History Woobie / SwordArtOnline

* Most of Eiji's screentime in ''Ordinal Scale'' depicts him being a SmugSnake Jerkass who [[PlayerKilling who assaults his fellow SAO Survivors and gets them killed by the Boss Monsters who appears in Ordinal Scale to steal their SAO memories]], deriving {{Sadist}}ic glee from it all the way. However, once you learn his backstory, it can be hard not to see him as rather tragic; he was originally a hard-working player who dedicated himself to mastering the One-Handed Sword, which got him scouted by the Knights of the Blood. However, when he logged in he suffered from a Full-Dive Non-Conformity, which caused him to freeze up in times of danger and turning him into TheLoad and forcing him out of the Floor Boss fights, giving him an inferiority complex. Then when he spear-heads an operation to save some fellow players from a boss, his ChildhoodFriend and LoveInterest, Yuna, makes a HeroicSacrifice to save her fellow players, and he's unable to save her due to his Non-Conformity, leading to her death and him quitting the [=KoB=] from the trauma and self-loathing. And, as if to add insult to injury, a book is released after SAO ended only talked about the Frontline players while disregarding those who died, such as Yuna, enraging him.

-->-- '''Kazuto Kirigaya, who has ''[[{{Understatement}} not]]'' had it easy.'''

* Despite detractors' claims to the contrary, Kirito is ''far'' from a GaryStu who has never suffered. When he was a baby, his parents died in a traffic accident and he was taken in by his aunt and uncle and raised as their son. Growing up, he was forced by his grandfather to take up Kendo but ended up quitting after he lost interest, prompting his grandfather to [[DisproportionateRetribution beat the crap out of him]] until Suguha stepped up to his defense. Later on, he hacked into the Public Registry and learned of his adoption. Feeling himself becoming a stranger to the family that raised him, [[ValuesDissonance likely due to Japan's general feelings towards orphans]], this led to him disassociating himself from them and turning to VR gaming. Years later, he's trapped in Sword Art Online and is forced to fight for his life against both monsters and other players, losing dear friends such as Sachi and the Black Cats along the way and being forced to kill up to three people, which has caused him to suffer from both a crippling GuiltComplex and severe PTSD. Shortly after SAO ended, Kirito discovered that Asuna, his in-game wife and partner since Floor 1, is still trapped in SAO and learns that the one responsible is a CorruptCorporateExecutive who she's engaged to, and he's ForcedToWatch as she's sexually assaulted when he tries to rescue her. Soon after, he's forced into investigating a mysterious SerialKiller that forces his killing-induced PTSD to resurface when they reveal themselves as a member of Laughing Coffin. Then comes ''Alicization'', where he's [[spoiler: poisoned by one of the co-conspirators of said SerialKiller, forced away from most of his friends and loved ones, gets ruthlessly bullied by two UpperClassTwits who try to rape his and Eugeo's pages, has to watch Charlotte, Cardinal and Eugeo die, briefly becomes a WheelChairWoobie as seen below, and ends up stuck in the Underworld for the equivalent ''200 years'', with [[HappilyMarried Asuna]] as his only IRL companion there, and even then he has to outlive most of the friends he made in the Underworld before he's finally able to leave, and then he mourns for Eugeo.]]

* Despite detractors' claims to the contrary, Kirito is ''far'' from a GaryStu who has never suffered. When he was a baby, his parents died in a traffic accident and he was taken in by his aunt and uncle and raised as their son. Growing up, he was forced by his grandfather to take up Kendo but ended up quitting after he lost interest, prompting his grandfather to [[DisproportionateRetribution beat the crap out of him]] until Suguha stepped up to his defense. Later on, he hacked into the Public Registry and learned of his adoption. Feeling himself becoming a stranger to the family that raised him, [[ValuesDissonance likely due to Japan's general feelings towards orphans]], this led to him disassociating himself from them and turning to VR gaming. Years later, he's trapped in Sword Art Online and is forced to fight for his life against both monsters and other players, losing dear friends such as Sachi and the Black Cats along the way and being forced to kill up to three people, which has caused him to suffer from both a crippling GuiltComplex and severe PTSD. Shortly after SAO ended, Kirito discovered that Asuna, his in-game wife and partner since Floor 1, is still trapped in SAO and learns that the one responsible is a CorruptCorporateExecutive who she's engaged to, and he's ForcedToWatch as she's sexually assaulted when he tries to rescue her. Soon after, he's forced into investigating a mysterious SerialKiller that forces his killing-induced PTSD to resurface when they reveal themselves as a member of Laughing Coffin. Then comes ''Alicization'', where he's [[spoiler: poisoned, forced away from most of his friends and loved ones, gets ruthlessly bullied by two UpperClassTwits who try to rape his and Eugeo's pages, has to watch Charlotte, Cardinal and Eugeo die, briefly becomes a WheelChairWoobie as seen below, and ends up stuck in the Underworld for ''200 years'', with [[HappilyMarried Asuna]] as his only IRL companion there, and even then he has to outlive most of the friends he made in the Underworld before he's finally able to leave.]]

* When Lipia was a child, she lost her parents to the [[GreatOffscreenWar Age of Blood and Iron]] and as a result was close to being sold into slavery, with her only avoiding this fate because the tribes signed a peace agreement to prevent further bloodshed. Her newfound freedom allowed her to enter a military training academy, but her decision to pursue a role as a Dark Knight earned her the ridicule and bullying of both women, who often chose to become Dark Mages and in turn viewed [[TheLadette her as mannish]], and the men, [[HeManWomanHater who believed her high grades was less due to her own skill and more because she was seducing the instructors]], and the {{Bully}}ing got to the point that she was poisoned and attacked by minions as a "prank". It's only when she met Vixur, [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe who treated her with kindness and respect]], that things start looking up, with her entering a relationship with him and having plans to marry him. But that gets ''painfully'' undermined when Gabriel logs into the Underworld as Vecta and threatens their plans to make peace with the Human Empire, and when she attempts to kill him to put a stop to the war, she gets painfully choked to death, [[OffWithHisHead decapitated]] [[DesecratingTheDead post-mortem]], and has her head frozen in a block of ice and presented to the armies to bait out Shasta.

* Scheta always had an obsession with cutting that [[AllTheOtherReindeer affected how she interacted with others]], with it being {{Implied}} that she killed a lot of her opponents in what were supposed to be clean, friendly duels, such as the Four Empires Unity tournament to the point it had to be mostly covered up, [[TheseHandsHaveKilled which she's not exactly hinted to be proud of]]. After becoming a Knight, she gets a {{Bully}} in the form of an older Knight who's annoyed at her supposed "[[TheQuietOne disrespect]]", and so often spent her time alone on Floor 75, "The Night Corridor". One day, she's approached by Quinella, [[ManipulativeBitch who manipulates her by offering a]] [[AbsurdlySharpBlade sword that can cut through anything]], then getting her aforementioned {{Bully}} to attack her by offering him a Divine Object as well, which ends in her killing him and willingly going into Deep Freeze out of fear of harming any of the other Knights. Even after being unfrozen to help with the ''War of Underworld'', she ends up TheDreaded to her own side. It's not until she meets Iskahn, and falls in love with him over the course of the war, that things really start looking up for her, and even then she has to deal with her only daughter getting kidnapped and getting her life threatened, with the only way out being killing Kirito, who like her husband she's come to regard as a friend.

* Yuuki probably has one of the saddest stories. [[spoiler: Due to a medical malpractice, she was [[TragicAidsStory born with a drug-resistant strand of AIDS]] that spread to the rest of her family and had to endure it and all the social stigma that came with it, with a [[AllTheOtherReindeer lot of her friends and classmates being quick to isolate her]] after her status as a carrier was somehow leaked, forcing her to move schools where her condition began to worsen. When her family was approached let Yuuki or her sister Aiko become Medicuboid test subjects, Aiko [[HeroicSacrifice willingly gave up her chance to be in a sterilized room so Yuuki could live longer]]. After meeting another girl in a game called Asuka Empire, Yuuki formed a guild with her sister called the Sleeping Knights that consisted of other terminally ill patient like them, hoping to leave a mark on the world. By the time of ''Mother's Rosario'' however, three members, including her sister, have passed away, she's the only one in her family still alive, she has to remain logged into the Medicuboid 24/7 (to the point where her time in virtual reality exceeds SAO players), and she doesn't have much time left herself. In fact, she dies at the end of the volume, after becoming great friends with Asuna.]]

* Asuna Yuuki. While her childhood was hinted to have been fairly happy, she started to have to put up with more and more stressful expectations in regards to her education as she grew older, something that while on the surface she handled with grace, was actually consuming her life. Then SAO starts and these issues rise to the surface, [[SkewedPriorities with her being more concerned about missing her Mock Exam]] and even becoming a DeathSeeker over the prospect of falling behind academically. While she does get over these thanks to Kirito, SAO still puts her through the ringer by having her going through the Laughing Coffin raid, where she's {{Implied}} to have been forced to kill like Kirito was, and having to deal with getting stalked by her bodyguard, who later tries to kill Kirito. Even after SAO ended, she's kidnapped by her StalkerWithACrush and [[AttemptedRape nearly raped by him]], something {{Implied}} in ''Mother's Rosario'' to have done a major blow to her self-esteem and causes her to see herself as weaker than she was in SAO. Later on, as if her boyfriend getting involved in a SerialKiller investigation wasn't enough, she befriends and becomes a surrogate CoolBigSis to Yuuki, [[spoiler: who tragically succumbs to her AIDS and [[DiedInYourArmsTonight and died in her arms in ALO.]]]] Then later on, she's forced to watch as her boyfriend is assaulted, nearly killed, ends up in a coma with the possibility of never waking up, and mysteriously disappears from the hospital. Even when she's finally reunited with him, he's [[AngstComa become a shell of his former self]] who can only cry and try in agony to say something when he sees her. And after ''that'' she's forced to fight a war, suffering numerous injuries and [[AnArmAndALeg lost limbs]] in battle and being ForcedToWatch as [[spoiler: numerous Artificial Fluctlights are murdered by invading Foreign Players led by [=PoH=].]]

* Despite detractors' claims to the contrary, Kirito is ''far'' from a GaryStu who has never suffered. When he was a baby, his parents died in a traffic accident and he was taken in by his aunt and uncle and raised as their son. Growing up, he was forced by his grandfather to take up Kendo but ended up quitting after he lost interest, prompting his grandfather to [[DisproportionateRetribution beat the crap out of him]] until Suguha stepped up to his defense. Later on, he hacked into the Public Registry and learned of his adoption. Feeling himself becoming a stranger to the family that raised him, [[ValuesDissonance likely due to Japan's general feelings towards orphans]], this led to him disassociating himself from them and turning to VR gaming. Years later, he's trapped in Sword Art Online and is forced to fight for his life against both monsters and other players, losing dear friends such as Sachi and the Black Cats along the way and being forced to kill up to three people, which has caused him to suffer from both a crippling GuiltComplex and severe PTSD. Shortly after SAO ended, Kirito discovered that Asuna, his in-game wife and partner since Floor 1, is still trapped in SAO and learns that the one responsible is a CorruptCorporateExecutive who she's engaged to, and he's ForcedToWatch as she's [[AttemptedRape nearly raped]] when he tries to rescue her. Soon after, he's forced into investigating a mysterious SerialKiller that forces his killing-induced PTSD to resurface when they reveal themselves as a member of Laughing Coffin. Then comes ''Alicization'', where he's [[spoiler: poisoned, forced away from most of his friends and loved ones, gets ruthlessly bullied by two UpperClassTwits who try to rape his and Eugeo's pages, has to watch Charlotte, Cardinal and Eugeo die, briefly becomes a WheelChairWoobie as seen below, and ends up stuck in the Underworld for ''200 years'', with [[HappilyMarried Asuna]] as his only IRL companion there, and even then he has to outlive most of the friends he made in the Underworld before he's finally able to leave.]]

[[caption-width-right:350: [[BeneathTheMask Try as she like]], [[BrokenBird she can't run from it forever.]]]]

--> "''[[ButForMeItWasTuesday I forgot the people I killed!]][[TheseHandsHaveKilled I threw away that burden! That duty]] [[GuiltComplex That's why I don't deserve to be saved!]]''"

* Sinon has PTSD from killing an armed robber in self-defense. [[KidsAreCruel She was bullied by nearly all her classmates because of this.]] [[ThereAreNoTherapists Her therapists reinforced her PTSD instead of treating it.]] Thieves have learned to exploit her PTSD to extort money from her. [[AllMenArePerverts She's constantly being sexually harassed]], though she treats it [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking as an annoyance at best]]. [[spoiler:Then, the only friend she's had for years tries to rape and murder her.]] Someone give that poor girl a hug!
* Yuuki probably has one of the saddest stories. [[spoiler: She was [[TragicAIDSStory born with AIDS]] and had to endure it and all the social stigma that came with it. By the time of ''Mother's Rosario'', she's the only one in her family still alive, she has to remain logged into the Medicuboid 24/7 (to the point where her time in virtual reality exceeds SAO players), and she doesn't have much time left herself. In fact, she dies at the end of the volume, after becoming great friends with Asuna.]]
* Eugeo is definitely this. Born into a loveless family who treated him with indifference, with the exception of his older sister, Eugeo was mistreated in a number of ways that didn't defy the Taboo Index, such as his parents showing very blatant ParentalFavouritism towards his older siblings and his father taking all the money he earned from cutting the Gigas Cedar as recompense for not getting a Calling that allowed him to help on his family's farm, which served to make him a bullying target from other boys such as Jink. He only had two friends growing up, Kirito and Alice, but that changes when the three of them go to a cave near the End Mountains to get some ice, only to stumble upon an exit leading to the Dark Territory, where they witness a [[HarmfulToMinors Dark Knight get killed by an Integrity Knight]] and Alice accidentally places a few fingers in the Dark Territory. The very next day, he's ForcedToWatch as Alice is arrested and taken away due to the Seal of the Right Eye preventing him from doing anything. Shortly after that incident, Kirito is logged out of the Underworld and Eugeo's memories of him are blocked, making him believe that not being able to prevent Alice's arrest is entirely his fault, and he also gets [[AllTheOtherReindeer shunned by almost the who village due to his friendship with Alice]]. His life doesn't get any easier upon Kirito's return, as he [[spoiler: witnesses both his and Kirito's pages almost get raped by two corrupt Nobles because he scored a tie against one of them, and ends up breaking the Taboo Index to stop it, branding him a criminal and leading to his arrest, and he then learns that the ChildhoodFriend he left his village to save was brainwashed into becoming an Integrity Knight, and he later gets brainwashed into one himself after [[ManipulativeBitch Quinella]] throws his loveless past in his face, being forced to fight Kirito in the process.]]

* Kirito in the second half of the ''Alicization'' arc. Due to the [[MyGreatestFailure grief of losing Eugeo]] combined with the power surge damaging his brain, this leads Kirito to have an extreme HeroicBSOD that leaves him an EmptyShell for a large portion of the war. In this state he loses his ability to speak, most of his awareness of his surroundings, and most of his mobility. He requires intense care from either Alice or whoever is looking after him and necessitates being wheeled around in a wheelchair.

* Kirito in the second half of the ''Alicization'' arc. Due to the [[MyGreatestFailure grief of losing Eugeo]] combined with the power surge damaging his brain, this leads Kirito to have an extreme HeroicBSOD that leaves him an EmptyShell for a large portion of the war. In this state he loses his ability to speak, most of his awareness of his surroundings, and most of his mobility. He requires intense care from either Alice or whoever is looking after him and requires being wheeled around in a wheelchair.

* Despite detractors' claims to the contrary, Kirito is ''far'' from a GaryStu who has never suffered. When he was a baby, his parents died in a traffic accident and he was taken in by his aunt and uncle and raised as their son. Growing up, he was forced by his grandfather to take up Kendo but ended up quitting after he lost interest, prompting his grandfather to [[DisproportionateRetribution beat the crap out of him]] until Suguha stepped up to his defense. Later on, he hacked into the Public Registry and learned of his adoption. Feeling himself becoming a stranger to the family that raised him, [[ValuesDissonance likely due to Japan's general feelings towards orphans]], this led to him disassociating himself from them and turning to VR gaming. Years later, he's trapped in Sword Art Online and is forced to fight for his life against both monsters and other players, losing dear friends such as Sachi and the Black Cats along the way and being forced to kill up to three people, which has caused him to suffer from both a crippling GuiltComplex and severe PTSD. Shortly after SAO ended, Kirito discovered that Asuna, his in-game wife and partner since Floor 1, is still trapped in SAO and learns that the one responsible is a CorruptCorporateExecutive who she's engaged to, and he's ForcedToWatch as she's [[AttemptedRape nearly raped]] when he tries to rescue her. Soon after, he's forced into investigating a mysterious SerialKiller that forces his killing-induced PTSD to resurface when they reveal themselves as a member of Laughing Coffin. Then comes ''Alicization'', where he's [[spoiler: poisoned, forced away from most of his friends and loved ones, gets ruthlessly bullied by two UpperClassTwits who try to rape his and Eugeo's pages, has to watch Charlotte, Cardinal and Eugeo die, briefly becomes a WheelChairWoobie as seen above, and ends up stuck in the Underworld for ''200 years'', with [[HappilyMarried Asuna]] as his only IRL companion there, and even then he has to outlive most of the friends he made in the Underworld before he's finally able to leave.]]

* Whereas most known SAO Survivors, such as Kirito and Asuna, are shown to have not had a completely terrible experiences in Sword Art Online like the general public believe, Hiyori Kashiwazaki/Lux is a prime example of a SAO Survivor who had an absolutely ''horrible'' time in the infamous Death Game. [[spoiler: While grinding in a dungeon one day, Lux ended up getting separated from her temporary party and finds herself getting overwhelmed by monsters. However, she is saved from the monsters... by [[PlayerKiller Laughing]] [[FromBadToWorse Coffin]], who heavily imply that they killed the party she was with. After contemplating whether to kill her or not, they give her a SadisticChoice of being left to die in the dungeon or join them as a scout and spy for them using her Green Cursor. Out of fear of dying she accepts, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone a decision that wracks her with boundless guilt]] over the fact that's actively assisting a guild dedicated to killing people and halting the Clearing Force's progress. During her time in the Red Guild, she befriends Gwen, the leader of one of Laughing Coffin's subsidiary guilds, which seems to help keep her going despite her circumstances. However, while returning to the guild's hideout one day, the both of them find Laughing Coffin being raided by the Clearing Force and the both of them are caught. However, due to her Green Cursor, Lux is mistaken for Gwen's hostage and her hesitance to confirm she was with the guild causes Gwen to think she's betrayed her and abandoned her, calling off their friendship and leaving her all alone again. Later on she's befriended by a girl named Rossa who, as if to add insult to injury, [[HeroicSacrafice sacrifices her life to save Lux]], leaving the poor girl both alone again and severely traumatized.]] Her time in SAO still haunts her even after the Death Game ends, with her attempts at imitating Kirito leading her to have HeroicBSOD and become extremely isolated, [[spoiler: Gwen coming back in order to drive a wedge in her new friendships out of spite, and her friend Rossa apparently coming back as a ghost and running the risk of being used by a Guild of ConArtists for personal profit.]]