Sword Art Online Dark Territory / Characters

Real world names are in western naming order. Followed by their online name and worlds they played in.^note

This page details the residents of the Dark Territory. They first appear in the second half of the Alicization arc.

Note: Unmarked spoilers ahead.^noteEspecially from the web novels. If you're starting the anime, do not read this page!

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Dark Territory

In General

Lying beyond the End Mountains, is a savage land known as the Dark Territory, where the only authority is the "Law of Power", dictating the strongest will rule. The Dark Territory is governed by the Council of Ten, the leaders of the ten tribes. The resients are largely populated by monsters and dark-skinned humans.

Always Chaotic Evil: Subverted. While there are certainly vile people living in the Dark Territory, whether they be entire tribes or select individuals from them, a lot of them are fairly decent people despite their Might Makes Right views. In Moon Cradle, just sending supply convoys their way every so often and and allowing them to duel each other non-lethally all but resolves the issues that made them want to rage war on the Human Empire in the first place.
Ambiguously Brown: Unlike in the Human Empire, all the humans who live in the Dark Territory have tanned or darkly colored skin, to the point where demi-humans distinguish the two as "white iums" and "black iums" respectively. Most likely it's a case of Hades Shaded.
Blood Knight: Their Might Makes Right mentality naturally makes them this, which is part their eagerness to go to war. In Moon Cradle, it's mentioned that to keep this from causing violent crimes, all tribes are allowed to spar with each other so long as it doesn't result in fatalities.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: Kind of a given when you're all about Might Makes Right.
- "Journey to the Future" reveals that they have an almost animal-esque definition of territory, initially displaying reluctance to cross borders into the Human Empire as a result.
Dark Is Not Evil: While there are certainly some evil people in the Dark Territory, a lot of them are actually fairly decent people(beings?) if you look past their, often monstrous, appearances and Might Makes Right mentality. The fact that they're able to enter an Alliance with the Human Empire after the War ends further proves this.
Freudian Excuse: It's arguable that a large part of their Social Darwinsm and Might Makes Right views can be blamed on how unsuited the land they were stuck with is for growing food, raising animals, and just generally lack the luxuries living in the Human Empire gives such as protection from invasion and such. After Vecta's death, the war is quickly resolved when the Human Empire starts sending them supply convoys to lessen their lack of decent food supplies and Kirito finding a way to cross the End Wall and find new land for them grants a more permanent solution.
Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Apparently encouraged but Subverted. Among the humans in the Dark Territory, it's seemingly expected for men to become Dark Knights and women to become Dark Mages, but that doesn't stop some women, such as Lipia, from becoming Dark Knights and excelling at it. This is Averted with the Pugilists and some of the monster tribes, with the Pugilists and Orcs, who are largely Close Range Combatants, having women in their ranks, and Ogres collectively wielding wrist-mounted crossbows.
Locked Out of the Loop: During a conversation with a Pugilist, Kirito and Ronye learn that it seems that not everyone was in the know about Vecta's true nature as a manipulator who saw them as mere pawns for his own ends and never intended to lead them to prosperity, being disappointed that he lost and only go along with the alliance with the Human Empire because their ruler(i.e. Kirito) beat Vecta and that being in an alliance does have its own benefits.
The Right of a Superior Species: Of a sort. Being a realm ruled by Social Darwinism, the Dark Territory generally values strength above all else, which they believe gives them a right to pillage the Human Realm for their resources and land due to the general view that those who live there are weaklings and pacifistic cowards, apparently unaware of their cultural dedication to swordsmanship or the Integrity Knights guarding it.
The Social Darwinist: The Dark Territory has long followed the tradition of following "The Rule of the Strongest", meaning that if someone proves to be the strongest among them, they must follow them without question. Gabriel both logging in as Vecta and killing Vixur with seemingly no effort is what earns him the Undying Loyalty of all the tribes, and even if they get second thoughts the Seal of the Right will prevent them from outright disobeying or betraying him.
Trapped in Villainy: All of the Token Good Teammates and Noble Demons of the Dark Territory are largely forced to obey Vecta and his cruel and monstrous tactics, due to a combination of having been raised to follow the "rule of the strongest" and the Seal of the Eye, which affects all Underworld residents, forcing them to be stuck in this mindset, preventing them from rebelling against Vecta despite their disgust for him.

Dark Knights

General

One of the five human tribes of the Dark Territory; a group of armored warriors dedicated to combating and rivaling the Integrity Knights.

Black Knight: They are knights dressed in dark colored armor and serve the Dark Territory.
Evil Counterpart: To the Integrity Knights. While they have a number of disadvantages against them, namely the lack of immortality and Divine Objects, they are armored warriors of their realm who are trained Dragon Riders and dedicate themselves to combat for their realm. Though while the Integrity Knights devote themselves to protecting the Human Realm, the Dark Knights are constantly trying to invade the Human Realm for the good of the Dark Territory.
Dragon Rider: Like the Integrity Knights, Dark Knights are adept at riding dragons, likely a skill they picked up to better match them.
Noble Demon: They're often depicted as being more honorable compared to the other tribes, both human and demi-human. Doesn't change the fact that they're largely indoctrinated into the Dark Territory's Might Makes Right views and are actively trying to invade a neighboring realm.

Vixur Ul Shasta (Spoilers)

Vixur Ul Shasta

Voiced by: Hiroki Tochi (Japanese), Steve Blum (English), Raúl Anaya (Latin American Spanish)

The Commander of the Dark Territory's Dark Knights. Had plans to broker peace with the Human Empire and marry fellow Dark Knight Lipia before Gabriel logged in as Vector.

Anti-Hero: He's one of the few members of the Dark Territory to actually desire peace and wants to avoid war with the Human Empire. That being said his initial plan to ensure peace before Vecta logged in involved assassinating the leaders of both the goblin tribes, the orcs, and the Dark Mages.
Birds of a Feather: Rising Steel implies that his feelings for Lipia stem from her being the first person to actually share his pacifistic views, which would likely get him killed if he told any other Dark Territory residents.
But for Me, It Was Tuesday: He honestly doesn't remember Fu Za being an ex-Dark Knight trainee and is implied to have not given much thought to the duels he entered during his training.
Child Prodigy: When he entered a cadet academy once he was old to wield a sword, Shasta consistently won duels against his fellow cadets, which got the attention of the previous Dark Knight Commander, who made him his apprentice.
Dark Is Not Evil: He's a Dark Knight and allied with the Dark Territory, but he is not evil, being a man of honor who would much rather avoid war.
Early-Bird Cameo: He was first alluded to by Fanatio as an opponent who held back against her after discovering she's a woman.
Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Upon hearing of an assassin attempting to claim Vecta's life, he goes through each of the other Lords in his and progressively writes them off as the one who ordered the assassination, until he's the only one left, with him not recalling ordering any such attempt... until suddenly remembering that he hadn't seen Lipia since the day before.
Friendly Enemies: He is enemies with Bercouli, but the two respect each other and are quite chummy over the many times they have battled, with the last battle with the Integrity Knight ending in peace after Bercouli sees Vixur's Incarnation was strong enough to deflect his Divine Weapon.
Hero Antagonist: He is on the side of the Dark Territory, but he is not inherently evil, being idealistic and believing in peace.
Heroic Lineage: Zig-zagged. He himself is a heroic individual and it's stated that his father was also a Dark Knight, who establish themselves as more noble than the Dark Territory's other tribes. That being said, he and his family line is still from the Dark Territory, which as a whole is one big Social Darwinist community with no issues with invading and attacking the Human Territory.
Heroic Willpower: Noted for having an especially strong will power that he could use Incarnation strong enough to match a Divine Weapon.
Hope Spot: He had just gotten word of Quinella's death and had considered the possibility of peace with the Human Empire, before Emperor Vecta suddenly appears in the throne room and dashes all his hopes.
Hypocrisy Nod: He acknowledges to Lipia that needing to kill the leaders of the Goblins, Orcs and Dark Mages for the sake of peace with the Human Empire might seem contradictory.
Katanas Are Just Better: His personal weapon is a naturally formed Divine Object akin to the Blue Rose Sword named Oborogasumi. It has the the power of water and, under Perfect Weapon Control that Vixur unintentionally uses, is capable turning its blade into a mist that inflicts slash damage on anything it touches, making dodging the only means of defense.
Kill the Ones You Love: After losing his arm to Bercouli and realizing the effectiveness of Heroic Willpower over instinct, the previous Commander, Vixur's mentor, orders Vixur to duel him to the death so he can impart his own Incarnation onto Vixur, something that upset the young Vixur.
May–December Romance: At 42 years old, he's 17 years older than Lipia.
Minor Major Character: He's the Commander of the Order of the Dark Knights, but gets very little part in the story, being unceremoniously killed off shortly after Vector arrives.
Power Of Hate: Subverted. Under his mentor, the previous Commander of the Dark Knights, he was taught the "Empty Sword", which revolves around detaching yourself from emotion and thought in combat and attacking based solely on instinct. After his Commander loses his arm to Bercouli however, he encourages Vixur to instead to rely on Heroic Willpower in order to best him, with Bercouli commending him for not attacking him with a sword empowered by a desire to kill but instead by gratitude to his predecessors as well as a desire for his successors to succeed, which paved way for his desire for peace with the Human Realm. Double Subverted after Lipia dies, where he's so enraged at Vecta that he ends up activating his Oborogasumi's Memory Release Technique without even knowing how to perform Perfect Weapon Control and, after Fu Za poisons him with an extremely potent poison, he's able to keep going and fuse with his sword to turn into a giant tornado that imprints "death" onto the Fluctlights of anyone it touches to kill them and tear them into nothing. Unfortunately, Gabriel's empty nature means that he only gets absorbed by him.
Pragmatic Villainy:
- While his desire for peace is largely motivated by his Token Good Teammate status, he does have pragmatic reasons behind it as well; if the Dark Territory were to go to war with the Human Empire, they would lose large numbers of their forces just to kill one Integrity Knight and even if they did win, the tribes would start fighting over the spoils and enter a worse version of the Age of the Blood and Iron, which was so bad that even the Social Darwinist members of the Dark Territory opted for a peace treaty before it got too bloody.
- In Rising Steel, he also explains this as why he doesn't kill Lipia in their duel and why he looks down on such ruthlessness; Killing an otherwise Strong and Skilled cadet just because they lost a simple sparring match would only serve to lose the Dark Knights and the Dark Territory as a whole able-bodied soldiers.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Compared to some of the Dark Territories other commanders, Shasta displays himself as this due to not being too obsessed with his realm's social darwinism.
- When Lipia challenged him to a duel around the time they met, he soundly beat and she was ready to Face Death with Dignity. Shasta however states that he has no intention of killing her, as while she did lose she ultimately proved herself to be one of the best Dark Knights he's seen with her skill and power. So instead, he puts her in charge of her own squadron and promotes her to be his advisor.
- When Sylvie and her father attempt to bequeath to them the bone-based Divine Object she found in a cave, he decides to let Sylvie keep the sword under the belief that only it's founder is worthy of using it, encouraging her to train until she's strong enough she's strong to properly wield it.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He tries to kill Vector after finding out Lipia was murdered, he doesn't get very far as he is fatally poisoned, and when he gets a Heroic Second Wind using Incarnation to try again in the last moments of his life (summoning up a tornado around him. However he's unsuccessful in his attempt to kill Vector.
Sacrificial Lamb: He is killed to demonstrate what happens to anyone who tries to defy Vector, as well as to show that Gabriel is so monstrous his soul doesn't resemble a human's.
Scars Are Forever: The prominent scar on Vixur's forehead is an unhealable wound he received in a duel to a death with his master at the latter's request, hoping to impart the knowledge of Incarnation that he learned from his fight with Bercouli onto the young Vixur.
Ship Tease: Had plans of marrying Lipia, just before Vector's arrival.
Stay in the Kitchen: The anime implies that he's a Dark Knight who held back against Fanatio upon learning her gender, and the Bond Among Knights: Dark Territory Event in Rising Steel reveals that while he doesn't view women as weak necessarily, the number of them who take up hand-to-hand combat are so low that he's often surprised to meet one who does.
Token Good Teammate: He is one of the ten lords that rule over the factions of the Dark Territory, but the only one who believes in ideals and peace rather than bloodshed and death like all the other lords. Bercouli, suspecting that he died, doubted that his sudden successor shared his more noble aspects.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He is killed shortly after his debut trying to avenge Lipia's death.
Worthy Opponent: Served as this to Bercouli, being noted as one of the few individuals who was the Integrity Knight Commander's equal. The two always looked forward to battling one another and seeing how much the other had grown.
World's Best Warrior: Aside from Vector, he is quite possibly this for the Dark Territory, being the one individual strong enough to match Bercouli who was the strongest person from the Human Realm save for Quinella herself.

Lipia Zancale (Spoilers)

Lipia Zancale

Voiced by: Sayaka Senbongi (Japanese), Abby Trott (English)

One of the few female Dark Knights and the lover of the Knight's leader, Vixur.

Action Girl: As a high-ranking Dark Knight, she's more than capable of holding her own in battle.
A Day in the Limelight: She gets an event dedicated to her in Rising Steel.
All the Other Reindeer: She wasn't very popular when she was a Dark Knight trainee, with the woman, who largely took to magecraft, picking on her for being a Tomboy and the men believing that she was using her feminine wiles to get by in training.
Badass in Distress: Averted. Dee Eye Ell was apparently planning to kidnap her to use against Vixur, but she never got the chance to due to Vecta logging in.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Rising Steel implies that her feelings for Shasta stemmed from him being the first person in the Dark Territory to actually treat her with respect and recognize her skills in spite of her gender, even making her his adviser and giving her a position of command after dueling her.
Cool Big Sis: To the children at her old orphanage, to which she sent all the money she earned from her Dark Knight duties. In "Eydis and the Orphanage", it's shown they all looked up to her, with Eydis only needing to say they were acquainted for them to treat her kindly.
Dark and Troubled Past: Lipia is an orphan who lost her parents to the Age of Blood and Iron and would have been sold into slavery if the peace treaty between the tribes didn't allow her to go a youth training academy. Rising Steel goes further with this and reveals that prior to becoming Shasta's lieutenant, she went through a difficult life of being bullied and ostracized due to her gender. Lipia would became very bitter with a negative outlook on life, until finally Shasta treated her with respect.
Dragon Rider: We first meet Lipia when she arrives at Obsidia Palace on the back of her dragon. The Cake Timeline reveals that he's called Miokake.
Foil: In Rising Steel, her personal event paints her as one for Fanatio. Along with looking fairly similar with their purple hair and use of lipstick, both have suffered varying degrees of discrimination over their gender not lining up with their being a Knight in the eyes of others, with Fanatio almost always having male opponents holding back against her out of old-school chivalry and Lipia being a target for bullying for both men and women as a trainee, and both have feelings for their respective commanding officers, Lipia being in a relationship with Shasta and planning to marry him and Fanatio having Bercouli's child. However, they're both on opposite sides and while Lipia's issues with her gender appear to diminish over time thanks to Shasta recognizing her talent and supporting her where he can, Fanatio's were left to fester to the point that someone removing her helmet in combat to reveal her face became a Berserk Button and was only resolved much later thanks to Kirito not holding back against her in their duel.
Friend to All Children: Having been one herself, she was the sole proprietor of an unofficial orphanage for children who lose their parents to the Dark Territory's Might Makes Right mindset and run the risk of being sold into slavery, taking care of them until they can enter education themselves.
- The "Eydis and the Orphanage" Event in Rising Steel reveals that the "All" part is quite literal, with the orphanage not just housing human children, but also demi-humans, represented by a goblin boy.
Handicapped Badass: Briefly. When she was a cadet, she was the victim of a "prank" from two Dark Mages that involved her getting poisoned and being attacked by a group of minions. Despite the disadvantage, she's able to kill the minions and threaten the two into curing her and leaving her alone.
Heroic Sacrifice: She makes an attempt on Vector's life in order to maintain the peace. She pays with her own life as a result.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: For the most part, Lipia can come off as assertive and Hot-Blooded, and wasn't so far detached from the Dark Territory's Might Makes Right views with her aggressive nature. However, she's also fiercly loyal to Vixur and she uses all her earnings as a Dark Territory for her orphanage, the children of which look up to her a good deal. Not to mention, her anger seems to be largely reserved to those who she feels slights her and Vixur, such as the Dark Mages from her academy days.
The Lad-ette: Considered this by the other trainees due to her decision to become a Dark Knight instead of a Dark Mage, which caused her to suffer frequent bullying from both the men and women.
- In "Eydis and the Orphanage", Eydis visits her room to find a clue to her last living relatives, she discovers that all that's in there are swords and armor.
Lady of War: An eleventh ranked Dark Knight in the Dark Territory.
May–December Romance: At 25 years old, she's 17 years younger than Vixur.
Minor Major Character: A high-ranking Dark Knight, who quickly meets her end not long after she is introduced.
Noodle Incident: When discussing her and Shasta's deaths, Bercouli brings up an instance of when Alice encountered her. This however isn't further elaborated on.
Off with His Head!: What Vector does after strangling her to death, is to keep her decapitated head frozen as an example to anyone else who would attempt to kill him.
Sacrificial Lamb: She is killed by Vector, shortly after being introduced, to showcase what a monster he is as well as to demonstrate his ability and desire to consume souls.
Secret-Keeper: She keeps her involvement in funding her old orphanage a secret, even from Vixur. Despite this, Vixur already knew of it.
Ship Tease: Had plans of marrying Vixur, just before Vector's arrival.
Stay in the Kitchen: Played With. Part of the reason Lipia faced harassment back in her academy days, and sometimes even in the present, is because she was of the few women who chose to become a Dark Knight, whereas the women mostly became Dark Mages while the Dark Knights largely consisted of men. In this case, it appears to be more "Practice Dark Magic" that "Stay in the Kitchen".
Stern Teacher: According to Shirley, her ward at the orphanage she supported, she was this in regards to teaching her swordsmanship. It's to point that when Shirley takes Sacred Arts lessons form Sonnes, who's infamous as being one in the Cathedral and is basically The Dreaded for Ronye, Tiese and Asuna, she saw her lenient in comparison.
Together in Death: Shirley, ones of the girls at her orphanage, is initially upset at her death, but takes solace with the fact she and Shasta are likely together now.
We Hardly Knew Ye: She is murdered by Vector shortly after being introduced.
Worthy Opponent: Shirley, one of the girls from her orphanage who looked up to her, admits to Eydis herself that Lipia respected her power.

Pugilists

General

One of the five human tribes of the Dark Territory; a group of unarmed martial arts who train themselves to be immune to bladed weapons.

Armor Is Useless: Giving and receiving end. Since they train themselves to be immune to blades, and potentially other weapons, their skin alone are able to resist damage from ordinary blades, meaning armor would only serve to weigh them down. And they, or at least Iskahn, can strike hard enough to shatter even Integrity Knight armor, prompting Bercouli to believe that it's ideal to remove armor for a speed advantage when facing them.
Bare-Fisted Monk: A group dedicated to perfecting the art of unarmed combat.
Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Their Super-Toughness stems from this. Everything they do, from training their young by swinging actual swords at them for them to break with their bare hands to their scant clothing, is to to reinforce the belief that their skin is uncuttable and in turn empower their Incarnation to make this reality.
Innocent Fanservice Girl: Pugilists have very little concept of modesty in their culture and nearly all members of their society wearing just the bare minimum to cover the naughty parts. It's clear there is nothing inherently sexual about this practice unlike the Dark Mage Guild, with their choice of clothing being for solely pragmatic reasons.
Lightning Bruiser: Their training and the application of their Incarnation is with the intention of becoming this; even your run-of-the-mill Pugilist has skin as hard as steel, can strike with enough force to destroy boulders, and they can outrun horses.
Mass "Oh, Crap!": They suffer this after seeing Scheta cut Yotte's arm in half with ease, right before she charges them.
Stripperific: They generally wear very little, most of the men going shirtless and the woman doing the bare minimum of coverage possible. Justified since their training includes making their skin hard enough to resist bladed weapons, so the less they wear the faster move with little loss to defense.
Supernatural Martial Arts: Pugilists like Iskahn are the closest you get in a fantasy-themed world. They have mastered the art of unarmed combat, but achieved incredible feats such as making their skin so tough they become immune to blades, as well as being superhumanly strong to throw boulders with ease or leap across chasms.
Super-Toughness: Arguably the most dangerous thing about them is their ability to No-Sell attacks from most bladed weapons, which puts the Human Army, whichlargely relies on the use of swords, at a disadvantage against them.
Tyke Bomb: All Pugilists started training at the age of five with the task of breaking a cast-iron knife with their bare fists, with the weapons becoming larger and of higher quality as they progress.
Worf Had the Flu: Alongside the Dark Knights, a portion of them are dealt with quickly and brutally as the war begins to approach the climax by both the Integrity Knights and the mysterious Red Knights summoned by Vecta. However, this battle comes off the heels of them being forced to cross a large chasm using tightropes, leaving them all tired and unable to properly utilize their Incarnation to effectively use their iron skin to fight back.

Iskahn

Voiced by: Yashiro Taku (Japanese), Khoi Dao (English), Erick Padilla (Latin American Spanish)

The Tenth Champion of the Pugilist Guild and its current Leader. Forms a Rivalry with Sheyta over the course of the war.

Amazon Chaser: After the war he enters a relationship with and later marries Sheyta, the Integrity Knight's greatest swordswoman and the Worthy Opponent he spent his life searching for.
Anti-Villain: He is not evil, even though he was on the opposing side to the heroes at first and is an unscrupulous Blood Knight. He later pulls a Heel–Face Turn and sides with the Human Empire completely. That said, he was fully willing to plunder and loot the Human Empire, had the Dark Territory been victorious.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He's the Tenth Champion of the Pugilist Guild and the current Leader, meaning that he's in charge by virtue of being the strongest among them. This certainly shows when he fights Sheyta, as he's the only Pugilist she fights who doesn't lose a limb to her Absurdly Sharp Blade despite going through the same blade immunity training as the others. After the War ends with Vecta's defeat, he ends being the Supreme Commander of Dark Territory, effectively the closest you can get to being the King, due to the fact that all his competition for the spot are either dead^note or too weak to challenge him for it^note Lilpilin and Lengyl.
Awesomeness by Analysis: He's fairly skilled at reading potential opponents.
- He notes that Giants are likely extremely slow despite their great endurance and power based on his impression of Sigurosig, seeing Goblins, Orcs and Ogres as Unskilled, but Strong, the Assassins wouldn't be able to do anything to him since they'd need to pierce his skin to inject their poison, and recognizing that while he could take on Dee Eye Ell in close-quarters he'd be vulnerable to her magic.
- He's quick to realize just how skilled Shasta is upon first meeting him, realizing that every movement he makes seems deliberate.
- While he underestimates Sheyta at first due to her unorthodox sword, after trading blows with her he's able to quickly deduce that she's holding back her true power.
Berserk Button: As per his beliefs, a shown in Would Hit a Girl, he doesn't like being looked down on or underestimated for any reason. After Sigurosig shoves rudely shoves past him while shrugging him off as a mere human and Dee Eye Ell treats him as Just a Kid, he gets annoyed to the point that he lashes out at Lilpilin when he offers to show him where the meeting room is.
Bare-Fisted Monk: Like all other Pugilists, he's a specialized hand-to-hand combatant and he's able to use it effectively against more traditional soldiers with a combination of skill and the Pugilists' training to resist bladed weapons.
Be Careful What You Wish For: Like most of the Ten Lords barring Vixur and possibly Furgr, Iskahn was all for the war since he saw it as an opportunity to fight strong opponents and for his guild to engage in honorable combat. With Vecta at the helm though, he quickly learned that War Is Hell.
Big Damn Heroes: He saves Asuna from being overwhelmed by a group of American players to ask for her aid in creating a bridge for his Pugilists, after which they pull this for the Human Army as whole.
Birds of a Feather: He shares a Blood Knight personality with his opponent and later wife, Sheyta.
Blood Knight: The only real stake he has in the war is to fight strong opponents, namely the Integrity Knights he's heard so much about.
- When questioning Sylvie and Shirley's capabilities during Tolgash's uprising, he feels compelled to engage them in a quick spar when Kirito vouches for them, only for Dampa to stop him with some difficulty.
Brutal Honesty: Dampa describes this as one of his virtues, and it shows with how he trains his fellow Pugilists, namely by bluntly telling them that they're disgraces as warriors if they display fear, and by making his disdain for someone for any reason no secret, such as openly stating that he thinks the Council of Ten is full weaklings and fools and showing open disdain for Vixur's pacifistic nature. Vixur also writes him off as the one who sent an assassin to kill Vecta, not knowing the assassin was Lipia, since such a dishonest tactic wouldn't suit him.
Challenge Seeker: Not unlike Goku, he's a martial artist who lives only to fight stronger opponents and is otherwise uncaring about anything else in the war.
Childhood Friends: With his right-hand man, Dampa.
Child Prodigy: Implied in Rising Steel. Even before his first real duel, pretty much everyone in the Pugilist guild all but knew that he'd be the next Champion of their guild.
Combat Pragmatist: He won't hold back against any opponent, whether they're a woman or a child, and he's also willing to use kicks and and headbutts in a fight.
Defector from Decadence: Watching his fellow Pugilists die dishonorable deaths as a result of Vector's ruthless Uriah Gambits and then witnessing him abandoning the Dark Territory army to capture Alice and flee is what ultimately motivates him to turn on the Dark God.
Don't Call Me "Sir": Averted. While he's initially bothered by Dampa calling him "Champion" instead of Iskahn due to his newfound authority, he lets it slide due to knowing how stubborn he can be.
Doting Parent: In what you wouldn't expect from someone like Iskahn, he's very doting and affectionate to his daughter Leazetta, even using baby talk when bringing her food.
Eye Scream: Like Eugeo and Alice before him, he manages to bypass the Seal of the Right Eye so he can betray Vector. Unlike Eugeo and Alice however, he does it by tearing his eye out with his bare hand, which has a lesser effect than actually powering through it entirely.
Everyone Has Standards:
- Part of the reason for his dislike and later betrayal of Vecta stems from how he believes how a king should lead his people, believing that one should value the lives of those under their command and bring them prosperity, which stands at odds with Vecta's lack of value for life and We Have Reserves mentality.
- While Iskahn, and his guild has the viking like mindset that dying in battle is an honorable end, even being enraged when Sheyta merely disarmed his fellow Pugilists instead of outright killing them, he actually wants them to see battle and disapproves of them dying dishonorably, such as when Vecta has them cross a chasm Asuna created with ropes led to several of them either falling to their deaths or being slaughtered like cattle by the Human Army due to being too tired to fight back, all while he's Forced to Watch and can only apologize to them and contemplate how he's supposed to tell their families that they didn't die fighting.
Fan of Underdog: When Vixur moves to kill Vecta, Iskahn secretly roots for him due to his respect for him as a fellow warrior and martial artist.
Fire Balls: His Incarnate Skill as [The Guide to the Future] Iskahn has him start by punching a fireball at the opponent.
Fish out of Water: "Journey to the Future" largely consists of him expressing bewilderment and amazement at the Human Empire's bounties, such as fields of wheat and lakes.
Friendly Rivalry: One-sided example. Shasta views him as a Worthy Opponent and is generally quite cordial with him, but Iskahn tends to express more disdain towards him due to his hesitance to fight and kill. Despite this he does respect him for his combat capabilities, and even secretly roots for him when he makes an attempt on Vecta's life.
- He also forms one with Kirito during the Peace Talks between their realms, literally opening their meetings by getting into a duel with to see if he's worthy of his position. Ever since, the both of them have apparently always test each other's strength whenever they meet again, such as during Moon Cradle.
A Good Way to Die:
- When he think he's about to be overpowered and killed by Scheta during their duel, he remarks that it's not a bad way to go.
- When he and his guild tired and heavily injured from fighting off all the American Players, he notes that it's not the worst way he could have gone out and that he can face the previous Champion with pride, his only regret being that he won't be able to start a family with Scheta. Thankfully, Leafa and Orcs arrive just in time.
Handicapped Badass: Tearing out his own eye does nothing to stop him from kicking ass.
Height Angst: Implied. In Rising Steel, a conversation on the homescreen has him accusing the player of thinking he's short.
Heel–Face Turn: Downplayed. While he'd have to go back to fighting them should Vecta order it, he's quick to use Loophole Abuse to ally himself and his guild with the Human Army to deal with the army of Foreign Players.
Heel Realization: A minor one in "Journey to the Future", seeing as he's had a Heel–Face Turn at that point. But upon seeing the wheat fields in the Human Empire, he seems to realize that even if the Dark Territory won the war and was able to loot the Human Empire for its resources, their lack of knowledge in farming would have led all the food and such running out eventually, which would put them back to square one.
He Knows Too Much: Played for Laughs. When he enters Leazetta's room spewing Baby Talk on his way to give her some milk, not knowing that Kirito and Ronye were there, he states that he now has to pound the memory right out of Kirito's head. Though after Kirito manages to block his punch, he pretty much shrugs the whole thing off and commends him for not having lost his touch, much to Scheta's exasperation.
Henpecked Husband: Implied. When discussing Oroi's murder, he states that the Law of Power combined with his position as Supreme Commander means that there's only one person who can't ignore his orders, that being Kirito. Scheta then states "two people", to which he corrects himself.
Heroic RRoD: Turns out that even for him, fighting an entire army of American Players is way too much to handle, and he suspects that he, his guild and Sheyta won't be able to survive the next wave of them.
Hidden Depths: While his general Hot-Blooded behavior might make you think he's just some Dumb Muscle, Iskahn is actually extremely sharp, being able to read most of his opponents and he's smart enough to find loopholes in Vecta's orders that allow him to turn against him. He also takes his role as the Pugilist Champion^note Effectively their leader, very seriously, believing that a leader is duty-bound to lead and guide his people to prosperity, which he does by making himself every trainees first real dueling opponent to give them a taste of the power of the Champion so they'd have something to strive for.
Hot-Blooded: He's loud and eager to fight. He can even set his fists on fire.
In a Single Bound: Subverted. He tries to jump over the chasm Asuna made so he can organize a truce with her, but he starts falling mid-leap. He's only able to cross because Dampa sacrifices his arm to throw a boulder for him to propel himself off of.
Insane Troll Logic: He expresses to his Childhood Friend and right-hand man Dampa that the reason he keeps training to become stronger is to weed out those who can't beat him so that all who remains is someone who has the best chance of killing him. When Dampa expresses worry of this ambition since the Pugilists can't continue without their Champion, he then comments that he wants to weed that person out so he can kill them before they can kill him. When Dampa expresses his confusion, Iskahn admits that not even he knows what he's going on about.
Instant Expert: Despite the lack of water in the Dark Territory making it something he's never done before, he's not only able to quickly pick up on how to swim, but he's able to beat Kirito in a race across a large lake, which he attributes to how much more muscle he's got.
Irony:
- At the beginning of the war, Ishkahn is among the most enthusiastic to take part due to his guild's dedication to combat. By the end of the war, with him now in charge of the Dark Territory by virtue of being the strongest surviving Tribal Lord, he's the one who willingly signs the peace treaty with the Human Empire to end the war.
- Rising Steel reveals that his first meeting with Lilpilin didn't exactly go well, having lashed out at him when he offered to show him where the meeting room was which Iskahn viewed as Lilpilin not taking him seriously due to all the other Tribal Lords he met at that point generally being disrespectful due to his race or age. During the war, it's the Orcs led by Lilpilin and Leafa that come to the aid of his guild when they're being overwhelmed by the American Players and come Moon Cradle, their respective tribes are practically Best Friends.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: His Childhood Friend Dampa describes him as such, and it shows with his general Hot-Blooded demeanor, the lack of respect he shows to people he views as weak or cowardly, and starting off as gruff. He also demonstrates a sense of honor due to his warrior's pride and will show respect to those who have earned their place as a Worthy Opponent. He even ends up pulls becomes a staunch ally of Kirito and the Human Realm and he's actually very dedicated to leading the Pugilists, wanting to make them stronger and showing disdain to anyone he believes insults them. For instance, he shows outrage at Scheta attacking them non-lethally instead of killing them since he believes it insults their pride as warriors. He doesn't seem to like being seen as this though, as he expresses when Dampa calls him as such.
Iskahn: "I'm kind? Gross! You trying to insult me, jackass?!"
Loophole Abuse: After his Heel–Face Turn, he avoids defying Vecta's of "don't cross the ropes and oversee the army getting across", by simply leaping across and asking Asuna to make a bridge for them. He then takes advantage of the fact that they weren't given any information on the Foreign Players and no direct orders to attack the Human Army, likely due to Vecta using them as bait instead of an attacking force, to pull an Enemy Mine with the latter to deal with the former.
Love at First Punch: The Light Novel implies that he started falling for Sheyta after their first fight. The anime has him pretty much confirm it, as he says he would have loved to form a family with her, which she reciprocates.
Lightning Bruiser: He's lightly armored and quick, can kick with enough force to utterly destroy a boulder and he's only known member of his guild who can resist slashes from a sword literally designed to cut through anything.
Meaningful Name: Under the Underworld's traditional naming convention, which certain factions in the Dark Territory utilize themselves, Iskahn's name expresses a wish for him to have Sincerity(I), Zeal(K) and Benevolence(N), which fits with his blunt and passionate nature, along with his desire to lead his people to greatness and Hidden Heart of Gold.
Might Makes Right: A very strong believer in this. To him nothing matters more than becoming the strongest and finding a Worthy Opponent.
- When he first meets Kirito for the Peace Talks between their realms, his first order of business is challenging Kirito to a duel to see if he's worthy of his position.
- He does to the same to Eydis when she offers her help in dealing with a Giant rebellion to test if she's capable of leaning the Dark Knights. Though Scheta quickly accuses him of just wanting a fight.
Not Distracted by the Sexy: He doesn't seem to care much for a woman's physical appearance. When both a female Pugilist, the opponent of his first duel, and Dee Eye Ell point out their Stripperiffic outfits in an attempt to throw him off, he basically shrugs it off. This isn't the case with Scheta however, who notes that he seems to have become "softer" after the Clothing Damage he inflicted on her, which he himself is confused by.
Papa Wolf: He can only be assumed to be in a state of Tranquil Fury when Leazetta is kidnapped.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Iskahn is by no means short, but among the other members of the Dark Territory and even among the Pugilists there are many who surpass him in height. Doesn't stop him from being the World's Strongest Man among the Dark Territory though.
Playing with Fire: His incarnation tends to be represented by a flaming Battle Aura surrounding his fists. His insignia, and by extension that of his guild, even appears to be a flame with a diamond shape in the center.
Proud Warrior Race Guy: Iskahn is very proud of his tribe's warrior heritage, arguably taking the Underworld's Might Makes Right ideals the most seriously and seeing no qualms with himself or any of his fellow Pugilists dying so long as it's in honorable combat. It's even to the point that, when Scheta opts to simply disarm his fellow Pugilists instead of killing them, he's more insulted than grateful.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Displays this as the new ruler of the Dark Territory.
- He readily agrees to Kirito's request for Eydis to accompany him back to the Dark Territory as an envoy, and he goes as far as to give him a passport to keep more cautious Dark Territory residents off her back and even some money to buy food. Also, while he does state multiple times that he dislikes Lengyl, he does seem to be willing to give him a chance to appease for the Commerce Guild sticking around with him in charge.
- After Leazetta is kidnapped and the two soldiers who were guarding her room offer their heads in repentance, he spares them and says they need all the help they can get to find the kidnapper.
Sickeningly Sweethearts: Played With. It'd be hard to call him and Scheta this, but Eydis seems to see him praising her strength and combat ability as this, such as when he compared the two after she complained about all the walking they were doing to Obsidia Castle or later in "Peace Treat" where he claims Shceta's swordsmanship is better than Scheta.
Eydis: Um... could you please stop gushing about your lady?
Star-Crossed Lovers: Downplayed. They don't enter a relationship until after the war ends, but he and Scheta are forced to deal with the Giant's rebelling in opposition of their marriage and the peace treaty.
Strong and Skilled: Along with the Super-Strength and Super-Toughness, Iskahn is a skilled enough hand-to-hand fighter that he can keep pace with Scheta, who's established as one of the Integrity Knight's best swordsman.
Super-Toughness: While all Pugilist have trained to be immune to blades through sheer force of will, Iskahn in particular stands out since he's the only one of them capable of resisting sword strikes from Sheyta, who was previously cutting through his fellow Pugilists with ease. It's also mentioned that even his eyeballs can withstand a two-millimeter blade.
Super-Senses: Good enough to detect Dee Eye Ell trying to spy on him before his first Council Meeting.
Surrounded by Idiots: Expresses this in regards to most of the Council of Ten, recognizing that their "meetings" is basically each of the tribe leaders boasting about their accomplishments and what they own in an effort to look tough, the only exception being Shasta.
A Twinkle in the Sky: His Incarnate Skill as [The Guide to the Future] Iskahn has him finish things by delivering an uppercut that reduces his opponent to this.
Underestimating Badassery: When they first encounter her, he and his fellow Pugilists don't think much of Sheyta due to her lithe figure and her sword's absurdly thin blade. Then they learn that she's a powerful killing machine with an Absurdly Sharp Blade.
- Before an encounter with Shasta at his first Council of Ten meeting, Iskahn didn't seem to think much of the Human Territory as warriors, going so far as to claim that none of them picked up a sword before. Not only is swordsmanship a large part of their culture, but the Empire's swordsmanship academies have nurtured the talents of various skilled fighters and, as Shasta tells him, they have the Integrity Knights defending their realm and single-handedly preventing the Dark Territory with their mere existence. Needless to say, he drops some of this by the time of the war and is much more excited at the prospect of fighting them.
Vacation Episode: The "Journey to the Future" Event in Rising Steel is essentially this; in order to encourage denizens of the Dark Territory to engage in tourism in the Human Empire, Iskahn and Scheta decide to have their official honeymoon in the Human Empire in hopes their subjects would follow their example.
Wacky Marriage Proposal: The "Reconciliation and Engagement" Event in Rising Steel reveals that this is how he proposed to Scheta, approaching her during the Peace Talks and telling her that the next time they meet they're getting married, to which she agrees with a smile. The suddenness of this ends up catching other Knights off-guard, even Eydis who actually picked up on their relationship first.
Walking Shirtless Scene: Like the rest of his guild, he never wears a shirt throughout the entire war. Though he's shown wearing a tight-fitting white T-shirt by Moon Cradle.
Worthy Opponent: Finding one is his Goal in Life, with his dedication to becoming stronger being so he can weed out all the people who can't possibly beat him to leave the one person who can and he constantly seeks out powerful opponents to increase his own skills and strength, displaying excitement at fighting Integrity Knights when the War of Underworld begins. Over the course of the war, he finds this person in the form of Scheta, whom he marries after it ends.
World's Strongest Man: He is by far the strongest among the Pugilists and in terms of raw physic strength, possibly the entire Dark Territory save for Vector. Shasta is the only one able to equal him and it isn't until meeting an Integrity Knight does he finally meet his match.
Would Hit a Girl / Would Hurt a Child: Iskahn has no qualms with whether his opponents are men, women, or even if they're children; as long as they're capable of fighting, he's more than willing to take them on. The latter however is more of an Informed Attribute, seeing as his only on-screen opponent who fits either category is Scheta, a female Integrity Knight.
- He expresses this viewpoint to the opponent of his first real duel, an older female Pugilist who complains about how willing he is to attack a woman. He retorts by saying that, as Pugilists, things like gender, age or experience are inconsequential in regards to strength and that underestimating your opponent for any reason is just begging to be killed, expressing that one should always expect their opponent to be powerful.
You Are in Command Now: The War resulted in the deaths of Vecta and nearly all of the Ten Lords, save for Rirupirin (who is busy with the surviving Orcs) and Lengyl (who isn't a fighter). This leaves Iskahn as the ultimate authority of the Dark Territory and takes up the role as the new High Commander.

Dampa

Iskahn's Second-in-Command and Childhood Friend.

An Arm and a Leg: When Iskahn tries jumping the chasm Asuna created In a Single Bound but starts to fall, Dampa tears a massive boulder out of the ground and throws it so Iskahn can propel himself off it, losing his arm in the process. He later loses the other after the Guild and Scheta fought off a group of American Players.
Big Guy, Little Guy: To Iskahn, who he looks more taller and muscular than. Despite this, Iskahn is the stronger, while Dampa serves as his more grounded advisor.
Blood Knight: Tries challenging Kirito to a spar when he visits the Dark Realm in Moon Cradle, only for Kirito to weasel himself out of it and numerous other requests.
Childhood Friend: With Iskahn, who immediately made him his Number Two after he became The Champion.
Eyes Always Closed: His eyes seemingly never open.
Handicapped Badass: Despite losing an arm helping Iskahn, he still joined the other Pugilists and Scheta in fighting off the American Players to keep them from pursuing the human army. Even after losing his remaining arm in that, he's apparently become head of the Pugilists in light of Iskahn being promoted to the lofty position of Supreme Commander of the Dark Territory.
Nice Guy: Eydis describes him as such, citing him as good with words and thoughtful. It was also his idea to give her a passport to her so she'd suffer less harassment, as well as some money so she could buy food and lodging.
Number Two: Is this to Iskahn, often acting as his voice of reason to contrast his Hot-Blooded Blood Knight tendencies.
Shipper on Deck: When Iskahn and Scheta confess their feelings to each other and express regret and not being able to raise a family, he's implied to be approving of the relationship.
Villainous Valor: You'd be hard-pressed to find someone with the sheer, brass balls to put a stop to a fight between Iskahn, the strongest Pugilist in the Guild and his boss, and Scheta, An Integrity Knight who was just cutting through his sword resistant allies with ease.

Yotte

A female Pugilist whose a member of Rabbit Team.

An Arm and a Leg: Half at least. Her attempt at attacking Scheta, who responds by blocking the strike with the Black Lily Sword, leads to her right arm being cleanly cut in half right down the middle.
Cute Little Fangs: Depicted as possessing these in the anime.
Fiery Red Head: She has bright red hair with blond edges.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She's noted to possess a smaller build, though still larger than Scheta, and as a Pugilist it's a given that she's a capable fighter. Just a shame that it was Scheta she was fighting.
Underestimating Badassery: She expresses outrage when Scheta draws the Black Lily Sword and sees how thin and fragile-seeming it is. Then said sword proceeds to split her arm in two.
The Worf Effect: She serves as a prologue to one. The narration concerning them and Bercouli's description go in detail about how Pugilist training made him them impervious to blades due to their skin being as thick as steel. The moment she challenges Scheta however, she's quickly taken out after her arm is split in half, before the Integrity Knight charges the other Pugilists.

Dark Mage Guild

General

One of the five Human Tribes of the Dark Territory; an all-woman group of Dark Arts^note users.

Alpha Bitch: While a degree of Unreliable Expositor may be in play given it's Lipia who thinks this after taking a great deal of bullying from them, she describes the Dark Mages as an organisation that teaches excess instead of discipline, with many being hedonistic and becoming more concerned with their appearances than anything else.
Amazon Brigade: They are a female-exclusive guild, with no known male Daek Mages.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: Dark Mages are extremely prideful about their capacity for Dark Arts, and look down on hand-to-hand combat to the point of bullying any female who joins one of the other factions, who all utilize weapons to an extent. In Unleash Blading however, encountering them as enemies has them serve as rapier units, complete with a pose where they hold a low-level iron rapier. Granted, all of their attacks are magic-based instead of weapon based.
Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Appear to wholeheartedly believe this, to the point that members will be quick to mock and even bully any woman who become Dark Knights instead of Dark Mages, as Lipia can attest to.
The Hedonist: Lipia describes the Dark Mage Guild as a hedonistic group concerned more with personal appearance and pleasure than actual discipline.
He Knows Too Much: Along with anger over Eldrie's death, this is one of the reasons for Alice's attempted genocide of the entire Dark Mage battalion; to prevent the Death Worm Curse from being used ever again.
Hot Witch: Along with them all being woman, their standard uniform consists of dark dresses with prominent Cleavage Windows and their concern over their appearance leads to them all looking fairly pretty.
Hypocrite: They seem to largely look down on female Dark Knights as being mannish for joining a predominantly male organisation and are never short on mocking comments aimed towards them, such as Lipia. This is in spite of the fact that their Dark Arts, which they've otherwise dedicated their lives to the study and advancement of, are believed to have been the creation of the Dark God Vecta, who for all intents and purposes is a male deity.
Mage Species: Dark Mages appear to be born and raised as powerful Sacred Arts users.
Mook Maker: Their study of the Dark Arts have led to the creation of Minions, winged monsters made of clay with poisonous blood that can be sent to attack foes on command.
One-Hit Kill: The Death Worm, a Art of such magnitude that it required 3,000 sacrifices to properly cast, creates an army of sentient worm creatures that attack the nearest living being, aside from the casters, and drains their life until they hit zero.
Royal Rapier: Downplayed in a bit of Gameplay and Story Segregation. Whenever a Dark Mage appears as an enemy in Unleash Blading, they will use the standard pose for rapier units and even be carrying the rapier a unit would use when not equipped with a weapon. However, in line with their canon beliefs, they never use them and rely only of Magic Attacks.
Squishy Wizard: They all consist of powerful mages who can cast powerful and destructive, but their disrespect of weapon-based combat suggests that they're easy to take out in a one-on-one confrontation.
Theme Naming: The named Dark Mages appear to have names that consist of the phonetic pronunciations of three English letters, such as Dee Eye Ell(D, I, L) and Kay Yu Vee (K, U, V).
Villain Decay: By the time of Moon Cradle, the Dark Mage Guild is reeling rather heavily from the war, with most of their high-ranking personnel either missing or dead and the current leader, Kay Yu Vee, being very much an Inadequate Inheritor to Dee Eye Ell, lacking the Dark Arts mastery her predecessor possessed. At most, it's speculated that the higher-ranking mages are in hiding, biding their time.

Dee Eye Ell

Voiced by: Yuko Kaida (Japanese), Kari Wahlgren (English), Rebeca Gómez (Latin American Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dilfull2789475.png

The ambitious and cruel Leader of the Dark Mage Guild, who desires to usurp authority over the Dark Territory and eventually the whole Underworld.

Adaptational Nice Guy: While she's still as bitchy as ever in Last Recollection, she's not the same psychotic Card-Carrying Villain from canon. She even formed an Enemy Mine with the heroes as a result of Gabriel's treachery.
All Men Are Perverts: She appears to believe this, quickly attempting to seduce Gabriel and wrap him around her finger and later "rewarding" Lilpilin for his capture of Leafa and trying to make him more submissive by tearing off Leafa's breastplate to show him a human female body.
Ambition Is Evil: She desires to one day rule over the Underworld
The Archmage: She's a horrendous person, but that doesn't change the fact that she's an incredibly skilled Sacred Arts user, being able to regenerate her limbs, possessing a Life Drain powerful enough to restore herself from basically nothing, and she can create Combat Tentacles and claws for fighting. It's noted that after she died, the Dark Mage guild basically fell apart since the new leader, Kay Yu Vee, was basically a novice compared to her.
An Arm and a Leg:
- She loses both her legs during Vixur's Dying Moment of Awesome. She's able to grow them back by the time the war starts.
- She later loses both of her arms to Leafa before being killed by her.
Back from the Dead: In Integral Factor her ghost somehow makes its way through time into Aincrad, where she confronts Leafa in her younger days, still recognizing her as the Green Swordsman who defeated her.
Bad Boss: She had planned to use the ambient energy from the deceased to power a high level dark magic spell, but gets Alice foils this by absorbing said energy and using channeling that into her own attack. Dee Eye Ell then explains the situation to Vecta, who suggests offering 3,000 sacrifices and while this initially took her by surprise she gleefully carries it out and orders the Orc tribe to offer said sacrifices up. Then after taking said energy to form a high level Dark Sacred Art, which then in turn gets foiled by Eldrie (at the cost of his own life), Alice goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge on the Dark Mage guild. Terrified for her own life, Dee Eye Ell resorts to killing her own surviving mages in order to Life Drain them and secure her own life.
- When Promoted to Playable in Rising Steel, the preview for her Incarnate Skill has her using it against a Dark Mage underling.
Big Bad Wannabe: She's a high ranking figure in the Dark Territory and desires to rule over the whole Underworld, but her plans to actually beat the Human Army all fail miserably.
Berserk Button: As revealed in Last Recollection, while she loves to backstab other people and is proud of it, she really hates being backstabbed, even if the one who did the deed is Gabriel.
Call-Forward: She shows up in Integral Factor as part on an anime tie-in event where she alludes to Leafa being the Green Swordsman who vanquished her.
Card-Carrying Villain: She describes sacrificing 3,000 Orcs to use the Deathworm Curse as "the greatest and most powerful act of terror that anyone has ever seen."
Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Could be seen as one to Chudelkin. Both are Smug Snake Archmages for their respective sides with their great skill with Sacred/Dark Arts, are The Dragons to their respective Big Bad, are Bad Bosses, and both are rather Sadistic and frequently Kick the Dog. However, whereas Chudelkin is a Gonk Napoleon with an obsessive and lustful Undying Loyalty to Quinella, Dee Eye Ell is a Hot Witch (who granted, has her good looks marred by the occasional Nightmare Face) and is not truly loyal to Vecta, instead being a Professional Butt-Kisser trying to gain his favour and take advantage of him so she can take control of the Underworld as its ruler.
Dark Action Girl: She's one vicious and powerful Sacred Arts user.
Dark Is Evil: She's a member from the Dark Territory, is a Dark Mage, dresses in dark colors and is completely selfish and sadistic.
Depraved Bisexual: Implied. When Vecta first logs in, she does what she can to seduce him and wrap him around her finger with little success, and her attempt at Life Draining Leafa contains some sexual undertones, the Anime even making it look like full-on tentacle rape.
Dirty Coward: Dee Eye Ell is an arrogant sadist, but that's only when dealing with people who are supposedly weaker than her. When she's dealing with Emperor Vecta, she becomes a cowardly sycophant, and when Alice launches a retaliatory attack on the Dark Mages after Eldrie's death, Dee Eye Ell drains the life from two of her minions in order to save herself.
Even Evil Has Standards: Subverted. Initially, she seems to be appalled by Vecta's plan to sacrifice 3,000 of his own troops to power a spell to wipe out the enemy, only to grin in delight and go through with the spell with sadistic glee.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: She's completely shocked when Leafa attacks and kills her, a fellow human, to save Rirupirin, who she saw as a lowly Orc. Leafa even lampshades this by correcting her, saying she's actually "cutting down evil to save a human."
Failed a Spot Check: In her panic at the possibility of Outliving Her Usefulness after her two failed attacks on the Human Army, she doesn't seem to question the oddity of Vecta, the Dark Territory's god who supposedly created the Dark Arts she and her guild study and utilize, questioning her on how it works.
Fantastic Racism: It's clear that she looks down on non-human races, with Kosogi suspecting she convinced Vector put his tribe on the front lines as cannon fodder, having no qualms with sacrificing 3,000 orcs to use the Deathworm curse in a last ditch attempt to kill the Human Army and showing disgust when their leader has an emotional farewell with his Implied Love Interest. She pretty much confirms it later on when she orders Rirupirin to strip and run around of all fours since, in her words, "the sight of an animal wearing clothes" disgusts her.
Foil: To Quinella. Both are power hungry leaders obsessed with immortality, proficient in Sacred Arts, dress seductively, and are Bad Bosses. Vashta even believes that with Quinella gone, Dee Eye Ell might attempt to seize control for herself. They even both end up getting their limbs dismembered before being felled by a member of the Kirigaya family. The difference however is Quinella is Faux Affably Evil and able to keep her vileness contained under a Mask of Sanity to more efficiently manipulate others, while Dee Eye Ell is a Card-Carrying Villain who makes no attempts to hide how awful she is.
The Friend Nobody Likes: While it'd be a stretch to call the Lords in the Council of Ten "friends", with the closest being Vixur's mostly one-sided sense of Friendly Rivalry with Iskahn, Dee Eye Ell is widely distrusted by the other members due to her power-hungry and deceptive nature, which makes Vixur and Iskahn especially wary of her, and her Fantastic Racism does her no favors with the Demi-Human members such as Kosogi or Lilpilin.
Gameplay and Story Integration: The Dark Mage's guild is an organization dedicated entirely to the advancement of Dark Arts, and are generally shown to look down on weapon-based combat and those who take part in it, especially if they're women like those in their ranks. While she is designated as a rapier wielder in Rising Steel, she's never actually shown using one, even having unique basic attack where she attacks enemies with Sacred Arts to deal magic damage, whereas every magic unit before her use their equipped weapon for their basic attacks, dealing physical damage.
Hate Sink: Even among the Dark Territory, she's particularly vile. After being devastated that her Dark Mage Guild couldn't cast a Sacred Art due to Alice absorbing all the energy, she reports to Vecta who suggests performing a sacrifice of 3,000 in place of this. While surprised at first, she gleefully orders the Orcs to offer the sacrifices from their people, not caring for their lives in the slightest due to viewing them as lesser beings. Then when Alice comes after a Roaring Rampage of Revenge she kills her own mage underlings to Life Drain them and secure her own life. Later she reveals herself as immensely racist towards all non-human sentient beings, calling the Orcs animals as she did to Rirupirin. The anime also portrays her Life Drain on Leafa as rape via Naughty Tentacles.
The Hedonist: Dee Eye Ell is no different to the rest in this regard, wearing heavy make-up, Stripperific outfit, obsession with eternal youth and immortality.
Hero Killer: Indirect, but her guild's use of the Deathworm Curse causes the death of Eldrie. Unfortunately for her, this was actually part of a Heroic Sacrifice that prevented the worms from killing other Knights. Not only that, it comes back to bite her hard.
Hot Witch: A voluptuously figured woman in a Stripperific outfit, and she certainly lives up to the "Witch" part in both skills and personality.
Humiliation Conga: She loses her legs during Vixur's Roaring Rampage of Revenge, loses all eight hundred of her guild's minions to Bercouli's Perfect Weapon Control trap, loses 30 percent of her Guild and most of the Dark Territory's forces to Alice's giant laser Sacred Art, forced to grovel to Vector for forgiveness, has her attempt to use the Deathworm Curse backfire thanks to Eldrie's Heroic Sacrafice, almost gets killed in retaliation with the rest of her guild by Alice and when it seems she finally makes a comeback by draining Leafa, who's got the Terraria Avatar's infinite life, she gets swiftly killed by her when Rirupirin turns on her.
Hypocrite: She is shocked that another human would attack her to save an Orc, even with the Fantastic Racism aside, this is pretty rich considering she just subjected said human to agonizing pain via Life Drain, so even with Rirupirin completely out of the equation it's still laughable she couldn't understand her victim coming back for revenge.
Immortality Seeker: Dee Eye Ell, in her bid to become empress of the world like Administrator, wishes to attain eternal life and youth, thus giving her ample motive to want to invade the Human Realm and oppose peace, since it'd allow her access to the Central Cathedral and a chance to find out how Quinella achieved it.
It's All About Me: To her, everything exists only to please and benefit her. She will discard her own allies without hesitation, even being willing to kill them to prolong her own life.
Interplay of Sex and Violence: She appears... oddly aroused when she sacrifices 3,000 Orcs to cast the Deathworm Curse to kill the Integrity Knights.
Kung-Fu Wizard: Dee Eye Ell is The Archmage of the Dark Territory, heading the Dark Mage's guild and knowing all manners of spells, including the creation of Minions, a Life Drain, and a spell that conjures a small army of worms that One Hit Kills anyone it attacks. However, when she comes Back from the Dead to attack Leafa and absorb her life, she turns her hands in Combat Tentacles and later Wolverine Claws when Lilpilin attacks her, suggesting she can handle herself in melee combat to an extent.
Life Drain: She knows a Sacred Art that allows her to drain the Life from others and add it to her own. She uses this to survive Alice's Roaring Rampage of Revenge over Eldrie's death and later tries to use it on Leafa's Terraia Avatar, with less successful results.
Ms. Fanservice: Members of the Dark Mage Guild generally Invokes this due to their standard uniform being Mini-Dresses of Power that show off a lot of their cleavage, but Dee Eye Ell takes it up to eleven with her outfit basically being strategically placed bits of cloth that covers her private parts while leaving very little to the imagination, and her heavier use of make-up.
Nightmare Face: Her otherwise attractive features are more often than not marred by her tendency to make these, usually a sharp-toothed sneer or Slasher Smile accompanied by Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises.
Oh, Crap!: A good few times.
- She's able to realize that Vixur's Not Quite Dead and is about to do something, and quickly launches herself away with wind elements.
- At least three over the course of the initial battle with the Human Empire. First when all the minions are killed by Bercouli's pre-emptive memory release attack, then when Alice, having absorbed all the spatial resources, wipes out most of the Dark Territory's forces, and lastly when her use of the Deathworm Curse fails and Alice comes after her and the Dark Mages.
- Her final one occurs when Leafa cuts her arms off to save Lilpilin.
Pragmatic Villainy: When Vixur attacked Vecta, she considered killing him and gaining Vecta's favor but instead opted to watch since either Vixur would get killed and the invasion will go ahead, or he could miraculously kill Vecta but end up tired and injured, allowing her to kill him and assume control.
Professional Butt-Kisser: When Gabriel logs in as Vecta, Dee wastes no time in kissing up to him and trying to gain his favor, immediately offering her guild and even herself to his whims, contemplating killing Shasta when he attacks Vecta to gain the latter's favor, and being quick to grovel before him for forgiveness after most of their forces are decimated with almost nothing to show for it.
- As a homescreen character in Rising Steel, it's implied that she sees the player as Vecta, with her fully exhibiting this attitude to the point that one could mistake her for obsessively loyal servant.
Promoted to Playable: In Rising Steel, she becomes playable as [Fulfilling Life] D.I.L, a Water-Element Break unit bearing a resemblance to [Angel of Death] Subtilizer, with a similar Incarnate skill that deals bonus damage against units with an Incarnate Charge of 150% or over and an Enhance Mode that increases her Break percentage. She differentiates herself however by putting more emphasis on magic-based damage dealing, having a higher MATK stat, her Assault Skill lowering Magic Resistance, and her Enhance Mode buffing her MATK, while her Break move is capable of debuffing an enemy's Charge to further help in Breaking an enemy's Incarnation.
Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: A rare female on female example. The anime scene plays it out with her using worms in place of Naughty Tentacles to subject Leafa (as Terraria) to this, where at least one of said worms is strongly suggested to have penetrated her.
Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains: Whereas the female Integrity Knights wear fulls suits of armour and Asuna, Sinon and Leafa don't show off too much skin as the Three Goddesses, Dee Eye Ell is quite possibly the most scantily-clad character in SAO if you ignore Quinella.
Squishy Wizard: Downplayed. The narration explicitly states that at all times, even when bathing or sleeping, Dee has multiple defensive barriers to protect from all manners of attacks, including magic, thrown weapons, swords and poison, applied to herself at all time. This means that, while an all-out attack from someone sharing her level of priority like another of the Ten Lords can harm her, it wouldn't necessarily be an easy task to fight and kill her in a one-on-one confrontation. This itself serves as a Worf Effect in regards to Vixur fusing with his Oborogasumi in his last moments to take out Vecta, with it being powerful enough to destroy her legs with just a touch, as if the barriers never existed.
Smug Snake: She's incredibly arrogant and sure of herself, never considering that the Integrity Knight's, the reason the Dark Territory never launched a full-scale invasion before Vecta showed, may have a counter measure for anything she throws at them.
The Smurfette Principle: She's the only female member of the Council of Ten, the rest of the guild leaders being male. This could also apply to her guild as a whole, being the only one to consist entirely of women whereas the other guilds are either mixed gender or predominantly male.
Stripperific: Unlike other members of the Dark Mage guild, who wear outfits resembling those of traditional witches, Dee Eye Ell dons a rather risque get-up consisting of black leotard with various holes in it to expose her skin, including ones on her chest and stomach.
This Cannot Be!: Says this practically verbatim when the dark magic she sacrificed 3,000 orcs to cast only manages to kill a single Integrity Knight, who'd performed a Heroic Sacrifice.
Wolverine Claws: She can turn her Naughty Tentacles into these for combat.
Villain Ball: She was all set to make a grand comeback until Lilpilin attacked her to save Leafa. This act of defiance enrages her and prompts her to toss Leafa away so she can kill him, seemingly forgetting that Leafa was regaining all the life she was draining from her. This quickly leads to Leafa getting the drop on the witch and finally killing her.
Villainous Breakdown: She gets quite upset when her strategy is thwarted and Alice devastates the dark mages and ogres.

Minions

Creations of the Dark Mage Guild. Clay Familiars that are capable of following basic commands, namely those to attack others, and can serve aerial harassers or guard dogs.

Airborne Mook: They possess bat-like that allow them to fly in the air.
Animalistic Abomination: Their bodies resemble that of a muscular human, but they also have sandworm-like mouths, bat wings, claws and sharp, pointed tails
Conservation of Ninjutsu: When they first appeared situated on the outside of the Central Cathedral, a few of them gave quite a bit of trouble to Kirito and Alice. When they reappear in the War, Bercouli eradicates 800 minions before any of them get close enough to even pose a threat.
Dumb Muscle: While they are certainly dangerous creatures, they can only accept rather basic commands and are incapable of complex maneuvers. The minions Cruiga made using the goblins he kidnapped are a Subversion; while Ronye and Tiese initially peg them as this like their normal counterparts, Cruiga simply telling them to kill the girls has them utilize a more complex plan of attack, with one guarding the door to keep them from escaping, one confronting them, and the last one guarding Cruiga should they try to attack them.
Familiar: Created to be these by the Dark Mages.
Poisonous Person: It's stated that minion blood is poisonous, and can lead to disease and other symptoms if not cleaned off.
Our Gargoyles Rock: In a dormant state, they will turn to stone until they detect intruders. Fittingly, they're encountered doing this on the Central Cathedral.
Weakened by the Light: Minions are extremely vulnerable to Luminous Elements. This saves Ronye and Tiese when the former activates her Moonbeam Sword's Perfect Weapon Control when surrounded by goblin-minion hybrids, creating a sort of flash-bang effect that sends them reeling.
The Worf Effect: Bercouli is able to kill eight hundred created by the guild during the war by preemptively placing hundreds of suspended slashes at where he predicted they would fly from.

Assassin's Guild

General

One of the five human tribes of the Dark Territory; a group formed of those lacking proficiency in Darks Arts and weaponry, deciding to compensate for their weakness by studying how to create potent poisons.

Ambiguous Gender: As noted by Vecta upon Fu Za's introduction, their cloaks do a good job of concealing the age and genders of their wearers. He even considered ordering Fu Za to lower his hood, but decided against due to assuming it to be part of some assassin code.
Awesome, but Impractical: The guild's poisons are quite possibly the deadliest weapons in the Underworld outside of Sacred/Dark Arts and Divine Objects, with Fu Za describing the one he used on Vixur as being potent enough to use against a Great Land Dragon. That being said, it's also the only weapon they use aside from needles to actually inject them, meaning that not only are they ineffective in a fight with more skilled warriors, but using them against any other tribe's leader will make it obvious that they were the ones who did the deed due to the other tribe's refusal to use poison, meaning they'd likely get killed off in retaliation if they actually tried anything.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: This is something of a problem within the guild, with it not being unusual for a member to try poisoning a higher-up to advance. Fu Za, as leader of the guild, had to become a good judge of character and a Dirty Coward to survive long enough to attempt to kill Vixur.
Crippling Overspecialization: While the guild's poisons are very effective, it's literally the only weapon they use, which would would make them the obvious culprit in any actual assassinations.
Even Evil Has Standards: They are subjected to this, with even most of the Dark Territory, which includes Goblins and a sadistic Dark Mage, looking down on their use of poison due to viewing it as cowardly. This actually works to the Guild's detriment since any assassinations they actually commit in the Dark Territory can be easily traced back to them due to the other tribe's refusal to use poison, which would guarantee bloody retribution if they killed anyone from another tribe.
Master Poisoner: As opposed to magic and weapons, the guild focuses on the creation and use of poison in order to kill their enemies. The guild's efforts even culminated in a poison that could kill a great land dragon with enough time, which Fu Za uses on Vixur.
Stupid Evil: Collectively, the guild decided to make up for their comparative weakness to the other tribes by relying sole on the use of poisons. While under any other circumstances this would be a reasonable decision, it instead becomes this when you take into account that every other tribe in the Dark Territory heavily looks down on poison due to their Social Darwinism, making them the only ones to actually use it. So if they were to say, assassinate the leader of the Dark Knights, they would immediately get wiped off the face of the Underworld by them in retaliation since it'd be extremely obvious who did it. This caused Fu Za to scrap a lot of his plans to actually do this.
Weak, but Skilled: All of those in guild have little to no power in Dark Arts and no capacity for wielding weapons such as swords, the most they can carry being needles and blowdarts, and are utterly unsuited to one-on-one confrontation. However, they are highly skilled in making poisons, with decades worth of study going towards their current concoctions, and they are skilled in espionage.

Fu Za

Voiced by: Koki Harasawa (Japanese), Jon Allen (English)

The Head of the Assassin's Guild.

Adaptational Nice Guy: Zig-zagged. He's still a Master Poisoner assassin who was gonna work for the arc's Big Bad to invade the Human Empire, but his history and grudge against Vixur is Adapted Out meaning that his poisoning of him when he tries to attack Vecta appear less as revenge and more like loyally defending his leader from an attempt on his life.
A Death in the Limelight: We learn about how his guild works, with their focus on poison as opposed to weapons or magic, and his grudge against Vixur right before he dies in Vixur's Dying Moment of Awesome.
Evil Is Petty: His hatred of Vixur stems to losing to him in duels when they were both Dark Knight recruits.
Dirty Coward: The narration explicitly states him to be the most cowardly of the tribal lords, which is what allowed him to survive as leader of guild for so long and to see Vixur's betrayal coming. Case in point; despite his desire for revenge against Vixur, he ultimately scrapped most of his plans to kill him under the realization that he and his guild would be the most obvious culprits, guaranteeing that he'd face repercussions. In the end, he only really chooses to try claiming revenge in a scenario where'd he end up being a Karma Houdini.
Driven to Suicide: He used to be a Dark Knight apprentice who, like others, frequently got bested by Vixur in sparring matches, which led to him trying to toss himself into a river. It fails and he's subsequently found and taken in by the Assassin's Guild.
Opportunistic Bastard: He has made numerous plans to kill Vixur only to scrap them at the realization that the use of poison would make it obvious who killed him, which would garuntee retribution from the Dark Knights. So he immediately makes use of Vixur's attempt to kill Vecta as a basis to kill him without retribution.
Real Name as an Alias: Fu Za is derived from the first two letters of his first and last name, Fuelius Zargatis.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He's one of the three tribal lords to die in Vixur's Roaring Rampage of Revenge.

Commerce Guild

General

One of the five human tribes of the Dark Territory; a group in charge of the collection and selling of goods within the realm.

Intrepid Merchant: The Dark Territory's Commerce Guild made up of various merchants. Although considering the Dark Territory is an infertile wasteland and half of the tribes are apparently self-sufficient creatures, it's a mystery what they actually sell.
Technical Pacifist: Unlike the other Tribes, they have no specialization in combat or killing arts. The closest they have to warriors are mercenaries or infantry borrowed from other tribes.

Lengyl Gila Scobo

Voiced by: Kiyomitsu Mizuuchi (Japanese), Kellen Goff (English), Jorge Roig Sr. (Latin American Spanish)

The Head of Dark Territory's Commerce Guild.

Adaptational Heroism: While in canon he was all for War for Fun and Profit, he's actively working with Shasta to achieve peace with the Human Empire in the Cake timeline, though his exact motives are unknown.
Adaptation Expansion: In the Light Novel and Anime, not much is known about him outside of his role as a member of the Council of Ten and Head of the Commerce Guild. In Rising Steel, he appears as a minor character in the Bonds Among Knights Event and gets a bit more fleshed out, and makes a subsequent appearance in "Eydis and the Orphanage".
Dirty Coward: He's a poor fighter who relies on hired help and flees if things get too dangerous.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He's in a morally grey area at the time, but he's baffled when Eydis refuses his bribe to put in a good word for him to Iskahn for him, due to his belief that "money is power".
Evil Genius: By virtue of being the only non-combatant among the Council of Ten lords, he instead holds power via his mastery of finances within the Dark Territory.
Fatal Flaw: Greed and Pride. In the Bonds Among Knights Events in Rising Steel, he ends up in danger due to his desire for wealth compelling him to do a strange project near the Great Gate, which catches the attention of the Integrity Knights. Then when Bercouli and Eydis attack his camp and express confusion as to who he is, he admits to being a member of the Council of Ten in indignation, which would have gotten him captured or killed by the two if Vixur didn't show up.
Fat Bastard: He's a greedy man with a large gullet.
Four Eyes, Zero Soul: He wears a pair of small glasses and if his reaction to Vecta's speech is anything to go by, he's all for the war.
Non-Action Guy: Vixur notes that he's not made for the battlefield, being the only one of the ten lords who isn't a physical threat.
No-Respect Guy: Kind of inevitable when you're a Non-Action Guy businessman living in a place ruled by Social Darwinism and Might Makes Right. According to Rising Steel, Iskahn and Lilpilin didn't bother inviting him to the Peace Talks, feeling he wouldn't be able to contribute much.
Oh, Crap!: He's quick to panic when he sees Eydis in Obsidia Castle after the war.
Only in It for the Money: Vixur summarizes him as a man driven by profit, even claiming that his motto is "Money is power."
Purple Is Powerful: He dons a purple hat and coat and while he's a complete weakling, he's one of the Ten Lords and likely has power over the Dark Territory's finances.
Screams Like a Little Girl: As Lampshaded by Eydis when she surprises him.
Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Tries to bribe Eydis to put in a good word for him to Iskahn so he can keep his position as head of the Commerce Guild.
Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: When the Dark Knight he hired is defeated and Vixur and Bercouli are about to fight, he wastes no time fleeing.
Slasher Smile: Sports one during Vecta's Rousing Speech.
Small Name, Big Ego: Despite being a Dirty Coward and a Non-Action Guy, he has a rather bloated ego, even claiming to Eydis that if anything were to happen to him, all five races would be up in arms, only for Iskahn to confirm that they wouldn't.
The Unfettered: Vixur describes him as someone who, despite his weakness compared to the other tribal leaders, will do anything for a profit.
Unwitting Pawn: It's implied that his role in the Bond Among Knights Events in Rising Steel was him acting as a proxy for Dee Eye Ell. Whether it was an Uriah Gambit or part of a larger scheme by the witch is never explained.
War for Fun and Profit: Vixur writes him off as the one who tried to assassinate Vecta, not knowing Lipia was the assassin, because of this, stating that the war gave him a good chance to turn in a profit. After Iskahn tells him about the Peace Treaty with the Human Empire, he's not exactly thrilled.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Despite not being among the casualties of Vixur's Roaring Rampage of Revenge, he never appears thereafter. It's likely that he, not being a fighter, stayed behind and took charge of the Dark Territory Army's supplies.

Orcs

General

One of the five demi-human tribes in the Dark Territory; a warrior race of Pig Men that, alongside Goblins, serve as basic infantry.

Heal Thyself: When they appear as enemies in Unleash Blading, they can eat what appears to be an apple to heal themselves and apply a Counter-Attack status.
Informed Deformity: Despite the views of the other tribes, it's hard to see what exactly makes them "ugly". While Orcs as a whole are a race of Pig Men, that's really the worst thing about them appearance-wise, at worst looking like somewhat short and obese humans with large ears and pig noses. And while this could be seen as Deliberate Values Dissonance between the real world and the Underworld, Gabriel, being from the real world himself, going on an internal tirade about how ugly Orcs are, claiming they seemed designed to define the word "hideous", enforces this viewpoint further in spite of the fact that he just laid eyes on Ogres, large hairy Wolf Men, and goblins, green-skinned creatures with yellow eyes with black pupils, sharp teeth and otherwise rough and unflattering features.
Our Orcs Are Different: Zig-zagged. They actually return to the roots of a traditional revisionist orc appearance of being a humanoid pig, contrasting the influx of the more popular modern Tolkienesque depiction which makes orcs interchangeable with goblins. In spite of this, they still differ from their classic orc counterparts by having having human-level intelligence, being a Proud Warrior Race, and with females in their army's ranks.
Pig Man: Orcs in the Underworld bear a resemblance to pigs, which is why they're usually viewed as ugly by the humans.
Red Shirt Army: Gabriel, in his infinite callousness, effectively shrugs them off as this due to his basic understanding of RPG trends and out of disgust for their appearance. This is likely why he chose them to provide 3,000 of their troops to sacrifice for Dee Eye Ell's Death Worm Curse.

Lilpilin

Rirupirin

Voiced by: Jun'ya Enoki (Japanese), Aleks Le (English), Alejandro Orozco (Latin American Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rilpirinfull2789478.png

The Chief of the Orcs.

Arch-Enemy: Dee Eye Ell quickly becomes one for him. The Dark Mage was responsible for killing 3,000 of his people, including the love of his life, all to make up for the Dark Mage's loss of mana. Then he meets Leafa, the first human who has ever been nice to him in his life, to which Dee Eye Ell shows up and Life Drains her, then defaming and slandering his entire race by insinuating them as animals wearing human clothing, and then goes with the ultimate humiliation by goading him into stripping naked and snorting like a pig in exchange for an irrefusable offer. She is so detestable that Rirupirin manages to break the Seal of the Right Eye to attack her and save Leafa.
Because You Were Nice to Me: His reason for saving Leafa from Dee Eye Ell is because she was the first human he's met who didn't react to him, and by extension his people, with disgust and revulsion.
Defector from Decadence: Along with the above, he was motivated to try and kill Dee Eye Ell because of her Fantastic Racism towards him, and likely due to the fact that she ordered 3,000 of his people killed
Despair Event Horizon: Dee Eye Ell, under Vecta orders, has 3,000 of his people to be used as sacrifices for the Dark Mage guild, including the love of his life. With no choice in the matter he watches in horror as his fellow Orcs all die and with nothing he can do.
Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: The official English translation of the light novels renders his speech as this.
Eye Scream: He becomes the fourth person to break the Seal of the Right Eye, defying DIL's orders and attacks her after she Life Drains Leafa.
Freudian Excuse: Unlike most of the Dark Territories monsters, such as the Goblins and the Giants who are Always Chaotic Evil, Rirupirin has a legitimate reason to hate humans and want to kill them. When he was born, he was praised by his people as the most beautiful of the Orcs, to the point where his name had three Rs, which signify beauty in the Underworld. Upon his first interaction with humans however, he quickly learned that his people were considered ugly by them, essentially shattering his worldview.
Heroic Willpower: Like Alice and Eugeo, he's able to break through the Seal of the Right Eye, his eye exploding in the process, so he can attack Dee Eye Ell and save Leafa.
Informed Attribute: Being the leader of the Orcs and going by how the Dark Territory operates, it's safe to assume that this is because he's the strongest among them. Despite this, we never see his combat abilities aside from a failed attempt at attacking Dee Eye Ell.
Informed Attractiveness: He's noted to be the most beautiful Orc, hence the Meaningful Name. However, aside from his braided blond hair, there's not many discernible differences between him and other Orcs, sharing much the same physical characteristics as them.
I Owe You My Life: To Leafa. She saved not just the lives of him and his people, but also their souls, teaching them they are just as important as every other race with her friendly attitude.
Meaningful Name: His name possesses three Rs, which under the Underworld naming convention^note means "Beauty". This shows that he was viewed as the most beautiful Orc upon birth.
Pet the Dog: Despite his hatred of humans being implied to have been with him for a while, he offers to show Iskahn to the meeting room when he comes to his first Council of Ten meeting. Sadly for him, Iskahn wasn't in the best mood at the time and rudely brushes him off.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: He has the guts to talk back to Dee Eye Ell when she orders him to offer 3,000 of his people to be sacrificed by claiming they came to fight, not to pay for her failure. He only relents when she says that it's Vecta's orders.
Spell My Name With An S: The official translations spell his name as Lilpilin. This manages to avoid an Adaptation Induced Plothole, since both "L" and "R" are vowels used to indicate beauty, thus allowing him to keep his Meaningful Name.
Stout Strength: Implied. As an Orc he's rather port-bellied, but he's likely a strong and able warrior if he's the leader of the Orcs.
Technical Pacifist: In "Budding Friendship", he claims that while Orcs aren't cowards, they oppose needless war. While his involvement in the War of Underworld was partially motivated by his dislike of humans, it did also seem to be for the purpose of helping his people by giving them more land and food.
Took a Level in Kindness: His encounter with Leafa have given him a much more open mind in regards to humans, being willing to go along with Iskahn leading the Dark Territory and his village openly welcoming Kirito in "Budding Friendship".
Tragic Bigot: A lot of his hatred towards humans is because of the heavy amounts of discrimination his kind faces from humans, such as the fact that his and the other Demi-Human races are essentially seen as expendable cannon fodder compared to the human dominant tribes like the Dark Knights and Dark Mages.
Tragic Keepsake: He managed to find Lenju's earing in the area where she and his people were sacrificed.

Lenju

Voiced by: Saori Onishi (Japanese), Stephanie Southerland (English)

A Commander in the Orc Army, and Rirupirin's Childhood Friend.

All for Nothing: What makes her death more tragic is that it ultimately amounted to nothing, since Eldrie performed his own Heroic Sacrifice to prevent the Death Worm Curse from harming the Decoy Force. It would have also been this in long-term since Vecta, actually Gabriel, was planning to destroy the Underworld anyway.
Childhood Friend Romance: She and Rirupirin apparently played together often as children, and Implied to have had feelings for each other.
Cool Horse: When she leads 3,000 Orcs to be sacrificed, she's atop a horse.
Go Out with a Smile: Her last action before dying as a sacrifice to the Dark Mages is to smile at Lilpilin.
Heroic Sacrifice: Well it's a matter of perspective really, but she leads the 3,000 sacrificial Orcs to the Dark Mages' magic circle so that they, herself included, can be used in the Death Worm Curse against the Human Army. However, considering the Dark Territory is an infertile wasteland and Orcs, like all demi-Humans, are effectively second-class citizens, this was likely done with the Noble intent of trying to help her race.
The Lost Lenore: Becomes this for Lilpilin when she offers to lead the sacrifices for the Dark Mages. He even organizes for a memorial statue of her to be built alongside the one for Leafa.

Morikka the Foot Harvester

Morikka

An Orc warrior. He was among the demi-human forces that attacked Rulid Village at the beginning of War of Underworld.

Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: An large, muscular Orc commander wielding a massive axe with one hand.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Alice makes quick work of him thanks to her Osmanthus Blade's Memory Release.
Collector of the Strange: If his Red Baron title is to be believed, he seemed to make a habit of taking the feet of his victims as trophies.
Fiery Redhead: Unleash Blading depicts him as possessing a red mohawk
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Unleash Blading depicts him as possessing a scar over his right eye.
Muscles Are Meaningful: An Orc platoon leader wielding a large axe, and he appears more visibly muscular than most Orcs in Unleash Blading.
Red Baron: The Foot Harvester.
Spell My Name With An S: Unleash Blading spells his name with two "Cs" as opposed to two "Ks".

Giants

General

One of the five demi-human tribes of the Dark Territory; a tribe of towering behemoths who pride themselves on being stronger than humans.

Chained by Fashion: Many of their warriors appear to don chains on their torsos.
One-Hit Polykill: A victim of this at the hands of Fanatio, who ends up shooting through an entire row of them while trying to get Sigurosig with her Heaven Piercing Blade.
Our Giants Are Bigger: They look a lot less like big humans than traditional giants, with more darker almost reptilian skin, making them more resemble traditional fantasy ogres. Also aside from Sigurosig himself, most of them don't tower over the humans like an SAO Floor Boss would.
Might Makes Right: They're stated to arguably take this the most seriously of any of the tribes. The moment a giant is born, they're expected to compete in competitions of strength and courage to properly establish a pecking order among them that's even stricter than the Dark Knight's.
Pride: A giant's defining characteristic is their inherent belief that they're stronger than any human, and that they can easily kill one in a one-on-one confrontation. It also creates a drive to be seen as the strongest and prevent other races a chance to distinguish themselves in battle.

Sigurosig

Voiced by: Takanori Hoshino (Japanese), Brook Chalmers (English), Raúl Solo (Latin American Spanish)

The Leader of the Giant Tribes.

The Berserker: After he suffers a Logic Bomb, as stated below he goes on rampage and slaughters anyone in his way, even his fellow giants, and the only things out of his mouth are enraged yells and screams to kill.
Back for the Dead: He's brought back as Minion by Carver for Tolgash's plans to conquer the Dark Territory. He's later killed once again by Eydis, but remade by Carver and summoned to fight Kirito and Sylvie, who subsequently kill him for good.
Blood Knight: Being a giant, his main desire to kill and is quite eager to attack the Human Forces.
Came Back Wrong: In "The Uprising Begins" in Unleash Blading, he's brought back to life by Carver using Minion Clay. Unlike the Emperors however, he's merely brought back as soulless puppet that only knows how to fight and give basic commands that are fed to him.
Fantastic Racism: As part of his belief that he's stronger than all humans, he's incredibly rude and disrespectful towards them, such as when he rudely shoved past Iskahn when he came by for his first council meeting.
Half the Man He Used to Be: Fanatio kills him by cutting him down the middle with a large Sword Beam.
Hero Killer: By killing Dakira, he invokes the first Integrity Knight casualty in the war.
Killer Bear Hug: His revived minion form is able to grab Eydis in one of these and attempts to crush her to death before Shirley hits her with a Luminous element.
Logic Bomb: Like Raios, Sigurosig suffers this when he finds himself afraid of Fanatio, a human, after she murders a great number of his people in one shot of her Heaven-Piercing Blade, a fear that contradicts his preconceived idea that he was stronger than any human and that they are afraid of him. Unlike Raios though, instead of causing his Fluctlight to collapse and kill him, he instead turns into The Berserker and goes around killing enemy and ally alike.
Meaningful Name: His tribe utilizes the naming convention utilized by the Human Empire, though with a Dark Territory twist, with Sigurosig's name having two Ss for "agility", two Gs for "ferocity", and a lone R for "fearlessness".
Supernatural Fear Inducer: Along his turning him into The Berserker, his Fluctlight breaking as a result of the aforementioned Logic Bomb also causes a direct effect on Fanatio's own Fluctlight, paralyzing her with fear. If it wasn't for Dakira Taking the Bullet for her, Fanatio would have been killed.
Sympathy for the Devil: During her and Kirito's fight with his second revived form, Sylvie can only express pity towards him for being used as a puppet.
Traumatic Super Power Awakening: The intense fear he feels for Fanatio after she kills an entire row of his people with one attack turns him into The Berserker and grants him a Supernatural Fear Inducer to use on her.
Underestimating Badassery: Sigurosig is a being who believes he's stronger than all humans, including Iskahn and the Integrity Knights. This ends up causing him to have an existential crisis when Fanatio, one of the latter, nearly kills him and several of his people with one shot of her Heaven-Piercing Sword.
Weakened by the Light: His revived form, being made of Minion clay, is naturally weak to Luminious Elements. This allows Shirley to save Eydis from him when he tries giving her a Killer Bear Hug, and clues in Eydis on how to finish him off.

Ogres

General

One of the four demi-human races of the Dark Territory; a group of Wolf Men who, along with their claws and teeth, specialize in the use of wrist-mounted crossbows.

Bow and Sword in Accord: Bow and Claw, to be more accurate. Along with the obvious features that come with being Wolf Men, which they can use to slash at opponents without a sword, Ogre soldiers also specialize in the use of wrist-mounted crossbow to fight at a distance with.
Our Ogres Are Hungrier: One of the most drastically different Ogre interpretations in fiction, resembling a Wolf Man rather than giant humanoid reptilian creatures.
Wolf Man: Ogres in the Underworld bear resemblance to giant, humanoid wolves.

Furgr

Voiced by: Daichi Endo (Japanese), Armen Taylor (English)

The Chief of the Ogres.

Alas, Poor Villain: He dies trying to capture Alice so that the war could end quickly and his people could get fertile land to farm and raise animals on. Alice even takes pity and, after killing him in self-defense, uses a wind Sacred Art to spread his remains to the fields he wished for his people.
Made of Iron: Impressively enough, he appears to be the only survivor of Alice's Sacred Art Attack, albeit heavily injured in the process.
Noble Demon: While he's not willing to go the peaceful route like Vixur, his motive for fighting the war is arguably the most noble of the tribal lords, the others fighting either for the sake of it, to pillage the human Empire, or simply to attain more power. Also unlike the other lords, who seem to enjoy every second of it, he seems to desire a quick end to the war to limit casualties.
Nothing Personal: To Alice's surprise, Furgr displays no anger or resentment towards her for killing most of his people, stating that his duties as the Chief of the Ogres and bettering the lives of his people by presenting her to Vecta takes priority.
Punch-Clock Villain: He has no interest in pillaging the human empire or fighting strong opponents. He merely wants to capture Alice to quickly end the war and so he can better the lives of his people.
Worf Had the Flu: It's doubtful that he could have actually bested Alice, but considering how he leads the Ogres, which all but states that he's the strongest of his race, one has to wonder if he would have lasted longer if it wasn't from his injuries.

Goblins

General

One of the four Demi-Human races of the Dark Territory; green-skin scavengers who frequently try invading the human realm via caves in the End Mountains. They are split into two tribes; the Mountain Goblins, who reside in the mountains, and the Flatland goblins, who reside in barren plains.

I'm a Humanitarian: It's implied that Goblins are willing to eat the humans that they kill. Justified given the poor conditions they live in.
Interservice Rivalry: During the War of Underworld at least, neither of the goblin tribes seem to get along. As shown by their leaders during Vecta's arrival being quick to get into an open argument over who can serve him better, before Dee Eye Ell shuts them up to make her own introduction.
Our Goblins Are Different: Downplayed. They possess a lot of the traits you'd expect from typical fantasy goblins; they're considered the weakest and dumbest race of monsters, rely on crude weaponry and numbers, and they have green skin. However, they also seem to match or even tower over humans in terms of height, can be dangerous even one-on-one, and while not the brightest bulbs in the bunch, they are able to have coherent conversations rather than relying on Hulk Speak.
Uriah Gambit: Many goblins speculate that they're a victim of this; due to their plentiful numbers, which is what allowed them to match the other tribes during the Age of Blood and Iron, they were given arguably the thinnest and most barren lands in the north that could barely grow any food or raise livestock on, in order to keep their population under control to even the power balance. This leads to the children constantly starving and their elderly having short lifespans. It's to the point where they're forced to put children on boats and send them down the river to their possible deaths just to have less mouths to feed.
We Have Reserves: Their greatest asset as a tribe is their plentiful numbers, which allowed them to stand equal to the other tribes during the Age of Blood and Iron. The other tribes seem to recognize this, and so apparently gave them the most unsuitable farming land to live on as part of the treaty in an attempt to quell their numbers.

Shibori

Voiced by: Mashashi Yamane (Japanese), Joe Hernandez (English), Raymundo Armijo (Latin American Spanish)

The succeeding chief of the Flatland Goblins after the death of Kubiri during Vixur's Roaring Rampage of Revenge.

But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Invokes this when Deusolbert offers his name when they're about to fight, claiming that he doesn't care what he's called since he's just another human for him to kill.
The Caligula: As a Goblin Chief, Shibori is much dumber than Kosogi, but also much crueler. Whereas Kosogi, despite viewing his men as idiots and not appearing too upset by their deaths, did seem to want to use the war as an opportunity to increase his tribe's standing within the Dark Territory, Shibori has no greater ambitions beyond just killing and pillaging humans and had no problems with sacrificing his men as part of a strategy, as shown when he responds to Deusolbert by simply sending waves of his men at them until he runs out of arrows.
Combat Pragmatist: While he's a dumb brute compared to Kosogi, he's at least intelligent enough to use the corpses of his fallen comrades as human shields against Deusolbert and to wait until he runs out of arrows before directly engaging him. When he does actually does fight Deusolbert, he also sics some of his fellow Goblins on him.
Dumb Muscle: Downplayed. While he does show some intelligence in his fight with Deusolbert, as detailed in Combat Pragmatist above, his strategy for the actual fight can be summed up as relentlessly attacking with either his blades or Goblins.
Dual Wielding: Shibori wields a pair of large cleaver-like swords.
Kill It with Fire: There is nothing left of him other than likely a few ashes after Deusolbert kills him with the Conflagration Bow.
Making a Splash: In the War of Underworld Events in Rising Steel, he and the other Flatland Goblins are associated with the water element.
Too Dumb to Live: If he had just stayed focused on Deusolbert instead of going after Golgorosso after he attacks him, then he might have prevented Deusolbert from killing him.
We Have Reserves: His solution to dealing with Deusolbert was to sends waves of his men at him and use any who fell as human(goblin?) shields until the Integrity Knight ran out of arrows before fighting him.

Kosogi

Voiced by: Shunichi Maki (Japanese)

The succeeding chief of the Mountain Goblins after the death of Hagashi during Vixur's Roaring Rampage of Revenge.

Adaptational Ugliness: While Goblins aren't typically depicted as lookers, Kosogi could pass for conventional human if it wasn't for his green skin and perpetual hunch. When he appears as a boss in Rising Steel in the War of Underworld events however, he turns from a goblin with otherwise average body proportions into a Top-Heavy Guy.
Ambition Is Evil: Discontented from being part of what many consider the weakest race of monsters, he wishes to prove his tribe's worth in battle in order rise above the other races, as well as get access to better resources for food and weapons.
Awesomeness by Analysis: He realizes and calmly explains to Renly the weakness of the Twin-Edged Wings, namely that they're light enough to be deflected by a heavier weapon like his cleaver and they make noise, allowing him to anticipate where they're coming from and defend accordingly.
Genius Bruiser: Kosogi stands out from other goblins by actually being intelligent. He came up with a smoke bomb strategy, using bombs he made himself, that would allow his men to slip through Eldrie's regiment and attack the supply tents at the rear, which would have crippled the human army if it succeeded.
Half the Man He Used to Be: Ends up being cut in half by Renly's Twin-Edged Wings.
Loophole Abuse: Vector's orders for his tribe was to charge the enemy. However, he never specified which part, which Kosogi takes advantage of to slip by the main force to attack the supply tents instead, which had the added bonus of getting him and his tribe out of the range of the Dark Mage's planned spell assault, without fear of punishment.
Meaningful Name: Following Goblin naming conventions, his name is derived from the Japanese verb "to scrape".
Nepotism: Averted. While it's suggested that he got his current position is due to being the ninth son of the previous chief, he lives up to his position with craftiness and skill that allowed his tribe to come the closest to dealing a fatal blow to the Human Army, if not for Renly.
Our Goblins Are Different: He stands out from other goblins of his tribe with his surprisingly high intellect and tactical skill. He also wants to invoke this for his tribe as whole by doing a better job than the other races in the war.
Smoke Out: He has his tribe use smoke bombs to sneak behind enemy lines to attack the supply tents.
Super-Reflexes: Along with his great intellect, Kosogi also has amazing relexes, which allows him to parry Renly's Twin-Edge Wings.
Surrounded by Idiots: Even he acknowledges that most of the members of his race, both his own tribe and the Flatland tribe, are idiots.
The Strategist: Kosogi is a surprisingly gifted strategist, using smoke bombs to sneak behind enemy lines and attack the supply tents, knowing it would cripple the Human Army. He was also the one who planned the attack on Rulid Village in the beginning of the arc, which only failed due to Alice's intervention.
This Cannot Be!: His last moments before his death consist of him trying to figure out how he lost to Renly, to no avail.
Weak, but Skilled: As a Goblin, he's physically weaker than the other monster tribes, but he makes up for it with his surprising tactical knowledge and skill with a sword that allows him to parry blows from Renly's Twin-Edge Wings.

Ugachi

Voiced by: Kosuke Takaguchi (Japanese), Armen Taylor (English)

A Goblin leading a scouting squad into the End Mountains who captures Selka and is Kirito and Eugeo's first opponent in the Underworld.

An Arm and a Leg: Kirito manages to cut off his arm, only for him to crush the wound closed and keep fighting.
BFS: He wields the same machete most goblins do, only his is much larger to match his size.
Decapitated Army: Double Subverted. After he's killed, Kirito tries to use this to scare the other goblins into fleeing, only for another to step forward thinking killing the guy who killed their boss would make him the new boss. Only after Kirito kills him too do the rest flee. Played Straight in the anime, where they flee immediately.
Genius Bruiser: Downplayed. He's not exactly a keen strategist, but he's quicker to respond to Kirito and Eugeo's attack and he's the first to realize that they plan on taking out his and his party's torches.
Large and in Charge: He's massive for a goblin, towering over humans and could come close to a giant's height. Of course he's the one who leads his platoon of goblins.
Lone Wolf Boss: In the first half of Alicization he's the only antagonist who's not native to the Human Empire and therefore lacks even a minor connection to Quinella, and he technically has no connection to Gabriel, or Vector, due to being dead by the time of his appearance.
Off with His Head!: How Kirito kills him.
Red Baron: Was apparently known as "Ugachi The Lizard Killer"
Starter Villain: He's the first antagonist that Kirito and Eugeo face in the Underworld.
Stout Strength: While not necessarily tall, he's noted to be quite large and wide and he has enough strength to swing around a giant cleaver with ease.
Wake-Up Call Boss: While he's only a Starter Villain, he comes dangerously close to killing both Kirito and Eugeo and him managing to strike Kirito with his sword is what helps Kirito realize that all the pain he feels in the Underworld is real, or maybe even worse than IRL.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He only appears as a Starter Villain before he's decapitated by Kirito.

Characters / Sword Art Online Dark Territory

Edit Locked

Dark Territory

Dark Knights

Vixur Ul Shasta

Voiced by: Hiroki Tochi (Japanese), Steve Blum (English), Raúl Anaya (Latin American Spanish)

Lipia Zancale

Voiced by: Sayaka Senbongi (Japanese), Abby Trott (English)

Pugilists

Iskahn

Voiced by: Yashiro Taku (Japanese), Khoi Dao (English), Erick Padilla (Latin American Spanish)

Dampa

Yotte

Dark Mage Guild

Dee Eye Ell

Voiced by: Yuko Kaida (Japanese), Kari Wahlgren (English), Rebeca Gómez (Latin American Spanish)

Minions

Assassin's Guild

Fu Za

Voiced by: Koki Harasawa (Japanese), Jon Allen (English)

Commerce Guild

Lengyl Gila Scobo

Voiced by: Kiyomitsu Mizuuchi (Japanese), Kellen Goff (English), Jorge Roig Sr. (Latin American Spanish)

Orcs

Rirupirin

Voiced by: Jun'ya Enoki (Japanese), Aleks Le (English), Alejandro Orozco (Latin American Spanish)

Lenju

Voiced by: Saori Onishi (Japanese), Stephanie Southerland (English)

Morikka

Giants

Sigurosig

Voiced by: Takanori Hoshino (Japanese), Brook Chalmers (English), Raúl Solo (Latin American Spanish)

Ogres

Furgr

Voiced by: Daichi Endo (Japanese), Armen Taylor (English)

Goblins

Shibori

Voiced by: Mashashi Yamane (Japanese), Joe Hernandez (English), Raymundo Armijo (Latin American Spanish)

Kosogi

Voiced by: Shunichi Maki (Japanese)

Ugachi

Voiced by: Kosuke Takaguchi (Japanese), Armen Taylor (English)

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