''Kirito:''' [[spoiler: [[TranquilFury It's a hat.]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis It's a god. Damn. Hat.]] ]]
** To add insult to injury, [[spoiler: it's a copy of Keita's charisma-boosting hat which Kirito already despised, and which was partially responsible for the death that Kirito was hoping to undo.]]

* BlackComedyCannibalism: especially rampant in the Alfheim arc
** Mentioned multiple times during the Sylph peace talks in episode 16

** Turns out that Kayaba really did keep that video clip from ''Film/{{Scanners}}'' tabbed [[spoiler: which helps when Kirito exposes him as Heathcliff and the players still don't get it.]]

* CharacterDevelopment: As the series has progressed, Kirito has gone from a complete dick, to a Jerkass, to caring for others, to [[spoiler: becoming a ruthless, emotionless killer who murdered a player who, although tried to harm or even kill him, wasn't even capable of harming him.]] He reverts back to his normal self with the help of Silica, and is arguably even better after his time with Asuna. Lampshaded in episode 12

* DarkestHour: [[spoiler: Episode 17 ends with this, with Kirito on his own to rescue his wife by mere hours before the night of the wedding, with no support from the rest of ALFheim players who are too busy fighting against each other to care about rescuing Asuna and alienating his sister, the only one who was willing to help him, who reveals that she's resentful for abandoning her and kendo over programming before shutting him down.]]

** The rest of the humor comes from [[ObviousBeta numerous bugs]] and [[ScrappyMechanic horrible game design]] impeding the players as much as their stupidity. Episode 11 reveals that the game was ChristmasRushed as [[TechDemoGame a NerveGear launch title]] and the only reason anyone is still playing is because [[WinToExit they're forced to]]. [[spoiler: Even the whole "death game" was the result of a glitch.]]

** After dying for the second time ever in a NerveGear game, Kirito laments that the single skill of "being good at video games" only worked once in Aincrad, and even then, pretty much everyone in Aincrad only liked him because of that skill, and not for actually being someone they enjoyed the company of.
** [[spoiler:Episode 17 reveals what happens when someone is so fixated on achieving a specific goal that they become oblivious to the needs of others around them. Kirito's obsessiveness alienated his sister Suguha, first when he abandoned kendo after mastering it to work on programming, then after focusing everything on recovering Asuna in ALfheim.]]

-->[[spoiler: '''Kirito:''' You're the only one I've ever met in this game who makes as many movie references as I do. \\
'''Heathcliff:''' Ah yes.. I guess I should've known that would -- Wait, ''you get my references?!'' ]]

* ExhaustionInducedIdiocy: [[spoiler: The reason for Kayaba's whole plot. He spent three weeks without sleep to finish ''Sword Art Online'', and in that state, he accidentally made a glitch that killed players when their avatars died. He notes that any sane person would have just shut off the servers to avoid anyone else getting hurt, but he was so delusional and sleep-deprived that he was more worried about the game's Metacritic score. So, he thought it would be better to be seen as evil and competent rather than lethally-incompetent. Especially when he thought "Flubar, King of the MoleMen" was running the government in his sleepless state. He realizes how stupid it was when he finally catches up on his sleep and has a clearer head.]]
-->[[spoiler: '''Kirito:''' So, you thought that critics would be harsher on a game that killed a few people by accident, than one that killed ''thousands'' on ''purpose''?\\

* FemaleGaze: [[LoveMakesYouDumb Yuriel]] has it ''bad'' for Thinker, and she is none too subtle about why.
** Also Lisbeth towards Kirito, until she [[GetAholdOfYourselfMan snaps herself out of it]].

** Asuna's minor DistressBall around Kuradeel goes away entirely. [[spoiler: She is the one who kills Kuradeel, not Kirito]].

** Similarly Asuna [[spoiler: isn't simply waiting for Kirito to come save her, but is actively attempting to break out of Sugou's program (and traumatizing his scientists and guards as well).]]

** [[spoiler:Kayaba]] calls deciding to lead a guild himself [[SurroundedByIdiots the worst mistake of his life]], then amends that by saying "Well, second." [[spoiler: At the end, he reveals that the whole players-dying-for-real thing was never part of a masterplan, but a GameBreakingBug.]]
** Pina speaking [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Dovahzul and referring to Silica as 'Dovahkiin']] turns out to be a pretty big clue [[spoiler: ''Sword Art Online'' is a Bethesda game.]]
*** There are several other tidbits hinting at [[spoiler: the identity of SAO's publisher.]] When Tiffany jokingly refers to Kirito as TheChosenOne in Episode 9, he [[spoiler: adds "as was foretold by the scrolls", a line often used in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games.]]
*** Keita "kidnapping" [=NPCs=] by not finishing their quests [[spoiler: is an often used tactic in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' and ''{{VideoGame/Fallout}}'' games.]] Likewise, him getting [[spoiler: trapped by the [[ArtificialStupidity [=NPCs=] blocking a door]] is a [[MemeticMutation very well known]] problem in many of Bethesda's games.]]
** In a meta sense, SWE's handling of [[AdaptationalHeroism Diabel's character]] Episode 2 hints at [[spoiler: how they're going to [[AdaptationalHeroism handle Kayaba's]], particularly his time as Heathcliff. Both go from a scheming, ManipulativeBastard to a generally nice person stuck in a horrible situation making a genuine effort to organize and help other players, but find their plans constantly waylaid by the [[TooDumbToLive rampant stupidity]] of [[SurroundedByIdiots most of SAO's player base]]. And both feel a kinship with Kirito, seeing him as [[OnlySaneMan the only other sane one]] in the game.]]

** Sugou's EvilPlan to institute [[spoiler: MoreThanMindControl and making everyone his charmed puppet]] is foreshadowed a couple times:

** [[spoiler:Asuna as well, if burning down Lisbeth's shop is any indication.]]
* HeroicBSOD: As in the original, [[spoiler: Kirito after Asuna's HeroicSacrifice]]. The BigBad is disappointed that he's no longer putting up a decent fight.
* HeroicRROD: In [[spoiler: Episode 8, Kirito fights the 74th Floor's boss with his undiscovered dual wielding ability. After fighting the giant goat demon while screaming about how much he hates the human race at the top of his lungs, he falls back and passes out, waking up to find Asuna worried about him.]]

* HolidayMode: WordOfGod have stated that the Kandy Kane Kavern location in ''[=ALfheim Online=]'' is actually a Holiday Event that the administrators, in their usual laziness and lack of care about the game, has simply forgotten to turn off.

** Up until this episode, Suguha underwent some MotiveMisidentification for Kirito, assuming he was in [=ALFheim=] to mess with her and/or get blackmail on her. Despite Yui's insistence that Kirito wanted to save his girlfriend and that's it, Suguha/Leafa was still skeptical. However, in this episode, Suguha sees Asuna's unconscious body in the hospital, as well as Kirito kneeling by her bedside with her hand in his, proving that he wasn't making it up. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone This causes Suguha some grief, as]] [[HeelRealization she realizes that she's been pressing her brother on a deep emotional scar]].

'''Oberon:''' Well I just find it fascinating, that's all. Increase your Strength stat, and even a child could wield the mightiest weapons. Increase Dexterity, and you could move with the grace of a world-class gymnast. [[spoiler: Increase ''Charisma''...]]\\

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: [[invoked]] [=ALFheim=] Online teaches kids important lessons like coloring, counting, and murdering your enemies! Episode 14 makes it more disturbing as not only is it possible to give blowjobs in the game, it might be required for certain quests.

** [[spoiler: Kayaba]] refers to Kirito and Asuna as "the dictionary definition of 'lesser of two evils'."