Sword Art Online - Nobuyuki Sugou / Characters

Nobuyuki Sugou / Oberon the Fairy King (ALO)

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English), Enric Puig (European Spanish), José Gilberto Vilchis (Latin American Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nobuyuki_sugou_5.png

^{Click here to see Oberon}

"I'd prefer it if you didn't call me that name in this world. You should address me as His Highness, Fairy King Oberon!"

The director of RECT Inc.'s research institute who is in fact a Mad Scientist behind close doors. He hijacked the minds of 300 of the SAO victims (including his then-fiance Asuna) and traps them in his own game ALFheim Online to experiment on them. The antagonist of volumes 3-4.

For Alberich, the version of him from the Gameverse, see this page.

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Abhorrent Admirer: To Asuna. Sugou freely admits that Asuna has always hated him, and that was before the events of the Fairy Dance arc, when he traps her in a cage in ALO for two months and makes multiple attempts to sexually assault her before trying to rape her outright. When holding her captive, Sugou asks for Asuna's love, and Asuna tells him point-blank that he'll have to make do with her disgust and hatred.
Adaptational Badass: Both times he's appeared as a boss in Rising Steel, he's presented as being much more dangerous, utilizing a variety of magic attacks to fight off a party of up to six enemies.
A God Am I: Saw himself as one in ALO and gave himself the identity of "the fairy king, Oberon". His research into Mind Control is in part so he can make himself one in real-life as well.
Sugou: [mockingly] Ah, who do you think is going to stop me? Ooh, maybe a god! But sadly, there's none in this world. EXCEPT FOR YOURS TRULY!
All Men Are Perverts: Literally every scene Sugou shares with Asuna has him drooling all over her. He sniffs her hair while she's in a coma, traps her in ALO just to lord over her in a bird cage, constantly gropes and sniffs her, and finally licks her face and rips her clothes off before trying to rape her outright. He's even worse in the video game continuity, where he takes advantage of his super account to override Kayaba's Harassment Code and sexually assaults more than one female player, and his Oberon self in Accel World vs. Sword Art Online lewds over several other girls before becoming fixated on Asuna.
Always Second Best: To Kayaba, which drives him nuts. To drive it home, when Kayaba effortlessly overrides Sugou's control of ALO and grants Kirito admin privileges to turn the tide, Sugou's immediate response is to throw a temper tantrum, whining about how even in death, Kayaba's getting in his way and one-upping him.
Arch-Enemy:
- He cements this status for Kirito. While he was already an awful person for kidnapping over 300 SAO survivors and keeping them captive in ALO for his sick experiments, he makes it very personal for Kirito for what he does to Asuna. Upon Kirito finding Asuna still hasn't woken up, Sugou reveals he was the one who had trapped her in another game and rubs it in Kirito's face that he is going to forcibly marry Asuna. When Kirito goes into ALO in an attempt to rescue Asuna, Sugou abuses his admin privileges to torture Kirito before sexually assaulting Asuna in front of him. When finally given the chance, Kirito wants nothing more than to spill his blood and make sure it's as painful and humiliating as possible. The feeling is mutual on Sugou's side, who comes to deeply hate the weak boy who defied him and foiled his plans. Sugou wants him dead above all else, to the point where it surpassed his obsession with Asuna and leads him to try to kill Kirito in the real world.
- He is also one to Asuna. While not as pronounced as Kirito, there is unlikely to be a person on the face of the Earth who Asuna despises more than her ex-fiancee. First off she is kidnapped by Sugou on her way of logging out of SAO, where she ends up trapped and caged as his prisoner, forced into revealing clothing for his perverted fantasies. When Kirito comes to rescue her, Sugou arrives and incapacitates them both, stabs Kirito through the back with his own sword with the pain absorber off to force him to watch, then subjects Asuna to a Shameful Strip while chained up and comes close to raping her. He also gloats that he'll use mind control to force her to fall in love and marry him.
Arranged Marriage: Was the fiancé of Asuna chosen by her parents. In her parents' defense, he admits that if they knew how she felt about him, they would have called it off in a heartbeat.
Attempted Rape: During the climax of the Fairy Dance arc, Sugou molests Asuna and is just about to rape her in front of Kirito, before Kirito frees himself, obtains admin privileges from Kayaba's digital spirt, and beats the crap out of him.
Ax-Crazy: His childish, sickening obsession of dominating everyone around him leads him to trap 300 people to perform sadistic mind games with them, almost rape Asuna while trying to make Kirito watch and he actually tries to murder Kirito in real-life after he gets his ass beat.
Beauty Is Bad: Played With. While he's not noted to be especially attractive IRL, looking like your average Japanese salaryman, his Oberon Avatar in ALO on the other hand has flawless skin, long blonde hair, extremely handsome features, and decks himself out in rich looking clothes to match his "king-ly" status. However, Asuna notes that it looks too perfect, which only serves to make him look unnatural instead of attractive.
Big Bad: The primary antagonist of the Fairy Dance arc, kick-starting the plot when he reveals he was responsible for keeping Asuna trapped in ALO, forcing Kirito to enter the game to rescue her.
Big Bad Wannabe: While the legitimate Big Bad of the Fairy Dance arc and introduced as the villain following up Kayaba, he's ultimately just a shallow imitation of his predecessor. The entire system for his game was hijacked from SAO and he even shows himself to be extremely jealous of the far more talented Kayaba. His inferiority is cemented when Kayaba easily overrides the code in his game and gives Kirito admin privileges, while Sugou is helpless to do anything about it but whine and cry.
Big "OMG!": His response in the English dub when he realizes that Kayaba overrode his control of ALO and gave Kirito admin privileges, followed by a temper tantrum about how even in death, Kayaba is still beating him.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Asuna's father Shouzou viewed him as a friendly, bright prodigy, to the extent that he set up an Arranged Marriage between him and Asuna and intended for him to inherit his company, RECT Inc. In reality, Sugou is a Corrupt Corporate Executive and a Stalker with a Crush towards Asuna who not only trapped 300 SAO survivors, including Asuna herself, in ALO in order to conduct inhumane Mind Control experiments on them, but also planned to brainwash and rape Asuna and take control of the company. After Kirito defeats him, the sheep's clothing is flung off.
Blasphemous Boast: In reply to Asuna declaring that God himself will not forgive his depravity, Sugou sneers "There is no God in this world... except for me!"
Bond Villain Stupidity: After stabbing Kirito through his back and spine with Kirito's own sword, Sugou, rather than just finish him off and be done with it, decides to torture him by slowly decreasing the Pain Absorber, on top of making him watch while he molests Asuna, just to be a sadistic asshole. This buys Kayaba's digital spirit time to save Kirito, granting him access to his ID and admin privileges, both of which outrank Sugou's own, and which Kirito uses to set Sugou's in-game level to 1 before using the Pain Absorber on Sugou himself, killing him so brutally that Sugou is left permanently injured IRL. Even though Sugou had no way of foreseeing Kayaba's intervention, that still wasn't exactly a smart move.
Break the Haughty: Due to his position as Game Master of ALO, Sugou has quite the bloated ego, to the point of declaring himself a god, and believes there's nothing Kirito can do to stop him. His delusions of godhood come to a crashing halt when Kayaba's Virtual Ghost saves Kirito and grants him admin privileges to turn the tables, proving that even with the former dead, Sugou is still Always Second Best to Kayaba. This is only the beginning of his Humiliation Conga; immediately afterwards, Sugou is left trembling in fear before an enraged Kirito, and by the time Kirito's done with him, Sugou is left a whimpering, blubbering wreck. It happens again when he tries to attack Kirito in real-life, going from smugly gloating about how he's going to kill him and continue his research to crying his eyes out in fear and wetting his pants the minute Kirito turns the tables on him again.
Bring My Brown Pants: He pees in his pants, after screaming his lungs out, after Kirito overpowers him in real-life.
Brought Down to Normal: Kayaba grants Kirito his user ID and along with it admin privileges that outrank that of Sugou. With this, Kirito proceeds to set Sugou's Oberon avatar to level 1, removing all unfair advantages he had before, before Kirito lays down the pain upon the bastard and inevitably killing his in-game avatar.
Can't Take Criticism: When Kirito pulls off his Heroic Second Wind and tears him down verbally, declaring he's nothing but a "king of thieves, sitting alone on a stolen throne," Sugou is outraged that Kirito dares speak to him in such a manner and tries to summon Excalibur to cut him down with; unfortunately for him, thanks to Kayaba's intervention, Sugou no longer has admin privileges.
Sugou: You little punk... you dare... you dare talk to me like that?!
Card-Carrying Villain: Unlike Kayaba, he is portrayed as straightly and unconditionally evil, and revels in being able to do all the horrible things in ALO that would see him ostracized outside of it.
Cold-Blooded Torture: He experiments on the minds of the 300 SAO survivors, testing their fear and pain responses. Then there's what he does to Kirito during the climax, running him through with his own sword and making him watch as he molests Asuna.
Combat Pragmatist: He's a lousy fighter, but compensates by using his admin privileges to give himself unfair advantages like overpowered stats, equipment, and magic. He also paralyzes Kirito and Asuna with an unreleased gravity spell and gets the jump on Kazuto with a surprise attack, slashing his arm before going for the kill. Tellingly, when Sugou can't rely on his Game Master powers or such dirty tricks, Kirito hands him his ass.
Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Aside from being a GMPC, he and Kayaba are as different as night and day. While Kayaba was simply deluded, Sugou is unambiguously, unconditionally evil and revels in his villainy. While Kayaba actively participated in the game under the guise of Heathcliff, Sugou was an Orcus on His Throne who didn't take action until Kirito was literally at his door. Kayaba posed as a humble player and a noble commander to his guild, while Sugou declared himself to be God and treated everyone else like dirt while believing he was entitled to have Asuna. Kayaba was Strong and Skilled, and still a match for Kirito even after forfeiting his admin privileges, while Sugou is Unskilled, but Strong, has nothing going for him aside from his Game Master powers, and is curb-stomped by Kirito when he loses them. While Kayaba was a Graceful Loser who faced death with dignity, Sugou is a Dirty Coward who goes out whining, cursing, and crying both times Kirito beats him.
Corporate Conspiracy: Is at the center of one, as he hijacks the minds of 300 of the SAO victims (including his then-fiance Asuna) and traps them in his own game ALFheim Online to conduct experiments on human subjugation via full dive technology, in addition to attempting to take over RCT Progress Inc. by marrying Asuna while she is unconscious. His ambition is to become a god in real life, just as he is in ALO.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: He is the director of RECTO's research institute and the one responsible for keeping 300 Nerve Gear victims, including Asuna, prisoner even after SAO had ended. He did this by transferring them all into ALO for experiments on human subjugation via Full-Dive technology. He also attempts to take over RECT Progress Inc. by marrying Asuna while she is unconscious.
Corrupted Character Copy: To Jareth the Goblin King, played by David Bowie in the 1980's classic Labyrinth, insomuch as the Oberon persona is also a handsome blonde fairy king who holds absolute power over his kingdom that lusts after a beautiful and brave maiden. However, the similarities end right there, for whereas Jareth is a classy and dignified gentleman who rules his minions with a stern but fair hand, Sugou's Oberon is a depraved and crass tantrum-prone wuss who abuses his power and rules with an iron fist. Also, while Jareth's love for the significantly younger Sarah is far from appropriate, he courts her with gentlemanly chivalry and charm, genuinely loving and respecting her enough to let her and her baby brother go when she conclusively refused his affections, leaving the story heartbroken but alive with his dignity intact. Oberon, in contrast, is a tasteless sexual deviant who regularly forces himself on Asuna against her wishes, and whose reign is ended by the sword of Asuna's husband Kirito's in bloody pieces.
Crazy Jealous Guy: The guy is completely obsessed with Asuna, which fuels a lot of his animosity with Kirito. Especially egregious since he doesn't really seem to actually love her; he was just promised her as part of an Arranged Marriage, and therefore feels that she's rightfully his. This even extends into Rising Steel where the June Bride event "Holding Hands With You" has him acting as entitled as ever, threatening a fate worse than death on Kirito.
Cruel Mercy: Kirito choosing not to kill him puts him on the receiving end of this. Not only does he end up living with the fact that his company and reputation are both dead and buried after his misdeeds came to light, but if one takes into consideration the Unwritten Prison Code of Honor pertaining to “doing unto him how he did unto her" when it comes to sex offenders, especially if they preyed on minors and mothers (the latter of which Asuna technically also is thanks to adopting Yui), he likely will be spending his hard time at the mercy of his fellow inmates and guards alike for at least the next 25 years or so.
Cut Lex Luthor a Check: He criticizes Kayaba for having this mindset, but Sugou isn't much better. Kayaba's FullDive technology has considerable potential and seen uses outside of game development, as seen with the Medicuboid, whereas Sugou's only interest in the tech is turning it into a Mind-Control Device to fulfill his delusions of godhood.
Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit: Upon his defeat and arrest, Sugou attempts this, claiming that Kayaba was the one who was really behind his experiments on the SAO survivors. It doesn't work, and he eventually gives in and confesses when one of his employees is questioned.
Despotism Justifies the Means: Everything he does throughout the Fairy Dance arc is for the sake of making himself a god, both in ALO and in the real world. This is a key component in his Mind Control research and experiments on the 300 SAO players.
Didn't See That Coming: He believes he has everything in the bag and is unstoppable. He would have been, were it not for Kayaba's Virtual Ghost intervening and giving Kirito access to his admin ID, which outranks Sugou's and allows Kirito to turn the tide in an instant.
Dirty Coward: He spends most of the Fairy Dance arc cocky, composed, and arrogant, declaring himself a god and rubbing in Kirito's face that there's nothing he can do to stop him... as long as he's in control of the situation and has his Game Master powers backing him up. The minute he's stripped of his admin privileges and faced with a righteously pissed-off Kirito, Sugou has a massive Freak Out and breaks down crying like a scared little girl. He's just as cowardly in real-life; he attacks Kirito with a knife, slashing his arm in a surprise attack, and kicks Kirito multiple times after he falls to the ground before trying to kill him... and when Kirito overpowers him, takes the knife away, and states his intention to kill him with it, Sugou panics and immediately tries to make a break for it; Kirito just barely manages to stop himself from finishing him off, by which point Sugou is crying Tears of Fear and loses control of his bladder before passing out.
Disease Bleach: In the anime. When we last see Sugou, in a flashback to his interrogation, his hair has turned completely white, no doubt from the shock of Kirito nearly slitting his throat.
Ditzy Genius: He's a VR genius in his own right, though falling a bit short of Kayaba. But he's prone to very blatant Bond Villain Stupidity moments and can't anticipate very obvious consequences to his actions. Case in point: he believes that there are numerous organizations that would kill to have his research and thus shelter him from the law after Kirito defeats him in ALO. Instead, he's arrested and incarcerated, with RECT nearly going bankrupt as a result of his crimes.
Do Not Call Me "Paul": Insists that he be referred to as Oberon while in the game. Kirito doesn't give a damn and continues to call him Sugou.
Sugou: I'd prefer it if you didn't call me that name in this world. You should address me as His Highness, the Fairy King Oberon!
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Sugou is a major creep with very pale skin and dark brown hair.
Entitled Bastard: Sugou takes this to extreme levels, believing he has the right to do whatever he wants, like rule the world, and no one has any right to stop him. When he first reveals his true colors to Kazuto, he brags that it's his right to take advantage of Asuna, since RECTO took custody of her and the other 300 SAO survivors, and that he's entitled to compensation for keeping them all alive. Later, when Kayaba's Virtual Ghost overrides his control of ALO and gives Kirito Game Master privileges, Sugou throws a screaming tantrum and rants that Kayaba always takes everything he considers rightfully his.
Entitled to Have You: His attitude towards Asuna. He even flat-out tells Kirito as such, saying it's his right to take advantage of her and he's entitled to compensation for keeping her and the other SAO survivors alive. Never mind the fact that, as he freely admits, Asuna has always hated him.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He thinks that Kirito will be too scared to enter ALO to save Asuna and gloats about it to her face in an attempt to demoralize her. Not only is Kirito more than strong enough to dive headfirst into the game on the off-chance he can save Asuna, but she is also well aware of that, and hearing that Kirito knows she's in danger is enough to keep her going for a little while longer. She herself lampshades this, saying that if Sugou had any understanding of love, he would have lied and said Kirito was dead.
Evil Counterpart:
- He's an eviler counterpart to Kayaba. Both are technical geniuses and the Game Masters of the virtual worlds they created, and both are Psychopathic Manchildren with God complexes. However, Kayaba has a Noble Demon attitude and sense of fair play while Sugou has neither.
- To a lesser extent, Kirito. Both ended up being betrothed to Asuna, but while Kirito genuinely won over Asuna's heart and she pursued him herself, Sugou saw Asuna as rightfully his property and tried to forcefully make her his by any means possible. Both ended up having overpowered stats in Alfheim Online, but while Kirito had this due to an Old Save Bonus from his time in SAO and even then deemed it cheating, Sugou abused admin privileges to make himself an invincible avatar. Furthermore, Kirito proved himself to be Strong and Skilled being able to back up his stats with hours of VR experience, while Sugou is solely Unskilled, but Strong and is completely dependent on his stats and completely useless once he's stripped of his admin privileges. Finally, both ended up being 'successors' to Kayaba and continued his work, however, while Kirito was handpicked by Kayaba as The Chosen One due to seeing the boy's love and passion for the virtual world, Sugou stole all of Kayaba's work in order to create his own world where he could rule as a god. Kirito wants to create the VR in order to seek out how it can benefit humanity, while Sugou's motives were only for his own selfish means of experimenting on helpless players in developing mind control tech and as an eventual means to Take Over the World.
- He's also one to Suguha, as they both have feelings for a protagonist. Suguha is keenly aware that her feelings of love for her brother Kirito are wrong and tries to suppress or move past them, though this causes her lots of emotional distress. On the other hand, Sugou is perfectly content with his lust for Asuna and doesn't make any effort to suppress it, unless her family is around.
Evil Gloating:
- When he first reveals his true colors to Kirito, he spends several seconds rubbing in Kirito's face how he's going to forcibly marry her within a week, and there's nothing he can do about it.
- He brags to a captive Asuna about his belief that Kirito is too scared to enter ALO to save her in an effort to demoralize her. It does the exact opposite; Asuna knows that Kirito is more than strong enough to enter ALO if there's any chance of saving her, and knowing that he's still alive helps her Heroic Resolve.
- He does it once again after Kirito defeats him in ALO, when he attacks Kirito in real-life. When Kirito tells him he's finished and should just turn himself in, Sugou smugly brushes him off, stating that countless organizations would want his work and thus shelter him from the law, allowing him to continue his research and become a true king. After Kirito overpowers him and leaves him unconscious in the parking lot, Sugou is proven wrong; he's arrested and incarcerated for his crimes.
Evil Is Hammy: As Oberon, he acts incredibly grandiose and overly dramatic, particularly when he is beating up Kirito and then later on getting his ass whooped.
Evil Is Petty: After revealing to Kirito his Arranged Marriage with Asuna, he mockingly invites him to the wedding just to twist the knife. He takes great delight in describing Kirito's reaction to said wedding to Asuna, openly admitting he barely stopped himself from laughing at it.
Evil Laugh: He lets out some Ax-Crazy cackles during his first confrontation with Kirito. His face◊ certainly adds to his psychopathic demeanor.
Evil Plan: In his arrogance, he explains one-half of his vile scheme to Kazuto in the hospital, which is to keep Asuna in a VR-coma so he can marry her without her objecting and inherit RECTCO through her. The other half is developing Mind Control and memory modification technology for criminal use.
Evil Sounds Deep: Only in the Japanese version. Averted in the English dub, where his voice is higher pitched.
Evil Tastes Good: Says something to this effect while licking Asuna's face.
Sugou: Yummy! How sweet!
Eye Scream: Suffered this by Kirito at the final part of his Curb-Stomp Battle by letting his sword fall into him and because of the pain reception he brought up during that fight it transfers into the real world with painful irritation and bad vision from that right eye.
Faux Affably Evil: While Sugou tries to puts up a polite façade, it eventually becomes clear that he's an amoral, greedy, pretentious Jerkass with a God complex who looks down on everyone around him, as well as being a perverted stalker towards Asuna. It's particularly pronounced in his Last Villain Stand, where he casually talks with Kirito at first, before charging at him with a knife with full intent to kill him.
Sugou: You're late, Kirito. I've been out here so long, I might catch cold.
Flynning: Exploited hard by Kirito. When Kirito gets admin privileges and demands a duel, it becomes clear that Sugou is not skilled at either games or real swordfighting, because he attacks Kirito's weapon instead of the boy himself, which Kirito easily deflects and overpowers.
Foil:
- Like Kayaba, he's a technical genius and the Game Master of the game he created, but while Kayaba built up SAO from scratch, willingly gave up his admin privileges to fight Kirito fairly, was able to put up a good fight without them, and went out gracefully, Sugou stole the entire system of ALO from Kayaba's design, abused his admin privileges to wipe the floor with Kirito, proved to be absolutely no threat without said privileges, and went out whining, cursing, and crying. The biggest difference between the two? Kayaba doesn't seem to see the inherent problems with his actions, whereas Sugou knows what he's doing is wrong and doesn't give a damn; instead, he revels in the knowledge that he can do all the things in ALO that would see him ostracized in real-life.
- To Kirito himself. Kirito notes that both him and Sugou shared the experience of being defeated and then forced to work for Kayaba — the difference being that Sugou tried to become Kayaba, while Kirito defied him. How they approach the concept of What You Are in the Dark also counts; Kirito believes that if you indulge your baser instincts while anonymous online, you end up becoming a worse person as a result, whereas Sugou revels in being able to do all the horrible things online that would see him ostracized in the real world, and uses ALO as his own personal outlet for indulging in his sadism and sick fantasies.
For the Evulz: He revels in being evil, and delights in being able to commit all manner of atrocities in ALO that would see him ostracized in the real world. Then there's his Cold-Blooded Torture of Kirito, where he pins him down and makes him watch as he sexually assaults Asuna, purely for the sake of being cruel and lording his power over the two.
Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Zigzagged. His real world counterpart (the corrupt corporate executive) wears glasses but his game avatar (the tyrannical king) does not.
The GM Is a Cheating Bastard: Uses an unreleased, overpowered gravity spell on Kirito and Asuna. He then slowly lowers the Pain Absorber to torture Kirito rather than kill him immediately. The latter eventually leads to him being Hoist by His Own Petard with it being used against him.
GMPC: He abuses the fact he has overpowered stats, equipment and magic to fight the heroes. Unlike Kayaba, who was a skilled fighter and warrior even when he intentionally turned off his admin privileges, those are the only things going for him as he's pathetic combat-wise. Once Kayaba's virtual ghost (anime/novels) or Strea (games) take his admin status away, Kirito wastes no time showing Sugou how outclassed and pathetic he really is.
Game Master: He's the administrator of ALO during Fairy Dance.
The Glasses Gotta Go: He doesn't wear glasses in ALO.
Godhood Seeker: While he styled himself as god in ALO and saw himself as such, being the one who created the game, he also seeks to become one IRL by perfecting his Mind Control research.
Good Hair, Evil Hair: In real-life, his hair is slicked back. During his Last Villain Stand, said hair is now a mess, showcasing his Villainous Breakdown.
Greater-Scope Villain: It may not seem like it at first, but he's this for the Alicization arc. Sugou had put spies within the Ocean Turtle with the intention to sell their tech to foreign governments, thus leading to NSA hiring Glowden Security Systems to seize it. Also, he posted Yanai in the Ocean Turtle itself, leading to Yanai corrupting the Noble faction and personally overseeing Quinella's rise in the Underworld from an ordinary Noble to its supreme ruler down to complete mastery of the Cardinal system, thus being responsible for the numerous tragedies in the arc.
Greed: Part of his motivation for his mind control experiments. He gloats to Asuna that as soon as his research is complete, he's going to sell it and RECT to an American organization for "as much as he can." It's also revealed that he planted spies in the Ocean Turtle with the intention of selling their tech.
Half the Man He Used to Be: His avatar gets chopped in half by Kirito during the climax of Fairy Dance, before getting thrown in the air and impaled through the eye.
Hated by All: Sugou gets this after being exposed gets this among his former acquaintances, with RECT Inc. collapsing due to employing him to enable the mass unethical experiment behind their backs, and the Yuuki Family pretending he doesn't exist (while Kyoko, Asuna's mother was the one who proposed the engagement, she is also quick to erase him out of their memories). The only individual who might tolerate him is Yanai, but this is also ambiguous because he took Sugou's plan of sabotaging the True Artificial Intelligence project and made it his own for sheer profit and American lifestyle.
Hate Sink: At the end of the day, Sugou is nothing more than a pathetic excuse of a human being with nothing redeemable, nuanced, or cool about him. Everything he does and his personality does nothing other than inspire revulsion from anyone, in-universe or not and one is expected to get utmost enjoyment from seeing him get his just desserts.
The Hedonist: His lust for power and treatment of Asuna gives him some exaggerated hedonistic qualities.
Heroes Act, Villains Hinder: For the majority of the Fairy Dance arc he's an Orcus on His Throne who does nothing to stop Kirito from advancing the game and coming to rescue Asuna. Only when Kirito has made his way to the top of the World Tree does he get off his ass and take action. Even in the real world, he just stands outside the hospital in the snow, waiting for Kirito to show up, and when he does, he gripes that Kirito is late and he could have caught a cold.
Hoist by His Own Petard: The Pain Absorption that he used to torture Kirito is used against him when the latter obtains Administration Powers from Kayaba.
Hope Crusher: He constantly tries to be this for Asuna during her time trapped in ALO, most notably by gloating about his belief Kirito is too scared to enter ALO to rescue her and that he won't be coming. It backfires, since Asuna knows Kirito will come for her, and the knowledge he's out there helps her Heroic Resolve.
Humiliation Conga: Gets hit with this when Kirito pulls off his Heroic Second Wind. First, Kirito revokes his admin status and turns off the Pain Absorber that Sugou had previously used to torture him, insuring that every wound he inflicted on Sugou's avatar would carry over to his real body. Then, he uses a voice command to summon Excalibur, the most powerful weapon in ALO, and gives it to Sugou, who tries to cut Kirito down with it, only to fail miserably; subsequently, Kirito literally tears Oberon apart, slicing off his arm, cutting him in half, and stabbing him through the eye, killing him in-game. When Sugou later tries to attack Kirito in real-life, he's overpowered, reduced to a sobbing wreck, and loses control of his bladder before being arrested and incarcerated. His crimes are subsequently made public, and Asuna's parents, call off his engagement to their daughter. In the end, Sugou lost everything; his dreams and ambitions are crushed, his body is permanently damaged, and the whole world now sees him for the cyber-criminal and monster he really is.
Hypocrite:
- He gleefully subjects Kirito to Cold-Blooded Torture, and tries to rape Asuna right in front of him. And yet, when Kirito tortures him right back and kills him in-game, Sugou has the gall to give Kirito a What the Hell, Hero?, telling him that what he did was cruel.
- He rants about Kayaba, griping about how Kayaba always acts "all high and mighty, like some big shot." This coming from the guy who treats everyone around him like crap, believes he's entitled to do whatever he wants, and openly declares himself a god.
I Have You Now, My Pretty: Does this to Asuna by chaining her, ripping her clothes off and licking her, all this right in front of Kirito.
If I Can't Have You…: His threat of altering Asuna's memories. If she doesn't voluntarily submit to him then he will brainwash her into doing so.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Kirito kills Sugou's Oberon avatar by tossing him up and letting him fall onto his sword that landed on his right eye.
In-Series Nickname: Kirito dubs him "The King of Thieves", since in spite of all his claims that he's the king, creator, and god of ALfheim Online, he actually just stole his power, the lives of 300 SAO survivors, the world someone else completed, and is overall mooching off Akihiko Kayaba's work and inventions.
Inelegant Blubbering: What he's reduced to when Kirito turns the tables on him, both in-game and IRL, is a tearful wreck.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: He fancies himself a big and powerful man, even declaring himself a god, but he's ultimately nothing but a poor imitation of Akihiko Kayaba and he knows it. During his Villainous Breakdown, he whines and throws a temper tantrum over the fact that even with Kayaba dead, he's still Always Second Best. Kirito even lampshades it; while both of them were defeated by Kayaba and forced to work for him, Kirito defied Kayaba while Sugou wants to be him.
Internet Jerk: He may very well be one of the worst examples in all of fiction. While most examples of this trope merely have those online acting as massive jerks which they could not get away with in real-life. Sugou sees being in a virtual world as the perfect excuse to bring a sadistic bastard, conducting inhumane experiments on players and making numerous attempts to sexually assault Asuna, before going for the full on Attempted Rape. And then, Kirito finds out he's just as bad in the real world as he is online, when Sugou tries to kill him using a knife.
It's All About Me: He takes having a god complex to unbelievable levels, thinking that he's entitled to ruling the world and it's not fair if anyone tries to stop his grandiose plans.
Jerkass: Sugou isn't just evil, he's a thoroughly a callous and unpleasant dick to boot. Aside from treating Asuna like a doll and disregarding her own emotions, he rubs his impending Arranged Marriage with Asuna in Kirito's face just to be a dick, looks down on everyone around him, and responds to his attempts to save Asuna from ALO with sadistic mockery.
Jerkass at Your Discretion: He only bothers to hide his true colors when his boss, Shouzou Yuuki, is within earshot because the latter has the power to sink his career. Since Kirito has no corporate power over Sugou and no one would believe him, the latter sees no reason to put on an act when he's alone with the protagonist.
Kick the Dog: He does this a lot. Highlights include gloating about his Arranged Marriage with Asuna to Kirito, bragging about the look on Kirito's face when he did so to Asuna, and pinning him down before impaling him with his own sword and making him watch as he molests Asuna while smirking and laughing about it.
Sugou: Give me a break. Why don't you stay down and grovel like a GOOD LITTLE DOGGY?!
Kick The Son Of A Bitch: Once Kayaba saves Kirito and takes away Sugou's admin privileges, Kirito wastes no time in defeating Sugou as painfully and humiliating as possible, verbally tearing down his delusions of godhood before brutally killing him to the point where Sugou is left with permanent injuries in real-life. On anyone else, it would've been horrifyingly brutal, but after all of the atrocities Sugou has committed on top of being a Jerkass Smug Snake, it's incredibly cathartic to watch Kirito put him in his place.
Kick Them While They Are Down: After impaling Kirito with his own sword, he decides to twist the knife by first changing the Pain Absorber to torture him, then to mess with him even further by molesting Asuna right in front of him. Later, when he attacks Kirito in the real world, he literally kicks him multiple times after Kirito falls to the ground.
Killer Game Master: The overpowered spells, the Pain Reception controls, and the fact that ALO is Unwinnable by Design, all point to a sadistic "Fairy King".
Lack of Empathy: He shows no remorse over any of his heinous deeds, and even takes delight in them. Most notably, he views the 300 SAO survivors he trapped in ALO as nothing but guinea pigs for his mind control research and calls them as such. He also believes he's entitled to have Asuna and completely disregards her own emotions, opting to make her fall in love with him and marry her.
Large Ham: In stark contrast to the theatrical yet dignified Kayaba, Sugou is melodramatic and pretentious, prone to tacky attepts at gentlemanly "charm" that end up being merely creepy, and true to Takehito Koyasu form, hammier than a butcher shop when happy or enraged, screaming every syllable on the top of his lungs like a Lifetime-Channel villain reject.
Laser-Guided Karma: After his Attempted Rape of Asuna and being a massive Jerkass to boot, Sugou gets what's coming to him big-time: after acquiring Kayaba's Administrator ID, Kirito kills Oberon so brutally in the game that Sugou is left with permanent injuries in the real world, and after trying to kill Kirito in real-life, he fails, gets arrested, and is forced to confess everything.
Last Villain Stand: After his defeat, he's suffered a complete Villainous Breakdown and has lost everything he had planned to achieve... but still makes one last attempt to kill Kirito in the real world. Kirito beats the crap out of him and leaves him a broken wreck in the parking lot for the cops to arrest.
Lean and Mean: He's a callous and ruthless psychopath who is also incredibly tall and skinny.
Lecherous Licking: When he is sexually assaulting Asuna in Alfheim Online, she starts to cry in humiliation and he ecstatically licks her tears.
Leitmotif: "False king", a more divine but also darker sounding remix of "We Have To Defeat It" that played for the SAO bosses.
Light/Darkness Juxtaposition: As Oberon he's the light to Kirito's dark. Kirito is the Dark Is Not Evil hero while Sugou made himself into the King of the Fairies and the God of Alfheim Online, giving himself a divine appearance with blonde hair and ornamented with gold.
Light Is Not Good: As Oberon he gives himself a divine looking avatar with blonde hair and gold ornaments on his robes, but he's one of the most vile characters in the entire series.
Loves the Sound of Screaming: If his ecstatic reaction to the look of fear on Asuna's face, complete with Slasher Smile, as he chains her up and is about to molest her in front of an incapacitated Kirito is anything to go by.
Sugou: Yes! Great! That's what I was hoping for! You can't get NPC girls to make faces like that!
Mad Eye: His right eye bugs out◊ while he's gloating to Asuna in episode 18. That same eye later gets this treatment in the real world after Kirito stabs him through it with the Pain Absorber set to zero; it's permanently bloodshot, with visible veins/scarring extending in all directions from it◊.
Mask of Sanity: He pretends to be a friendly, stable guy, and the act is convincing enough to completely fool Asuna's parents. Beneath it all, he's a totally sadistic, Ax-Crazy Jerkass prone to Evil Laughs and Slasher Smiles, especially in his role as Oberon in ALO. The mask comes off completely once Kirito defeats and exposes him.
Meaningful Name: Sugou's surname in Kanji (須鄉) literally means "Fictional Country", doubly meaningful in that not only is he the ruler of one, but that his reign is a false reign stolen from the hard work of better men and not rightfully his.
Minor Injury Overreaction: When Kirito gives him a small cut on the cheek, he freaks out and whines that it hurts. Kirito lampshades it, remarking that it's nothing compared to what Sugou did to Asuna; right afterwards, Kirito proceeds to really give Sugou/Oberon some wounds to cry about by, in this order, slicing off his arm, cutting him in half, and finally impaling him through the eye, into the brain area, killing him in-game and permanently injuring him IRL.
Moral Myopia: When he confronts Kirito outside of the hospital, he's absolutely furious that Kirito overrode his control of the game and permanently injured him... when he put Kirito through Cold-Blooded Torture, subjected 300 SAO survivors to inhumane experiments, and sexually assaulted Asuna while making Kirito watch.
Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: As stated above, Sugou was part of the same class of brilliant VR engineers as Kayaba, and is responsible for hijacking the minds of Asuna and other 300 SAO survivors to experiment on them for his Mind Control research.
Murder Is the Best Solution: After being defeated in ALO, Sugou attacks Kirito in real-life with full intent to kill, stating outright that he won't accept anything less than Kirito's death for interfering with his plans.
Sugou: You think a piece of trash like you can get in my way? Did you think I'd let you slow me down?! Wanna know what the punishment is? Death. I won't accept anything less!

N to Z

Narcissist: Sugou displays multiple narcissistic traits. He's arrogant, egomaniacal, and power-hungry, to the extent of proclaiming himself a god, and quite manipulative, easily tricking Asuna's parents into thinking he's a friendly Honest Corporate Executive when he's really using their company for his own twisted ends. He also possesses a grandiose sense of self-worth and expects special treatment from people around him, believing he's entitled to have Asuna even though she completely despises him. Finally, he's unable to handle criticism and takes defiance of his plans very personally; he views Kirito as beneath him, openly calling him trash and scum, and is outraged when Kirito ruins his plans while verbally tearing down his delusions of godhood and summing him up as nothing but a "king of thieves" mooching off Kayaba's work, to the extent that he outright tries to murder him in real-life while declaring he won't accept anything less than Kirito's death for his interference.
Never My Fault: After his arrest and subsequent interrogation, Sugou initially denied everything and tried to pin the blame for his actions on Akihiko Kayaba. He only gave in and confessed when one of his own employees was brought in for questioning.
No Ontological Inertia: His victims, bar Asuna, luckily had no recollection or post-effects of three months spent experimented upon. Neither madness nor suffering ensued once they were freed.
No Sense of Personal Space: He doesn't know how to keep his hands and tongue to himself.
Not-So-Badass Longcoat: When he attacks Kirito in real-life after losing to him in ALO, Sugou is wearing a khaki trenchcoat. This is after Kirito beat him in ALO, turning off the Pain Absorber and killing Sugou's in-game avatar so brutally that Sugou has been left with permanent injuries in real-life, and in the ensuing confrontation, Sugou loses once again to Kirito, who just barely manages to stop himself from slitting Sugou's throat with his own knife; by that point, Sugou is crying his eyes out and wetting himself.
Not So Invincible After All: When he first encounters Kirito in-game, it isn’t even a battle and more a massacre, where he abuses his admin powers to lay Cold-Blooded Torture upon the boy. But as Kirito is lying on the ground, completely helpless with his own sword impales through his back, Kayaba’s Virtual Ghost pulls a Big Damn Heroes and shows his account has even more authority than Sugou and gives these credentials to Kirito, who proceeds to reset Sugou’s OP account to zero, turn off the pain absorber, and lay a Curb-Stomp Battle upon the bastard.
Not So Stoic: He tries to act as if he's always in control, but his composure collapses when unexpected events happen.
Obviously Evil: As Oberon he gives off a very unsettling air, with his Slasher Smiles, evil cackles, and proclaims of godhood. It's also apparent from his very first appearance that he's a perverted rapist.
Oh, Crap!:
- He's quite visibly terrified when Kirito, using his newfound Game Master powers, reduces Oberon to Level 1 and turns the Pain Absorber for Sugou off completely, ensuring that every wound inflicted on Oberon would carry over to Sugou's real body. Kirito even calls him out on flinching and panicking, something Kayaba never did.
- He does it again when Kirito manages to overpower him and take his knife away in real-life, explicitly stating his intent to use it on Sugou himself. Sugou promptly panics and tries to make a run for it; Kirito doesn't let him get away.
Opportunistic Bastard: He admits to Asuna that he'd been researching mind control using FullDive for a while, and took advantage of the SAO incident to reroute 300 survivors to ALO for human experimentation.
Orcus on His Throne: Despite holding administrative powers over the world of ALO, he chooses to sit back and observe the chaos from afar while making his own plans. It isn't until Kirito makes it to the top of the World Tree that Sugou actually bothers to get off his ass.
Paper Tiger: He talks a big game and boasts of his so-called godhood, but for all of his bravado, Sugou sucks at combat and has nothing but his Game Master privileges to keep up with Kirito. Best shown when Kirito pulls off his Heroic Second Wind and uses Kayaba's ID to strip Oberon of them; he summons Excalibur, the Infinity +1 Sword of the game, and gives it to Sugou before taking up his own sword. Even with the strongest weapon in the game, Sugou is no match for Kirito in a straight fight, fails to land a single hit, and goes down in a matter of seconds. It happens again in real-life, where he goes from smugly gloating about how he's going to kill Kirito and continue his research to balling his eyes out and wetting his pants the minute Kirito turns the tables on him again.
Perverted Sniffing: Kirito and the audience first discover Sugou's true colors when, after Asuna's father leaves her hospital room, he sniffs the comatose Asuna's hair. Exaggerated when we discover he went so far as to recreate Asuna's real-life scent in ALO.
Sugou: And don't even get me started on how... hard it was to get an analyzer into your hospital room undetected.
Pitiful Worms: He sees himself as the god of ALO, and thinks so little of Kirito that he calls him, among other things, a "cockroach," a "piece of trash", and "scum."
Sugou: The last thing I expected to find was a cockroach in my little bird's cage.
Power Perversion Potential: In his attempted rape on Asuna, he summons some chains to string her up as he molests her to prevent her from fighting back. A comment on how NPC girls don't make expressions like hers Implies that he also used his privileges to use ALO's NPCs as glorified sex dolls.
Pride Before a Fall: He's introduced as an arrogant, self-assured creep, declaring himself the god of ALO and rubbing in Kirito's face that there's nothing he can do to stop him. This culminates in him pinning Kirito down and making him watch as he molests Asuna just to rub in how powerless he is rather than just finish him off and be done with it... which allows Kayaba to grant Kirito access to his admin ID, which outranks Sugou's own, and allows Kirito to finally put Sugou in his place. For his ego, Sugou lost everything and landed himself in prison.
Promoted to Playable: He, or at least his Oberon Avatar, is playable in Accel World VS. Sword Art Online: Millennium Twilight. He's appropriately pathetic.
Psychopathic Manchild: While he can put up a respectable front, Beneath the Mask Sugou is a physically weak, morally spineless coward who just wants to slobber all over Asuna, both in-game and over her comatose body in real-life, and throws temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way. Best shown when Kayaba's Virtual Ghost overrides his control of the game and gives Kirito admin privileges; Sugou whines and throws a temper tantrum, griping about how even in death, Kayaba's getting in his way and taking everything that Sugou considers rightfully his. Immediately afterwards, when Kirito gives him a small cut on the cheek with the Pain Absorber set to 0, Sugou has a minor Freak Out and whines over the pain like a child with a scraped knee. Made even more blatant in the original Japanese; Sugou uses the gentle-masculine "Boku" (normally used by little-boys) to refer to himself (instead of the coarse-masculine "Ore" or gender-neutral "watashi" expected of a grown-man), further accentuating that beneath his Mask of Sanity is a sinister Spoiled Brat.
Put on a Prison Bus: After his final battle with Kirito in the real world, Sugou is taken into police custody. He still appears through mentions.
Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: If all of his inhumane acts weren't enough, like hijacking all of the SAO captives and running experiments on their minds, just to show how much of an absolute bastard he is, he tries to rape Asuna in front of Kirito, after having stabbed him through the back with his own sword.
Sadist: Not only does he meddle with the Pain Absorber to torture Kirito, Sugou goes so far as to pin him down and sexually assault Asuna right in front of him, just to make him suffer psychologically. He even takes the time to look right at Kirito, smirk, and laugh while doing so. He also seems to thrive on trying to be a Hope Crusher towards Asuna, and is ecstatic when Asuna attempts to reassure Kirito, saying nothing Sugou does will really hurt her.
Sugou: I was hoping you'd say that. But I wonder how long your pride's going to last. Thirty minutes? An hour? Why don't we see how long you can HANG ON TO IT?!
Satanic Archetype: If Kayaba is the equivalent of God and Kirito is the Messianic Archetype, then this makes Sugou the Devil, the personification of everything awful. He once worked for Kayaba, but was always his inferior, however once given the chance Sugou seizes the world and its people, declaring himself its new god and ruler. However, he's no match for the intervention of the real God, where Kayaba's Virtual Ghost steps in to give Kirito the means to beat him. As Kirito puts it, Sugou is a "King of Thieves, sitting alone on [his] stolen throne." His Light Is Not Good theme only makes it all the more apparent, giving him a parallel to the figure of Lucifer or Lightbringer. Moreover, his motives for world domination allude to Satan's moniker, "Prince of the Power of the Air".
Screams Like a Little Girl: While he has a deep voice in the Japanese version, Sugou nonetheless lets out a very high-pitched scream when Kirito chops his arm off in-game, and later when Kazuto nearly slits his throat in real-life.
Sexier Alter Ego: He seems to be going for this with the Oberon character, given it's long blond hair, fancy clothes, and lack of glasses. His facial expressions and body language ruin the effect, though.
Shut Up, Kirk!: When Asuna expresses disgust at Sugou using the SAO survivors for mind control research and claims that such technology is illegal, Sugou retorts that several countries are researching mind control technology just as he is, with the only obstacle being human experimentation.
Single-Target Sexuality: He's only stalkerishly obsessed with Asuna. In Accel World vs Sword Art Online, while he does lewd other girls, once he lays eyes on Asuna he became fixated with her and her only, ignoring all of the other girls present.
Sissy Villain: Speaks in a florid, posh and effeminite manner, even using gentle-masculine "Boku" (normally used by boys) to refer to himself (instead of the coarse-masculine "Ore" or even the gender-neutral "watashi" expected of a grown man), further accentuating his immaturity, and his ALO avatar Oberon is a blonde Long-Haired Pretty Boy.
Slasher Smile: He gives a big, toothy one◊ after chaining Asuna up.
Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: He kidnapped 300 SAO survivors and trapped them in ALO for the express purpose of performing inhumane Mind Control experiments on him. He also makes the threat that if Asuna won't voluntary submit to him, then he'll simply brainwash her into loving him. He also intended to do this to Kirito to pry his mind for information.
Slimeball: Unlike Kayaba, Sugou has no redeeming qualities and goes out of his way to be as despicable as possible. He's a Smug Snake, Dirty Coward, and Corrupt Corporate Executive who performs inhumane mind control experiments on 300 SAO survivors, thinks himself above everyone else, keeps Asuna prisoner in ALO to lord over her in a birdcage before trying to rape her outright while making Kirito watch, and lastly, makes an attempt on Kazuto's life IRL. Every moment he's on-screen seems devoted to making the audience cheer every time Kirito turns the tables on him.
Small Name, Big Ego: He talks big, describing himself as an incredibly powerful man, to the point of claiming to be a god but is really the poor man's version of Akihiko Kayaba and after the latter's Big Damn Heroes moment in Alfheim, he shows that he knows it too. Kirito even spells it out for him, telling him point-blank that he's nothing but a thief mooching off Kayaba's work:
Kirito: You stole everything in this world. Everything! Including its people! You're nothing but a king of thieves, sitting alone on your stolen throne!
Small Role, Big Impact: For the War of the Underworld subarc of the Alicization Arc. Sugou's spy in the Ocean Turtle leaks out the info of their tech and research, thus leading to the NSA going after it and hiring Glowgen Defense Systems to seize it, and thus causing the entire subarc.
Smug Snake: He constantly acts smug and arrogant, and tends to speak in a slick tone... but that's only because he has the powers of a Game Master; the second the tables turn on him, he loses it and throws a temper tantrum.
The Sociopath: He's a straighter example than Kayaba, wanting to perform inhumane mind control experiments on 300 SAO survivors, whom he openly describes as "guinea pigs" rather than people, and making an incapacitated Kirito watch as he tries to rape Asuna without a flicker of remorse. Sugou also has a grandiose sense of self-worth, declaring himself a god and believing that he's entitled to have Asuna despite the fact that she can't stand him, and unlike Kayaba, he's a vicious sadist who revels in his cruelty and evil. He's a high-functioning sociopath, hiding his true nature to Asuna's father by playing the part of a friendly, polite Honest Corporate Executive.
Spoiled Brat: It is likely that being a spoiled rotten "prince" of a Zaibatsu family since childhood, having what he wants when he wants removed Sugou's need to ever take responsibility for his actions, and hence destroyed his ability to empathize with the rest of humanity in adulthood. When he loses to Kirito, he outright whines and throws a temper tantrum over the fact that things aren't going his way.
Stalker with a Crush:
- To Asuna. He sniffs her hair while she's in a coma, traps her in ALO just to lord over her in a bird cage, constantly gropes and sniffs her, and finally licks her face and rips her clothes off before trying to rape her outright, all while stating that he's going to record the act and then molest her unconscious body while watching said recording.
- Implied to have been this towards Rinko during their school years, the Light Novel revealing that he tried to court her. Whether or not this was genuine attraction and just wanting what was Kayaba's is never clarified.
Suddenly Shouting: As Oberon, he often screams in the midst of talking.
Take Over the World: What he ultimately strives to do is perfect his mind control technology and assert himself as God of the world.
Tears of Fear: He's reduced to balling his eyes out in sheer terror when Kazuto nearly slits his throat IRL.
They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Sugou is a power-hungry sociopath with a god complex, and in real-life, looks like your average everyday guy in a business suit and glasses. Even Kirito didn't realize his true colors until Sugou sniffed Asuna's hair and gloated about their upcoming marriage.
This Cannot Be!: His response when Kirito gains access to Kayaba's ID and Game Master privileges, and uses them to strip Sugou of his own admin privileges.
Sugou: An ID that outranks mine?! That's impossible! This is my world! I'm the creator! I'm its ruler! Its king! Its god!
Trumplica: Probably not intentional, but Sugou is practically a satire of the younger 1980's era Donald Trump, being a creepy and sexist Corrupt Corporate Executive with an overinflated sense of self-worth without an inch of modesty & humility, wrapped in a tacky over-expensive suit & Slimeball haircut. Even moreso in his Oberon persona, where he is a bombastic, tantrum-throwing blonde autocrat who never takes responsibility for his own mistakes, abuses his authority & rules his kingdom with an iron fist, additionally taking depraved satisfaction in humiliating & dominating beautiful young women, mainly Asuna but implied to have also done so to countless female AI.
Underestimating Badassery: He gravely underestimates Kirito, dismissing him as a "weak little boy" and believing he'll be too scared to enter ALO to save Asuna. This arrogance costs Sugou everything and results in him being locked up, his dreams and ambitions crushed and his body permanently damaged. This extends to real life, where he thinks wielding a knife will be enough to kill Kirito, only to have the boy turn the tides, steal his knife, and very nearly kill Sugou.
Unskilled, but Strong: He's pathetic combat-wise, but gets by throughout most of the Fairy Dance arc purely by abusing his admin privileges to give himself overpowered stats, equipment, and magic to fight Kirito with. Once he's stripped of his Game Master status, Sugou proves to be no match for Kirito even with the strongest weapon in ALO, failing to land even a single hit before Kirito literally rips him to shreds.
Video Game Cruelty Potential: ALO is his own personal outlet for endulging in his sick fantasies, from sexually assaulting Asuna to torturing Kirito.
Viler New Villain: Akihiko Kayaba was no saint, but he had his own moral code and stuck to it to the end. Sugou has none of Kayaba's Affably Evil traits and is just an amoral, greedy, perverted Jerkass who commits such horrifying atrocities as trapping 300 SAO survivors for the sake of performing mind control experiments, trying to rape Asuna while making Kirito watch, and then trying to kill Kazuto IRL. And while Kayaba had Villainous Valor, was a good fighter even without admin privileges, and ultimately took his defeat well, Sugou is a Dirty Coward who knows he doesn't stand a chance against Kirito without Game Master powers and wimps out when the tables turn on him.
Villain Ball: When he has Kirito pinned down in ALO, rather than just finish him off and be done with it, Sugou decides to indulge his sadism by slowly decreasing the Pain Absorber to "give him something to look forward to", and then make him watch while he sexually assaults Asuna. This buys Kayaba's Virtual Ghost time to save Kirito and grant him admin privileges, leading to the Pain Absorber being used against Sugou himself and Sugou being chopped up and left with permanent injuries IRL. Sugou had no way of foreseeing Kayaba's intervention, but deciding to torment Kirito before killing him was still a stupid move.
Villain Has a Point: Yes, Sugou is a total bastard, but he makes a valid point when he remarks to Asuna that Kayaba's FullDive technology had far more potential and uses than simply making a video game, and that Kayaba was foolish to not want more out of it. Indeed, Kayaba's tech has found other uses beyond game development, most notably with the Medicuboid and the Soul Translator^note.
Sugou: Mr. Kayaba was a genius, but he was also a fool. All he wanted to use his technology for was his game. He couldn't see the potential in it. But I did.
Villainous Breakdown: After Kirito foils his plans, Sugou eventually loses his Faux Affably Evil demeanor he'd shown for most of his appearances, and is openly angry with him when he tries to kill him in real-life. Kirito just barely manages to stop himself from slitting Sugou's throat with his own knife, after which Sugou wets himself and faints.
Sugou: You... bastard! You little boy... You're a piece of scum! You don't have any real power!
Kirito: Neither do you, Sugou.
Sugou: DIE, DAMN YOU!!!
Villainous Crush: His attempts at "courting" Asuna amount to putting her in a cage and threatening her memories. He also apparently had one on Rinko Koujiro, Kayaba's girlfriend.
What the Hell, Hero?: He gives a completely unjustified one to Kirito during his Last Villain Stand, calling him out on torturing and killing him in ALO and telling him that what he did was cruel. Of course, Sugou has no room to talk, considering that he himself tortured Kirito and tried to rape Asuna right in front of him on top of committing other horrifying atrocities.
Where's the Fun in That?: He remarks to Asuna that he could alter her memories if he wanted to, but claims he won't because such an option wouldn't be fun.
Sugou: If I wanted, I could alter your memories too. Don't worry, the last thing I'd ever want to do is turn you into a porcelain doll.
Wicked Pretentious: Sugou may appear sophisticated to most, but those who've seen his true self know that he's a self-absorbed and arrogant psychopath who's nothing but a creepy Psychopathic Manchild.
Worf Had the Flu: He comes pretty close to killing Kirito in the real world, but fails due to the bad vision in his right eye, causing him to miss with the killing blow and allowing Kirito to beat him.
Wound That Will Not Heal: Because Kirito inflicted grievous wounds on him with the pain absorber set 0, he experiences phantom pain in the real world and is blind in one eye. It can't be cured because there is physically nothing wrong with him.
Your Mind Makes It Real: When changing the Pain Absorber to torture Kirito, Sugou remarks that once it hits 3, any wounds he suffers in-game will affect his body in the real world. Once he gets Kayaba's admin privileges, Kirito turns the Pain Absorber off completely before chopping Sugou up, leaving him with permanent real-world injuries.
You're Nothing Without Your Phlebotinum: He only ever has the upper hand against Kirito by using his Game Master powers to give himself overpowered stats, equipment, and magic. When Kirito, granted admin privileges by Kayaba's Virtual Ghost, revokes Sugou's own admin privileges and strips him of said stats and gear, Sugou is cut down, and up, in less than a minute. In his Last Villain Stand, he attacks Kirito IRL expecting this to apply, only for Kirito to prove to be Brought Down to Badass and beat him senseless.
Sugou: You don't have any real power!
Kirito: And neither do you, Sugou!

Characters / Sword Art Online - Nobuyuki Sugou

Nobuyuki Sugou / Oberon the Fairy King (ALO)

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English), Enric Puig (European Spanish), José Gilberto Vilchis (Latin American Spanish)

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Characters / Sword Art Online - Nobuyuki Sugou

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Nobuyuki Sugou / Oberon the Fairy King (ALO)

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English), Enric Puig (European Spanish), José Gilberto Vilchis (Latin American Spanish)

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