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[[center: [-[[Characters/SwordArtOnline Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineMajorCharacters Major Characters]] | '''Kazuto Kirigaya''' | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad Aincrad]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlfheimOnline Alfheim Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineGunGaleOnline Gun Gale Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineUnderworld Underworld]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAntagonists Antagonists]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineOthers Others]]]]-]
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[[center: [-[[Characters/SwordArtOnline Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineMajorCharacters Major Characters]] | '''Kazuto Kirigaya''' | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad Aincrad]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlfheimOnline Alfheim Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineGunGaleOnline Gun Gale Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineUnderworld Underworld]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAntagonists Antagonists]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineVideoGame Video Game Exclusives]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineOthers Others]]]]-]
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[[center: [-[[Characters/SwordArtOnline Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineProtagonists Protagonists]] | '''Kazuto Kirigaya''' | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad Aincrad]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlfheimOnline Alfheim Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineGunGaleOnline Gun Gale Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineUnderworld Underworld]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAntagonists Antagonists]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineOthers Others]]]]-]
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[[center: [-[[Characters/SwordArtOnline Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineProtagonists Protagonists]] [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineMajorCharacters Major Characters]] | '''Kazuto Kirigaya''' | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad Aincrad]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlfheimOnline Alfheim Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineGunGaleOnline Gun Gale Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineUnderworld Underworld]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAntagonists Antagonists]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineOthers Others]]]]-]
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** It happens again in the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc, though further time playing ALO has allowed Kirito enough practice that he imitate some simpler Sword Skills very well without any system assist, such as "Horizontal Square" and "Vorpal Strike" in GGO with his Photon Sword. Versus most GGO players, who have spent 99% of their time in game combat in gun fights, don't even have a clue how to dodge melee attacks. Unfortunately for Kirito, the enemy he's chasing, Death Gun, ''does'' [[spoiler:as he's a SAO Survivor as well, and has been practicing with the same Estoc skills he used in SAO. To make matters worse, he has fought Kirito before, so he know's Kirito's fighting style, and has an equipment advantage as Kirito's Photon sword doesn't have the heavy weight he's used to with swords, whereas Death Gun's weapon (made from starship armor plate materials) has a similar weight to his old Estoc, allowing him to easily parry and overcome Kirito and his Photon Sword.]] Also, Kirito keeps finding himself trying to sheath his Photon Sword onto a non-existent sheath on his back, only to sheath into air before remembering he hooks it onto this belt.
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** It happens again in the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc, though further time playing ALO has allowed Kirito enough practice that he imitate some simpler Sword Skills very well without any system assist, such as "Horizontal Square" and "Vorpal Strike" in GGO with his Photon Sword. Versus most GGO players, who have spent 99% of their time in game combat in gun fights, don't even have a clue how to dodge melee attacks. Unfortunately for Kirito, the enemy he's chasing, Death Gun, ''does'' [[spoiler:as he's a SAO Survivor as well, and has been practicing with the same Estoc skills he used in SAO. To make matters worse, he has fought Kirito before, so he know's Kirito's fighting style, and has an equipment advantage as Kirito's Photon sword doesn't have the heavy weight he's used to with swords, whereas Death Gun's weapon (made from starship armor plate materials) has a similar weight to his old Estoc, allowing him to easily parry and overcome Kirito and his Photon Sword.]] Also, Kirito keeps finding himself trying to sheath his Photon Sword onto a non-existent sheath on his back, only to sheath into air before remembering he hooks it onto this belt.]]
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** It happens again in the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc, though further time playing ALO has allowed Kirito enough practice that he imitate some simpler Sword Skills very well without any system assist, such as "Horizontal Square" and "Vorpal Strike" in GGO with his Photon Sword. Versus most GGO players, who have spent 99% of their time in game combat in gun fights, don't even have a clue how to dodge melee attacks. Unfortunately for Kirito, the enemy he's chasing, Death Gun, ''does'' [[spoiler:as he's a SAO Survivor as well, and has been practicing with the same Estoc skills he used in SAO. To make matters worse, he has fought Kirito before, so he know's Kirito's fighting style, and has an equipment advantage as Kirito's Photon sword doesn't have the heavy weight he's used to with swords, whereas Death Gun's weapon (made from starship armor plate materials) has a similar weight to his old Estoc, allowing him to easily parry and overcome Kirito and his Photon Sword.]]
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** It happens again in the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc, though further time playing ALO has allowed Kirito enough practice that he imitate some simpler Sword Skills very well without any system assist, such as "Horizontal Square" and "Vorpal Strike" in GGO with his Photon Sword. Versus most GGO players, who have spent 99% of their time in game combat in gun fights, don't even have a clue how to dodge melee attacks. Unfortunately for Kirito, the enemy he's chasing, Death Gun, ''does'' [[spoiler:as he's a SAO Survivor as well, and has been practicing with the same Estoc skills he used in SAO. To make matters worse, he has fought Kirito before, so he know's Kirito's fighting style, and has an equipment advantage as Kirito's Photon sword doesn't have the heavy weight he's used to with swords, whereas Death Gun's weapon (made from starship armor plate materials) has a similar weight to his old Estoc, allowing him to easily parry and overcome Kirito and his Photon Sword.]]]] Also, Kirito keeps finding himself trying to sheath his Photon Sword onto a non-existent sheath on his back, only to sheath into air before remembering he hooks it onto this belt.
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* CallingYourAttacks: Not so much in the main series, but in the video games he has a tendency to call out his attacks, especially his [[SignatureAttack signature]] "Starburst Stream".
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--->[[spoiler:'''[=PoH=]''']]: [[spoiler:As expected, that’s what I’m talking about. But... this isn’t the end. Even if you log out from this world, I show up in front of you all, over and over again. It doesn’t matter how many times I do it before I slit the throats and tear out the hearts of both you and the "Flash".]]
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--->[[spoiler:'''[=PoH=]''']]: [[spoiler:As expected, that’s what I’m talking about. But... this isn’t the end. Even if you log out from this world, I show up in front of you all, over and over again. It doesn’t matter how many times I do it before I slit the throats and tear out the hearts of both you and the "Flash"."Flash"...]]
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Translation scans update.
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--->[[spoiler:'''[=PoH=]''']]: [[spoiler:As expected, it really is awful. However... this isn't over. Even if I logged out from this world, I'll show up in front of you over and over again. I'll slit the throat of the "Flash" with you and wait multiple times until it breaks out my heart...]]
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--->[[spoiler:'''[=PoH=]''']]: [[spoiler:As expected, it really is awful. However... that’s what I’m talking about. But... this isn't over. isn’t the end. Even if I logged you log out from this world, I'll I show up in front of you all, over and over again. I'll It doesn’t matter how many times I do it before I slit the throat of throats and tear out the "Flash" with hearts of both you and wait multiple times until it breaks out my heart...the "Flash".]]
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** [[spoiler:He gets another one that's bigger than he is for beating the final boss in Ordinal Scale.]]
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* SupernaturalGoldEyes: When his determination is at its peak, his eyes turn from dark grey to bright yellow. [[spoiler:This is seen when he lands the final blow on Heathcliff and Death Gun, as well as during his final push in ALO's Grand Quest.]]
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* SupernaturalGoldEyes: When his determination is at its peak, his eyes turn from dark grey to bright yellow. [[spoiler:This is seen when he lands the final blow on Heathcliff and Death Gun, as well as during his final push in ALO's Grand Quest.Quest, and saving Yuuna from The Fatal Scythe.]]
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Added his birth name and birth parents that was revealed in a prologue for the next arc in Dengeki Bunko MAGAZINE vol. 59
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His parents died in a car accident when he was a toddler, but was promptly adopted by his aunt. From a very young age, Kazuto developed an extraordinary ability with computers in general, and at age 10, he was able to hack into the Japan's National Registry, where he found out about his adoption. After this discovery, he started to distance himself from his family and started to compulsively play MMO-RPG games under the nickname "Kirito" as a mean of escapism.
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Born Kazuto Narusaka to Yukito and Aoi Narusaka. His parents died in a car accident when he was a toddler, but was promptly adopted by his aunt. From a very young age, Kazuto developed an extraordinary ability with computers in general, and at age 10, he was able to hack into the Japan's National Registry, where he found out about his adoption. After this discovery, he started to distance himself from his family and started to compulsively play MMO-RPG games under the nickname "Kirito" as a mean of escapism.
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* SwordOverHead: [[spoiler:Sugou is finally held with a knife to his throat by Kirito in real life. [[WhatYouAreInTheDark With no one else around at so late an hour, Kirito could easily kill him and put him out of everyone's misery...]] [[CruelMercy But he doesn't. He simply beats Sugou to a barely-breathing pulp and leaves him for the police.]]]]
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* SwordOverHead: [[spoiler:Sugou is finally held with a knife to his throat by Kirito in real life. [[WhatYouAreInTheDark With no one else around at so late an hour, Kirito could easily kill him and put him out of everyone's misery...]] [[CruelMercy But he doesn't. He simply beats Sugou to a barely-breathing pulp and leaves him for the police.]]]]
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* ThatOneGuy: Post Aincrad, his close circle of friends and in-game party are all girls: Asuna, Yui, Lisbeth, Silica, Leafa, Sinon. Though Klein sometimes tags along.
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* ThanksForTheMammary:
** The initial example occurs in the Aincrad arc of the anime, where Asuna falls out of a portal and ends up landing on top of him. He obliviously pushes upwards [[AccidentalPervert and ends up grabbing her boob]]. [[PervertRevengeMode She slaps him into a pillar in retaliation]].
** Following this incident, the non-canon game ''Hollow Fragments'' has a notorious tendency to make Kirito do this to other girls. He falls on top of Leafa where he ends up grabbing her boob before he comments how its gotten bigger. He later is trapped with Sinon in a tight enclosed space and grabs her boob as well. It's almost like Kirito's hand is a boob magnet.
* ThatOneGuy: Post Aincrad, his close circle of friends and in-game party areall almost entirely girls: Asuna, Yui, Lisbeth, Silica, Leafa, Sinon. Though Klein sometimes tags along.
** The initial example occurs in the Aincrad arc of the anime, where Asuna falls out of a portal and ends up landing on top of him. He obliviously pushes upwards [[AccidentalPervert and ends up grabbing her boob]]. [[PervertRevengeMode She slaps him into a pillar in retaliation]].
** Following this incident, the non-canon game ''Hollow Fragments'' has a notorious tendency to make Kirito do this to other girls. He falls on top of Leafa where he ends up grabbing her boob before he comments how its gotten bigger. He later is trapped with Sinon in a tight enclosed space and grabs her boob as well. It's almost like Kirito's hand is a boob magnet.
* ThatOneGuy: Post Aincrad, his close circle of friends and in-game party are
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** Hearing about a ghost story tied to the woods in which he and Asuna had purchased a house on Floor 22, Kirito proceed to lay it on thick while relaying the ghost story to Asuna. Her reactions just kept getting better and better... [[spoiler:and then the "ghost girl in white" appeared: Yui.]]
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** Hearing about a ghost story tied to the woods in which he and Asuna had purchased a house on Floor 22, Kirito proceed proceeded to lay it on thick while relaying the ghost story to Asuna. Her reactions just kept getting better and better... [[spoiler:and then the "ghost girl in white" appeared: Yui.]]
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** This extends to the real world. While outside the house near a tap, he tells his Sugu to turn around and puts drops water down her back, ''her scream can be heard for miles''.
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* TokenSuper:
** During the Aincrad arc, Kirito is the only known player to possess the DualWielding skill set, which the game granted to the player with the fastest reaction time. There's also the fact that he was a beta-player with insanely high stats so that normal players can't inflict any lasting damage on him. All of this gave him a huge advantage over other players, where he would end up as TheChampion of any party or guild he joined.
** The following arcs continue this by either allowing him to use an OldSaveBonus from his Aincrad avatar (which is comparatively more powerful than anybody else on the game), or his immense amounts of experience playing make him an absurdly dangerous melee player.
** During the Aincrad arc, Kirito is the only known player to possess the DualWielding skill set, which the game granted to the player with the fastest reaction time. There's also the fact that he was a beta-player with insanely high stats so that normal players can't inflict any lasting damage on him. All of this gave him a huge advantage over other players, where he would end up as TheChampion of any party or guild he joined.
** The following arcs continue this by either allowing him to use an OldSaveBonus from his Aincrad avatar (which is comparatively more powerful than anybody else on the game), or his immense amounts of experience playing make him an absurdly dangerous melee player.
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* TokenSuper:
**TokenSuper: During the Aincrad arc, Kirito is the only known player to possess the DualWielding skill set, which the game granted to the player with the fastest reaction time. There's also the fact that he was a beta-player with insanely high stats so that normal players can't inflict any lasting damage on him. All of As this gave him a huge advantage over other players, where he would end up skill cannot be attained through conventional methods, in this setting it counts as a power. With it, Kirito was easily TheChampion of any party or guild he joined.
** The following arcs continue this by either allowingjoined and was capable of taking on extremely difficult bosses. Later games allowed him to use load an OldSaveBonus from his Aincrad avatar (which is comparatively more powerful than anybody else on the game), or avatar, which by his immense amounts of experience playing make him an absurdly dangerous melee player. own admission was cheating due to it carrying over his insanely high stats that were unseen in said games.
**
** The following arcs continue this by either allowing
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** This translates over to GGO as well. Once again having a converted account with all of his stats from SAO and ALO, his speed is unbelievable and he can [[BulletTime dodge bullets]] from ''almost'' point-blank rage. Sinon notes that he can pull off these impossible dodge maneuvers even though he lacks even the most fundamental knowledge of guns in the game.
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** This translates over to GGO as well. Once again having a converted account with all of his stats from SAO and ALO, his speed is unbelievable and he can [[BulletTime dodge bullets]] from ''almost'' point-blank rage.rage, and deflect bullets with his LaserBlade even without the Trajectory Prediction Line. Sinon notes that he can pull off these impossible dodge maneuvers even though he lacks even the most fundamental knowledge of guns in the game.
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* StockLightNovelHero: Kirito is the most well-known example of the trope and quite possibly the TropeCodifier. He's an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent with a BadassLongcoat, an InvincibleHero, a CluelessChickMagnet, and acquires new weapons or abilities without any sort of training whatsoever.
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** Later revealed to be a specific skill to protect against attacks, as showcased in the Underworld.
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* TokenSuper:
** During the Aincrad arc, Kirito is the only known player to possess the DualWielding skill set, which the game granted to the player with the fastest reaction time. There's also the fact that he was a beta-player with insanely high stats so that normal players can't inflict any lasting damage on him. All of this gave him a huge advantage over other players, where he would end up as TheChampion of any party or guild he joined.
** The following arcs continue this by either allowing him to use an OldSaveBonus from his Aincrad avatar (which is comparatively more powerful than anybody else on the game), or his immense amounts of experience playing make him an absurdly dangerous melee player.
** During the Aincrad arc, Kirito is the only known player to possess the DualWielding skill set, which the game granted to the player with the fastest reaction time. There's also the fact that he was a beta-player with insanely high stats so that normal players can't inflict any lasting damage on him. All of this gave him a huge advantage over other players, where he would end up as TheChampion of any party or guild he joined.
** The following arcs continue this by either allowing him to use an OldSaveBonus from his Aincrad avatar (which is comparatively more powerful than anybody else on the game), or his immense amounts of experience playing make him an absurdly dangerous melee player.
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weapon update
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** '''SAO''': Anneal Blade (1H Straight Sword, quest reward), Elucidator (1H Straight Sword, drop) and Dark Repulser (1H Straight Sword, crafted by Lisbeth)
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** '''SAO''': Anneal Blade (1H Straight Sword, quest reward), Queen's Knightsword (1H Straight Sword, quest reward), Elucidator (1H Straight Sword, drop) and Dark Repulser (1H Straight Sword, crafted by Lisbeth)
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** '''Underworld''': Sword of Night Sky [[spoiler:and Sword of Blue Rose]]
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** '''Underworld''': Sword of Night Sky (1H Straight Sword, forged) [[spoiler:and Sword of Blue Rose]]
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* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: When Kirito uses Metamorphosis to turn into a Gleam-Eyes monster, he gets less rational as well and resorting to biting enemies. Kirito states he only half remembers things while in this state.
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* StrongAndSkilled: Kirito has extremely high stats to use in combat, as well as the knowledge and skill to make the best of them. It gets downplayed in later seasons when he tries new games using his old avatar, where he retains his stats but lacks the experience making him Unskilled, but Strong.
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* StrongAndSkilled: Kirito has extremely high stats to use in combat, as well as the knowledge and skill to make the best of them. It gets downplayed in later seasons when he tries new games using his old avatar, where he retains his stats but lacks the experience making him Unskilled, but Strong.UnskilledButStrong.
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* VoluntaryShapeshifting: He learns a Metamorphsis spell in ALO that transforms him into a Gleam-eyes monster.
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Added new trope
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*StrongAndSkilled: Kirito has extremely high stats to use in combat, as well as the knowledge and skill to make the best of them. It gets downplayed in later seasons when he tries new games using his old avatar, where he retains his stats but lacks the experience making him Unskilled, but Strong.
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* TechnicalPacifist: Back during Aincrad, he really rather not kill anyone if he can help it, instead preferring to disarm Player Killers and forcing them to surrender. He even has [=PTSD=] over the few times he was forced to kill in self defense. That said, if given both the reason and the power, he ''will'' make you suffer, like when he cut Sugou part with the pain simulation turned to max, or trapping [=PoH=] inside a tree in a game that runs on YearInsideHourOutside.
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* TookALevelInJerkass: Downplayed, but in his first encounter with Lisbeth, he's notably passive-aggressive and subtly hostile to someone he's trying to buy a sword from.
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* YouShallNotPass: Kirito pulls one in ''Mother's Rosario'' to stall some rival guilds and buy time for the Sleeping Knights to kill the boss. He [[LetsGetSerious gets serious]] by not only DualWielding but by using [[LegendaryWeapon Excalibur]].
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* YouShallNotPass: Kirito pulls one in ''Mother's Rosario'' to stall some rival guilds and buy time for the Sleeping Knights to kill the boss. He [[LetsGetSerious [[LetsGetDangerous gets serious]] by not only DualWielding but by using [[LegendaryWeapon Excalibur]].
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* AnimeHair: His first ALO avatar had stereotypical spiky hair. However Yui disliked it as it made it difficult for her to sit on, so he changed it back to his usual style.
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* YouShallNotPass: Kirito pulls one in ''Mother's Rosario'' to stall some rival guilds and buy time for the Sleeping Knights to kill the boss. He [[LetsGetSerious gets serious]] by not only DualWielding but by using [[LegendaryWeapon Excalibur]].
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** Played around with. Kirito's stats are so high in the VRMMO games he plays that he can take on raiding parties or a powerful event boss like Nicholas the Renegade and emerge victorious as a solo player. At the same time, this fact makes him arrogant, as shown in ''Fairy Dance'' when he falls victim to a massive ZergRush [[spoiler:and a real-world psycho with GM privileges]].
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** Played around with. Kirito's stats are so high in the VRMMO games he plays that he can take on raiding parties or a powerful event boss like Nicholas the Renegade and emerge victorious as a solo player. At the same time, this fact makes him arrogant, as shown in arrogant and he will overestimate his own capabilities.
** In the ''Fairy Dance''when arc where he falls victim to gets a massive ZergRush [[spoiler:and and attempts to take on the "[[HopelessBossFight World Tree Grand Quest]]" all on his own. He actually does quite well and takes out all of the melee guardians on his own. He only gets overwhelmed by a real-world psycho with GM privileges]].RainOfArrows and blades that impale him from all angels, eventually depleting his HP.
** In the ''Fairy Dance''
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* SanitySlippage: Upon finding out that Asuna is indeed trapped at the top of the World Tree, Kirito's mind snaps and he goes on a suicidal RoaringRampageOfRevenge. He completely loses his rationality and his usual calm demeanor, SuddenlyShouting, repeating [[SayMyName Asuna's name]] like a MadnessMantra and even gives off a [[SlasherSmile suicidal smile]].
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* SanitySlippage: Upon finding out that Asuna is indeed trapped at the top of the World Tree, Kirito's mind snaps and he goes on a suicidal RoaringRampageOfRevenge.ZergRush. He completely loses his rationality and his usual calm demeanor, SuddenlyShouting, repeating [[SayMyName Asuna's name]] like a MadnessMantra and even gives off a [[SlasherSmile suicidal smile]].
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* SanitySlippage: Upon finding out that Asuna is indeed trapped at the top of the World Tree, Kirito's mind snaps and he goes on a suicidal RoaringRampageOfRevenge. He completely loses his rationality and his usual calm demeanor, SuddenlyShouting, repeating [[SayMyName Asuna's name]] like a MadnessMantra and even gives off a [[SlasherSmile suicidal smile]].
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* ArmorPiercingSlap: Happens to him at least OnceASeason due to him somehow annoying the female protagonist of a respective arc, quite often due to him being an AccidentalPervert.
** Asuna delivers one to him after he accidentally gropes her when she falls on top him. A few episodes later she also gave him an Armor Piercing Punch after she strips off her clothes thinking Kirito wanted sex, before he awkwardly explains the misunderstanding.
** Leafa gives him one after Kirito tries to [[TheGadfly mess with her]] by biting her hand, due to him being in a monster form earlier that ate some Salamanders.
** Sinon slaps him for making her believe Kirito [[{{GIRL}} was a girl due to his avatar]], which led to her stripping down to her underwear in front of him.
** Asuna delivers one to him after he accidentally gropes her when she falls on top him. A few episodes later she also gave him an Armor Piercing Punch after she strips off her clothes thinking Kirito wanted sex, before he awkwardly explains the misunderstanding.
** Leafa gives him one after Kirito tries to [[TheGadfly mess with her]] by biting her hand, due to him being in a monster form earlier that ate some Salamanders.
** Sinon slaps him for making her believe Kirito [[{{GIRL}} was a girl due to his avatar]], which led to her stripping down to her underwear in front of him.
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* SignatureMove: In SAO, it's the "Starburst Stream" a [[BladeSpam 16-hit]] [[DualWielding Dual Blades]] sword skill.
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* SignatureMove: In SAO, SAO it's the various Sword Arts from his [[DualWielding Dual Blades]]. In particular his ultimate attack is the "Starburst Stream" Stream", a [[BladeSpam 16-hit]] [[DualWielding Dual Blades]] sword skill.
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* ActionHero: The WorldsBestWarrior in SAO and one of the top players in subsequent games. He can be relied on to clear up any tough boss or red player that's posing a threat.
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* BroughtDownToBadass: He's in reality. He's just a scrawny guy who's been in a coma for the last year, and you've just stabbed his arm in a sneak attack. He has no gear, no Sword Arts, no insanely high level. Think you can take him in a fight? So did Sugou.
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* BroughtDownToBadass: He's this in reality. He's just a scrawny guy who's been in a coma for the last year, and you've just stabbed his arm in a sneak attack. He has no gear, no Sword Arts, no insanely high level. Think you can take him in a fight? So did Sugou.
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** Happens again in ''Hollow Fragment'' where a duel with Leafa ends with him landing on her and accidentally groping her boob. Kirito comments how it seems to have gotten bigger.
* BizarreTasteInFood: Kirito evidently has a fondness for extremely spicy food which others can't handle.
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* BreakTheCutie: Let's see, finding out that his parents actually died when he was 2 at the age of 10, being trapped in a VRMMORPG where if people die, they die for real, encountering some particularly nasty folks who still wanted to kill people, and being nearly killed by one of them, and seeing his closest friends die yet again have really hit him so hard that he almost [[DrivenToSuicide attemped suicide]], and ''twice''!
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* BreakTheCutie: BreakTheBadass: Let's see, finding out that his parents actually died when he was 2 at the age of 10, being trapped in a VRMMORPG where if people die, they die for real, encountering some particularly nasty folks who still wanted to kill people, and being nearly killed by one of them, and seeing his closest friends die yet again have really hit him so hard that he almost [[DrivenToSuicide attemped suicide]], and ''twice''!
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[[center: [-[[Characters/SwordArtOnline Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineProtagonists Protagonists]] | '''Kazuto Kirigaya''' | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad Aincrad]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlfheimOnline Alfheim Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineGunGaleOnline Gun Gale Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineUnderworld Underworld]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAntagonists Antagonists]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineOthers Others]]]]-]
This page details the main protagonist himself, Kirito, in ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline''.
->Real world names are in western naming order. Followed by their online name and worlds they played in.[[note]]If only the online name is known, then display as normal.[[/note]]
'''Note: Unmarked spoilers ahead.'''[[note]]Especially from the web novels.[[/note]] '''If you're starting the anime, ''do not'' read this page!'''
[[header:Kazuto Kirigaya / Kirito (SAO, ALO, GGO) / Star King (UW)]]
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aincrad_kirito.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: [[labelnote:Click here to see Kirito's first ALO avatar]] http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alo_kirito_0.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350: [[labelnote:Click here to see Kirito's second ALO avatar]] http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/new_alo_kirito_6.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350: [[labelnote:Click here to see Kirito's GGO avatar]] http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ggo_kirito.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350: [[labelnote:Click here to see Kirito in Hollow Realization]] http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ainground_kirito_6.png [[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YoshitsuguMatsuoka (Japanese), Creator/BrycePapenbrook (English), Luis Leonardo Suarez (Latin American Spanish), Darío Torrent (European Spanish)
->''"I got this... I can do this! This world can't beat me! [[SurvivalMantra I will survive!"]]''
The protagonist of the series.
His parents died in a car accident when he was a toddler, but was promptly adopted by his aunt. From a very young age, Kazuto developed an extraordinary ability with computers in general, and at age 10, he was able to hack into the Japan's National Registry, where he found out about his adoption. After this discovery, he started to distance himself from his family and started to compulsively play MMO-RPG games under the nickname "Kirito" as a mean of escapism.
At 14 years old, he gets to be a beta tester for the first Virtual Reality MMO-RPG ever created: "Sword Art Online". However, when the game is officially launched, he gets trapped inside of it along with the other 9999 players. Knowing how the game works thanks to his experience as an MMO player and beta tester, Kirito vows to survive in SAO no matter what.
However, due to his trust issues, he decides to make it as a solo player, rather than trying to socialize with other gamers. That changes temporarily when he joins a small guild called the Black Cats of the Full Moon, where he seems to manage to feel comfortable enough to start opening out to other people. However, Kirito decides to hide his true strength and his past as a Beta tester out of fear of alienating them, which later on indirectly gets his guild mates killed. Blaming himself for their death, Kirito decides even more strongly to write off relating to other players almost entirely for a long time.
Thanks to his extraordinary abilities as a gamer, though, Kirito becomes [[TheAce one of the strongest players in SAO]], which gets him to be known as "[[RedBaron The Black Swordsman]]". Eventually, he earns the Unique Skill "DualWielding", which allows him to equip a second sword in his off-hand.
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:A-E]]
* AccidentalPervert:
** In SAO, he accidentally [[ThanksForTheMammary gropes]] Asuna after she falls over him when she used a Teleport Crystal while running away from Kuradeel. She responds with a MegatonPunch.
** Later in GGO, he sees Sinon in her underwear, thanks to [[DudeLooksLikeALady a gender mix-up]].
* ActionDad: To the AI Yui. In this case, the "action" is hacking.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: He's already good looking in the web version despite being seen as a {{Shonen}} hero but the light novel, anime, manga, and game adaptations gave him more {{Bishonen}} features. Taken UpToEleven with [[DudeLooksLikeALady his GGO avatar]] and [[WholesomeCrossdresser some of his costumes]] in ''Code Register''.
* AdaptationalBadass: In the light novels and anime, [[spoiler:he was the one who killed Kuradeel instead of Asuna.]]
* AdoptivePeerParent: He is only 16 years old and he and Asuna essentially adopted the AI Yui as their daughter. [[spoiler:If he considers Strea this in the game continuity is still up in the air, especially due to his reaction after Strea brings it up and even calls him "Daddy" (possibly as a joke) in ''Hollow Realization''.]]
* AlliterativeName: Both his given and family names begin with a "K", as is his online name.
* AloofBigBrother: He distanced himself from his adoptive sister/cousin Suguha after he found out they aren't real siblings. After SAO he works to repair the distance.
* AmazonChaser: He is often stunned speechless by the sight of Asuna in action. He's described her as "an angel" and her combos as "pure beauty".
* AngstComa: [[spoiler:Spends almost three books being stuck in this state until [=PoH=] shows up while Rath fixes his brain damage in the RW.]]
* AntiHero: The KnightInSourArmor variant at the beginning -- at his worst he's willing to do what it takes to survive. He largely grows out of it as his experiences expand beyond SAO.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: [[spoiler:Dude deserves a lot of credit. From clearing SAO to ending the war in UW by kicking Gabriel's ass, Kirito is not only a PhysicalGod, but also the boss of UW for 200 years.]]
* AttackItsWeakPoint: Specializes in this. Asuna notes that in SAO/ALO, Kirito's fighting style focuses on going after his enemy's weak points [[BreakableWeapons and weapons]], and is called "Arms Blast", an Outside System Skill. In ALO, this leads to the creation of another Outside System Skill, "Spell Blast", where he accurately targets the tiny core in the middle of spells and destroys them.
* AwesomeButImpractical: In SAO, he's still using and upgrading Dark Repulser months after Lisbeth crafted it for him. As she noted, it's rapidly being outclassed, and any moderately upgraded rare weapon from the 70th floor could match it even if fully upgraded, with much less material expense. The reason is because of its name, Kirito believes that he is destined to use it on the 100th floor final boss. [[spoiler:[[CrazyPrepared He's right]].]]
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Or coming back from being brain dead in this case. Just when [=PoH=] is about to go for the kill against the heroes, Kirito wakes up and gives him a well-deserved beatdown.]]
* BadassAdorable: Awww, he's so cute -- wait, he's what?! The strongest player in SAO?!
* BadassBiker: Downplayed in the real world, as he owns a motorcycle and often rides it. The skill becomes useful during [=BoB=] when he and Sinon are being chased by Death Gun.
* BadassBoast: While disarming his opponent and sizing up the kabar combat knife...
--->"Such a weak weapon. Too light, no reach. And it's all I'm gonna need to kill you once and for all."
* BadassInCharge: [[spoiler:Post-Alicization, the UW people worshiped him as their immortal ruler.]]
* BadassLongcoat: He often wears black long coats; even in real life he prefers at least dark clothing. [[EarnYourTitle There's a reason he's called]] '''[[RedBaron The Black Swordsman]]'''.
* BareFistedMonk: He knows unarmed combat to supplement his swordsmanship.
* BattleCouple: With Asuna, especially during the ''Aincrad'' arc. They show an uncanny understanding of each other in battle, and coordinate their movements perfectly.
* TheBerserker:
** His use of Dual Blades skill makes him seem like one and [[TheGlovesComeOff he gets really serious in a fight]]. It's lampshaded by himself in Season 1 Episode 19. [[spoiler:The biggest example was during ALO, when he transforms into a demon, using his claws to fight and kill, not to mention eating some of his opponents.]]
** His berserk rage is such that [[spoiler:Death Gun intends to kill Sinon just to see if [[DudeLooksLikeALady the Kirito competing in [=BoB=] ]] is the Kirito from SAO.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Death Gun:''' If a friend of yours is killed, and you go berserk, then you're the real deal.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes:
** Just watch Season 1 Episode 4. He will not let murdering psychopaths go unpunished. [[SerialKillerKiller Even if he has to turn his status into a ''Player Killer'']].
** In the battle against the murderous guild Laughing Coffin, Kirito kills two of its members who would not surrender. This comes back to haunt him in GGO: [[spoiler:he discovers that Death Gun is a survivor of said purge.]]
** Near the end of Season 1, [[spoiler:you should see how many pieces of the person who tried to rape his beloved remain after [[UnstoppableRage Kirito's done with him]].]]
* BigBrotherInstinct: Mostly towards his cousin and little sister-figure Suguha. He also tends to extend this to Silica, who reminds him of the former, so much so he helped her revive Pina.
* BigBrotherMentor: Often acted like this to his friends when they were still getting used to playing [=VRMMOs=], even to those who were technically older than him (like Klein). In the video game continuity especially he's this to [[ArcherArchetype Shino/Sinon]], who often refers to him as her teacher proudly.
* BigDamnHeroes: His favorite method of dealing with psychopaths. [[spoiler:Alicization takes it further when he deflects [=PoH=]'s attacks after waking up and bails out Alice in the aftermath of her fight against Gabriel.]]
* BirdsOfAFeather: The roots of his close friendship with Sinon who, like him, has also killed someone in the past.
* {{Bishonen}}: Applies to his physical self as well, but it should be noted that it's due to being essentially stuck in a coma for two years and still recovering. Sinon realizes this, so she never makes fun of him for looking so effeminate.
* BigGood: [[spoiler:As the "Star King".]]
* {{BFS}}: In ALO the second sword he owns is almost as big as his character, though it's more of a longsword.
* BlackSwordsAreBetter: In SAO, his primary weapon "Elucidator"; In ALO, a {{BFS}} that replaced his starter weapon; In GGO, a "Kagemitsu G4" lightsaber with a black hilt.
* BloodKnight: Never quite admitted or gets out of hand with it, [[TheBerserker but it exists]]. It's acknowledged as such by Asuna as well:
-->'''Yulier:''' ''[as Kirito is slicing up dozens of frog enemies]'' I feel like I should apologize; he's doing all the fighting.\\
'''Asuna:''' ''[with a smile, holding Yui]'' Oh no, he's happy out there. Really, he loves getting his battle on.
* BreakTheCutie: Let's see, finding out that his parents actually died when he was 2 at the age of 10, being trapped in a VRMMORPG where if people die, they die for real, encountering some particularly nasty folks who still wanted to kill people, and being nearly killed by one of them, and seeing his closest friends die yet again have really hit him so hard that he almost [[DrivenToSuicide attemped suicide]], and ''twice''!
* BringIt: During ''Fairy Dance'', he tried to solo the Grand Quest at the World Tree and when countless guardians spawned to block his way, he just smirked and charged forward screaming.
* BrokenAce: Out of all 10,000 players in SAO, Kirito is the most skilled of them all, able to do feats that nobody else can, and is nearly unbeatable in battle. At the same time he hides a lot of personal demons. Prior to SAO, he has little to NoSocialSkills due to his insecurity regarding his place in his aunt's family. In his earlier SAO days, he suffers a massive SurvivorsGuilt due to what happened to Moonlit Black Cats guild, causing him to develop a severe tendency for [[ItsAllMyFault self-imposed guilt trips]]. He largely grows out of it come ALO but he slips back into it during GGO due to Death Gun [[spoiler: being a former member of Laughing Coffin]] and in Alicization [[spoiler:after Eugeo is killed off.]]
* BrokenBird: The Moonlight Black Cats ordeal [[spoiler:and Eugeo's death]] will certainly haunt him for many years.
* BroughtDownToBadass: He's in reality. He's just a scrawny guy who's been in a coma for the last year, and you've just stabbed his arm in a sneak attack. He has no gear, no Sword Arts, no insanely high level. Think you can take him in a fight? So did Sugou.
* BullyHunter: Kirito's failure to protect Sachi left in him a deep-seated resolve to never let the weak be victimized in front of him ever again: and heaven help you if you try.
* CameBackStrong: [[spoiler:Once Kirito wakes up, he single-handedly wipes out the remaining 30,000 foreign players [[OneHitKill in one strike]].]]
* CaptainErsatz: His GGO avatar looks similar to [[VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia Yuri Lowell]].
* CharacterDevelopment: In ALO, he's more confident and lighthearted despite having lost [[spoiler:Asuna]] due to the fact that he can actually play ALO like a game, instead of having to watch people die all the time. Plus, he now has his adoptive AI daughter to keep him company.
* ChekhovsSkill:
** His Unarmed parameter is 100, but we never see him use it in-game, save a few special occasions,[[spoiler:such as when Kirito bores a hole in Kuradeel's chest with his bare hands, as said psychopath attempts to murder Asuna.]] [[spoiler:In the real world, Kirito also manages to disarm Sugou using his bare hands.]]
** All the time he's spent playing VRMMO games, has ingrained in him some self-defense skills. This allows him to take on several attackers outside of the game, in the real world.(though he does have to rely on his own natural strength, and not calculated statistical numbers to help him)
** In the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc, his high reaction speeds, and sword skills let's him turn the Kagemitsu G4 [[LaserBlade Photon Sword]] into a LethalJokeWeapon as he's able to block, and vaporize bullets, by using the Bullet Trace lines as a guide.
** Also in the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc, his time riding a motorcycle in the real world (and possibly some racing style games) has given him good understanding of how to handle GGO's Trike "buggies", which he uses first to get Sinon and himself to the Governor's Palace just in time before registration closed for the Bullet of Bullet preliminary. He later uses it to help Sinon and him escape from a pursuing Death Gun who was riding a mechanical horse.
** More like "Chekhov's ''Lack of'' Skill", but the nurse assigned to watch over him while he's in GGO notes that he doesn't have a whole lot of meat on him. [[spoiler:When he goes to Shino's house IRL and tries to fight of Kyouji, he's able to land some good hits, but the {{Yandere}} is able to overpower him.]]
* ChickMagnet: Plenty of girls flock to him, though it's a bit better-handled than other harem series. One of the ways is that he has eyes only for Asuna.
* ChildhoodFriends: With Alice and Eugeo, [[MindScrew probably]].
* TheChosenOne: An unusual and indirect example, but [[spoiler:his Dual Blade skill was programmed by Kayaba to go to he/she who has the fastest natural reaction time, with the intent of making him/her be the one to face him as the final boss... and it just so happened to be Kirito. Which makes this a rare example of the TheChosenOne being chosen by the villain.]]
* ColorMotif: He's always related to the color black. Even Asuna says as a joke at one point that she should party with him "because her horoscope said black was her lucky color that week". Blue usually acts as his secondary color.
* CombatPragmatist: In ALO, by using his SAO skills and buffs that were carried over. While in SAO he had an advantage purely by having a head-start over most people; he even points out what he's doing is ''cheating'' in ALO. "Before I was a beater, but now I'm just a cheater".
* CoolGuns: In GGO, an FN Five seveN is his secondary weapon.
* CosmicPlaything: Hmm, let's see... Being trapped in SAO for two years, failing to save the Moonlit Black Cats, killed three Laughing Coffin members as part of his DirtyBusiness, [[spoiler:being ForcedToWatch Sugou molesting Asuna until Kayaba's virtual ghost bails him out, finding out that Death Gun is a Laughing Coffin member, being dumped into UW by Rath after Johnny Black poisoned him, witnessing Quinella cutting Eugeo in half, being '''''brain dead''''' for almost three consecutive books until Eugeo's "spirit" snapped him out of his DespairEventHorizon, and finally, being stuck in UW for 200 years with Asuna after killing Gabriel.]] Being Kirito isn't easy, huh?
* CripplingOverspecialization: Kirito primarily uses heavy swords in both SAO and ALO out of personal preference. This bites him badly when he plays GGO, as the closest sword available is a Lightsaber, which is very light. [[spoiler: This nearly causes him to lose to Death Gun, as Death Gun, aka [=XaXa=], uses an Estoc, a weapon he's familiar with, to combat him.]]
* CrossDressingVoices: InUniverse. Due to his GGO avatar [[{{GIRL}} looking like a girl]], Kirito puts on a higher-pitched voice when pretending to be a girl.
* CruelMercy: After managing to overpower Sugou in real life, Kirito is fully prepared to just [[SlashedThroat slit his throat]] and be done with it, but ultimately settles for just knocking him out and leaving him to the mercy of the cops.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: In real life and his game avatars, both his hair and eyes are black.
* CuteAndPsycho: What GGO players think of him after he sweeps the [=BoB=] preliminaries, because they see him as a beautiful yet crazy girl running around with a lightsaber in a gunfight... and winning.
* CuteBruiser: His appearance is so feminine it causes him to swear off metal armor, and more than one foe comments "he doesn't look very strong"... yet he becomes the strongest player in SAO and ALO, forces a tie with Sinon, GGO's ace, ''and'' apparently does quite a bit in UW, not to mention the skills he learns while playing [=MMOs=] transfer to real life. [[spoiler:Just ask Sugou.]]
* CynicismCatalyst: Kirito becomes a loner after he loses all the members of the Black Cats of the Full Moon and fails to revive Sachi. He blames himself for their deaths and avoids people because he's afraid of losing those close to him again.
* DamnYouMuscleMemory:
** InUniverse, his experience with a sword in SAO and ALO has given him extra experience with swords in later games he plays. However, once in real life after a Kendo sparring match with Suguha he tries sheathing his shinai bamboo sword on his back, and does it again at least twice in GGO, where there are no "swords" [[spoiler:that he can get at in time for the [=BoB=] tournament]] but retractable lightsabers, he constantly forgets that there is no sheath for it and he's supposed to hang it from his waist with a clip.
--->'''Kirito:''' Not again...
** It also bites him in the rear hard in several instances. At the end of the Aincrad arc, while fighting [[spoiler: Kayaba/Heathcliff for a second time, this time to the death]] he tries avoiding triggering any Sword Arts, as he knows his opponent will know immediately from the motions and glow, and block according.. Unfortunately, Muscle Memory kicks in at a point of desperation to land at least one hit in, triggering a Sword Skill, and making his attack pattern obvious [[spoiler:and ends up breaking one of his swords on Kayaba's shield, giving Kayaba the opening he needs to swing back]].
** At the beginning of the Fairy Dance Arc, it happens again during a Kendo sparring match with Suguha. She's a National Quarterfinalist in Japan for Kendo, and he's just completed about 2 months of physical therapy from his time stuck in a coma like state due to being stuck in SAO. His skill with swords in SAO transfers over, matching Suguha's techniques almost equally, up until muscle memory kicks in, and he tries activating a Sword Skill in real life. RealityEnsues, letting Suguha get an easy head strike in on the flat-footed, tiring out, and unguarded Kazuto.
** It happens again in the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc, though further time playing ALO has allowed Kirito enough practice that he imitate some simpler Sword Skills very well without any system assist, such as "Horizontal Square" and "Vorpal Strike" in GGO with his Photon Sword. Versus most GGO players, who have spent 99% of their time in game combat in gun fights, don't even have a clue how to dodge melee attacks. Unfortunately for Kirito, the enemy he's chasing, Death Gun, ''does'' [[spoiler:as he's a SAO Survivor as well, and has been practicing with the same Estoc skills he used in SAO. To make matters worse, he has fought Kirito before, so he know's Kirito's fighting style, and has an equipment advantage as Kirito's Photon sword doesn't have the heavy weight he's used to with swords, whereas Death Gun's weapon (made from starship armor plate materials) has a similar weight to his old Estoc, allowing him to easily parry and overcome Kirito and his Photon Sword.]]
* DarkAndTroubledPast:
** Prior to the events of SAO, Kirito at age 10 managed to find on Japan's National Registry his records which showed that the family he lived with were not his real parents and sister. Rather, they were his his aunt, uncle, and cousin, and they adopted when he was just over a year old when his real parents died in a car crash. This revelation caused him to distance himself from them and became focused on gaming as a way to cope until after the events of the SAO incident.
** Unfortunately, being a SAO survivor who spent much of his time on the front lines, has given him a whole new list of troubles that weigh upon his shoulders; survivor's guilt, taking lives to protect others, battle fatigue. It's not ideal for a 14 to 16 year old kid to deal with getting trapped in a video game that was originally meant to be fun. Getting reminded of uglier events certainly affects his psyche to the point that in several cases, he either shuts down in shock, or breaks down in tears.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Wears black as his main colors, both in real life and in the [=VRMMOs=] that he participates in. Initially, this was part of his "jerkass beater" guise but even then that was about taking heat off other beta testers.
* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: His birth parents died when he was younger.
* DeclarationOfProtection: He has sworn to protect Asuna.
* DemotedToSatelliteLoveInterest: During the Mother's Rosario arc, Asuna becomes TheProtagonist, while he has very little to do with the main plot. It's interesting, considering this had happened to Asuna from the Fairy Dance Arc through the Phantom Bullet arc.
* DespairEventHorizon: Almost crosses it when he manages to obtain a resurrection item to revive Sachi with (on Christmas Eve, no less) and goes near-suicidal after finding out that it doesn't work the way he thought it would.
* {{Determinator}}: Shows this trait from time to time. Best example is the climax of the SAO arc where, [[spoiler:despite being technically killed by Kayaba, he holds on long enough to return the favor.]]
* DifficultButAwesome: So many that only the outstanding examples will be listed here. DualWielding without system assist; Cutting bullets out of the air; Chaining together one-handed Sword Skills (he has to start one sword skill within a 0.1-second window in order to stop himself from freezing, basically a combo of combos); Spell Blast (using a system-controlled Sword Skill precisely enough to strike down fast-moving spells, which have a minuscule hitbox).
* DirtyBusiness: He killed members of the red guild "Laughing Coffin" while on a mission to capture and imprison them. [[KickTheSonOfABitch Not that they didn't deserve it]], but [[ThouShaltNotKill he'd rather not have]] and brought them to justice instead. Given [[AlwaysChaoticEvil the nature of those psychotic sons-of-bitches]], it's not like he has any choice in that matter. [[spoiler:Averted near the end of the Alicization arc when Kirito [[IRegretNothing shows no remorse]] in sending [=PoH=] to his FateWorseThanDeath.]]
* DisappointedByTheMotive: In "A Murder Case In The Area." Kirito considers killing someone over LootDrama petty enough, but is downright appalled when the victim killed his wife because she was no longer the woman he knew.
* DotingParent: Towards Yui; in fact, his main motivation in studying technology is so that he and Asuna may one day have a happy life with their daughter ''outside'' the virtual world.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:He takes Eugeo's loss very personally to the point of attempting to commit suicide if it weren't for a YouAreNotAlone speech from Eugeo's "spirit".]]
* DualWielding:
** The only SAO player who has the Dual Blades Sword Skills.
** In later game worlds, he rarely does this anymore... but whenever he breaks out two swords, much awesomeness will occur. The best part? He's physically controlling two different swords without any System Assist.
** It's seen quite well in Caliber. There are no Dual Blade sword skills... but he has a sword in each hand, so he chains separate one-handed sword skills, controlling each hand separately.
** In GGO, he has two one-handed weapons there as well, an FN [=Five-seveN=] and Kagemitsu G4 "[[LaserBlade Photon Sword]]". However because he's never used guns before in a VRMMO[[note]]with accurately modeled real world guns, with real aiming factors thrown in, such as one's heart beat rate as well[[/note]], he's a complete novice at handling the pistol and other guns he borrows, having low accuracy and only uses it twice outside of a GGO shops gun range, preferring to use the Photon Sword alone. When he remembers he can go SwordAndGun, he's particular effective as shooting [=Five-seveN=] gives him openings by interrupting his opponents actions to charge in and get a vital sword attack against his foes.
* DudeLooksLikeALady: His GGO avatar is a rare M9000-Type which cranks his already feminine looks UpToEleven. When he sees his own reflection in-game, he thinks he got gender-flipped. He looked so much like a girl that his IRL friends recognize him not because of his face nor his name but his sword style.
* TheEngineer: The boy has considerable aptitutde in learning and applying technical knowledge; in a ''little'' over a year since Aincrad, he was able to learn sufficient engineering techniques (coupled with his already considerable programming expertise) to build a shoulder-mounted internet-connected camera-microphone-speaker-interfaced through which Yui, his and Asuna's vitural daughter, can see and ''talk to'' her parents and friends in the real world. In the ''Mother's Rosario'' arc, this same interface, mounted on Asuna's shoulders, also allowed [[spoiler: the bedridden and terminally ill Yuuki Konno]] the chance to experience and live a full and happy school life. When practicality forbids the mounting of this admittedly awkward contraption, Kirito has also written a Smartphone Program through which Yui can ''also'' talk to him and Asuna any time in the real world.
** At the start of the Moon Cradle arc, [[spoiler: he built and test piloted his own creation, a mechanical dragon resembling a cross between a rocket and a jet, only to be blown up shortly afterwards.]]
* {{Escapism}}: Done subtly, but like Yuuki, Kirito embraces VR and is deeply immersed in it, to the point where he's preferring VR over reality. Yuuki realizes this and warns Asuna to watch out for Kirito, though Asuna doesn't understand what she is talking about.
* EvilCostumeSwitch: Kirito invokes this when he declares himself a Beater in front of a horde of players by putting on his recently obtained [[PaintItBlack black coat after accepting his newly obtained name.]]
* EveryManHasHisPrice: Why negotiate or threaten when you can just bribe someone with ludicrous amounts of money?
* ExplainExplainOhCrap: In Progressive, after being reduced to just above half health in his duel with Morte, he remembers that it's possible to kill an opponent with a powerful enough attack even in a duel to half health.
--> If Morte had left me with just a bit of health on purpose... He was not hoping to win this duel and force me to leave my quest for another day. He was planning, here and now... [[OhCrap To kill me]].
* ExperiencedProtagonist: He was one of the beta testers of [=SAO=]. His knowledge of the game's mechanics give him an edge over other players at the game's launch, and allows him to adapt to other VR games fairly quickly.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: His ALO avatar originally has very spiky hair. Between the end of ''Fairy Dance'' and the beginning of ''Phantom Bullet'', he has his avatar's hair cut so it looks more like his hairstyle in the real world.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:F-J]]
* FacePlant: Happens to him several times when trying to get the hang of ALO's flight engine in the beginning of the ''Fairy Dance'' arc. One pretty spectacular one has him slamming into the ground head-first from ''dozens of meters in the air'' and seemingly being stuck for almost a minute after impact.
* FailureToSaveMurder: Blames himself for the deaths of his first guild, the Moonlit Black Cats.
* FamedInStory: [[spoiler:Even his foster parents already knew his accomplishments from Aincrad to UW; someone else wrote a book about him and they read it.]]
* FlechetteStorm: Has the Blade Throwing Skill, and regularly carries throwing spikes.
* ForcedToWatch: During the Fairy Dance arc, after Sugou/Oberon stabs him through his back and spine, he goes out of his way to torture Kirito by chaining up [[LoveInterest Asuna]], ripping her clothes off, and groping and [[LecherousLicking licking]] her, all right in front of him. He [[LaserGuidedKarma gets his just desserts]] when Kayaba overrides Sugou's control of the game and gives Kirito admin privileges, which Kirito takes full advantage of, turning off Sugou's pain inhibitor and killing his in-game avatar so brutally that Sugou is [[WoundThatWillNotHeal left permanently injured in real life]].
* TheGadfly: After Asuna taught him it was alright to feel the joy of living again, Kirito develops a mischievously sardonic sense of humor when at ease, which manifests in (relatively) harmless teasing towards girls.
** Hearing about a ghost story tied to the woods in which he and Asuna had purchased a house on Floor 22, Kirito proceed to lay it on thick while relaying the ghost story to Asuna. Her reactions just kept getting better and better... [[spoiler:and then the "ghost girl in white" appeared: Yui.]]
** After trashing a Salamander hit squad using the illusionary form of Gleam Eyes, Kirito saw Leafa's shock at his tactics (literally chomping down on several of the Salamanders) and decided to jokingly bite her hand. Her reaction was ''spectacular.''
** In GGO: Kirito deliberately played up the cuteness of his [[DudeLooksLikeALady avatar]] just to take amusement at the lovestruck faces of admirers, who were not aware that he is not a cute ''girl.'' Though it's not there, one can imagine a SayItWithHearts moment because he lays it on so thickly.
--> ''Cheer for me!''
** Back in ALO: tired of listening to his party gripe about a particularly long set of stairs, Kirito pulls the cat's tail. Sinon's tail, to be precise. He then has to dodge her retaliatory attempt at literally clawing his eyes out... The look on Sinon's face needs to go down as one of the best reactions to trolling in VRMMO history.
-->'''Sinon:''' ''[rageface]'' You jerk! Do that again, and I'll shoot a flaming arrow ''up your nose''!
* GameBreakingInjury: [[spoiler:During the Alicization arc, the attack on the Ocean Turtle in real life damages Kirito's nervous system even more and leaves him paralyzed in UW until the images Asuna, Suguha, Sinon, and Eugeo snap him out of his [[DespairEventHorizon epic]] [[DrivenToSuicide depression]] in the middle of his JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind moment.]]
* GenreSavvy: When it comes to [=MMORPGs=], he has a great deal of experience and thus knows how they work. This becomes crucial for survival in SAO and all the more so because he was a beta tester.
* {{GIRL}}: In GGO, he initially takes advantage of his feminine player avatar to get help from Sinon, and later [[ExploitedTrope exploits]] it again to garner support from male players.
* GlassCannon: When he whips out Dual Wielding, he gains a completely massive attack output that outstrips everyone in the game. However, he basically becomes TheBerserker and gives up all forms of defense.
* GoodThingYouCanHeal: As a group of orange guild Titan's Hand members find out, Kirito HP heals faster than they can damage it, allowing him to NoSell a simultaneous attack from nine players.
* GrossUpCloseUp: Gets a few of these when he gets battle-crazy.
* HappilyAdopted: By his aunt Midori and uncle Minetaka. Although he became distant when he found out they aren't really his parents, he gets over it after the SAO incident.
* HappilyMarried: His marriage to Asuna in SAO is the only time during the death game that he was truly happy. They're too young to marry in real life, and even there, they're happily ''dating''.
* HesBack: [[spoiler:The first thing Kirito did after [[BackFromTheDead coming back from being brain dead]]? Freeze the remaining 30,000 foreign players in ice, and then [[FateWorseThanDeath turn [=PoH=] into a tree]].]]
* HeroesPreferSwords: All of his avatar characters use some sort of CoolSword. Even in ''Gun Gale Online'', he forgoes using a gun (aside from a pistol sidearm) in favor of a LaserBlade.
* HeroesWantRedheads: Fall in love with and becomes an {{official couple}} with Asuna.
* HeroicBSOD:
** He suffers one when [[spoiler:Asuna performs a HeroicSacrifice.]] It debilitates him so badly that he can't bring himself to do more than slowly and feebly swing his swords at [[spoiler:Heathcliff]] for a few seconds.
** Suffers another one when he encounters [[spoiler:Death Gun and realizes that not only is he a survivor of SAO, but also a member of Laughing Coffin. All of Kirito's repressed memories of the purge against that guild return and leave him in such a wrecked state that Sinon is worried by his nonresponsiveness.]]
** He also briefly suffers one in his NearDeathExperience in Episode 24 when Sugou[=/=]Oberon sexually assaults Asuna after paralyzing him, thinking he couldn't be able to save her, and basically gives up (in his words "facing reality"). The spirit of Kayaba, the first half's AffablyEvil baddie, manages to snap him out of it and give him a HeroicSecondWind, as well giving him his system administrator privileges to take Oberon down.
** [[spoiler:Happens to him again twice during the events of Alicization. First when Eugeo was cut in half by Quinella, and second when he finally recovers most of his past memories during his JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind moment.]]
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: During SAO, first due to his status as a "Beater", although he gets better when he joins the Black Cats of the Full Moon. Then it's turned UpToEleven after [[MyGreatestFailure the whole guild is wiped out]], to the point he becomes quite self-loathing.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Eugeo. [[spoiler:[[TheTragicRose It doesn't end well for them in the end, however]].]]
* HeyYou: It's pointed out that he talks very casually with Kikuoka, something that would be highly disrespectful considering that Kikuoka is significantly older than Kirito. It's implied that this is because Kirito doesn't exactly like Kikuoka, although he acknowledges that he's more competent than he seems.
* HurtingHero: Believes letting the Black Cats of the Full Moon die is unforgivable. He's also haunted by the fact that he killed three Laughing Coffin members. He'd also rather storm the gates of Hell than let anything happen to his friends.
* HopeSpot: The resurrection item, the Stone of Returning Soul. Kirito relentlessly pursued it in hopes of redemption, but it only works within ten seconds of a player's death, making it utterly useless for reviving Sachi, who died months ago.
* AnIcePerson: [[spoiler:After acquiring Eugeo's Sword of Blue Rose, he can cast ice magic.]]
* IKnowMortalKombat: At the beginning of Fairy Dance, Kirito proves that he has real-world reaction and dodging speed on par with his cousin, the UsefulNotes/{{kendo}} expert. At the end of the arc [[spoiler: he easily handles an asshole attacking him with a knife, though it should be noted the asshole was suffering [[WoundThatWouldNotHeal from phantom injuries]] dealt by Kirito minutes prior .]]
* IKnowYourTrueName: In the climax of GGO, Kirito is faced with a situation where he can't remember [[spoiler:the name of the Laughing Coffin member who is impersonating Death Gun]], despite having found a few clues during the [=BoB=] tournament. Throughout the final duel, he frantically scrapes through his memories and remembers [[spoiler:the briefing before the raid on Laughing Coffin's HQ, which brought out the names of several key members]]. It is then, through the conjecture of [[spoiler:Death Gun's physical appearance, specifically the skull mask and red lenses]], that Kirito realizes he is fighting [[spoiler:Red-Eyed [=XaXa=], prompting the latter to be distracted and eventually get defeated. The implication runs even deeper since Kirito now has the means to arrest the Death Gun perpetrators.]]
* ILetGwenStacyDie: During his time with the Black Cats, protecting and comforting Sachi from her fear of dying helped to assuage some of his guilt over being a beater and solo player, but it came back to bite him hard in the end when his [[{{Irony}} inability to admit his background and knowledge]] indirectly caused her to die from a trap.
* ImageSong: He has a total of three. Sword & Soul, BLAZING BULLET (Sinon and Kirito), and Sing All Overtures (Asuna, Yui, Silica, Lizbeth, Leafa, and Kirito).
* ImAHumanitarian: When he uses an illusion spell to apparently turn into a monster, he ''eats'' some of the enemy players, and then chomps on Leafa's fingers when he turns back to normal. He was joking.
-->"Just trying to lighten the mood."
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice:
** In Season 1 Episode 22, where he tries to reach the apex of the tower by himself, only to be overwhelmed by the infinitely respawning guardians throwing swords through him.
** Again in Season 1 Episode 24, [[spoiler:when Sugou impaled him with his own sword, just after altering the pain absorber to make it even worse for him.]]
* ImplausibleFencingPowers: After two years trapped in SAO, Kirito is possibly the best virtual swordsman in existence. He goes into Gun Gale Online... and buys a lightsaber which he uses to deflect bullets. He later uses this experience to control otherwise uncontrollable Sword Skills well enough to ''cut spells out of the air''. You can practically ''taste'' the expressions of the first set of enemies he demonstrates that too.
-->'''Kirito:''' Compared to a bullet from an anti-materiel rifle, magic spells are just too slow.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Played with in Gun Gale Online. While swords are a perfectly good weapon in other games, his Photon Sword is part of what is considered the resident JokeItem class in ''Gun Gale'' since the game is a realistic shooter. Kirito picks up the Photon Sword and basically acts like a Jedi through ''pure skill.''
* IneffectualLoner: Due to his DarkAndTroubledPast, he mostly acts as a lone wolf but still his friends, people in need and girls will flock to him whether he wants it or not. Of course, [[NiceGuy he does care back]].
* TheInformant: Becomes one to Seijirou to investigate the Death Gun rumors.
* InstantExpert: Averted to some degree. In ever single case, there's an explanation to how he's so good or bad at new feats being demonstrated.
** In SAO, he has a jump start on how SAO works because he was a Beta Tester, and got particularly far during it, as well as a good understanding of [=MMOs=] in general from other, non [=VRMMOs=], so he understands meta, and how to use in game systems in alternative ways.
** In ALO during the ''Fairy Dance'' arc, the game, being based on SAO's systems and even using the Cardinal engine, detects his old SAO data and thinks it's his ALO stats. Having high or mastered level skills in combat puts him on even grounds with much better-equipped veteran players. However, he is completely unfamiliar with the use of the flight system, and at first, has to use the control stick item. Even after Leafa teaches him how to fly more naturally, without the aid of the flight stick, Kirito has absolutely no skill at actually landing, instead, relying on crashing into the ground, or a building to stop.
** In GGO, he has absolutely beginner's skill with firing guns. The first time he fires his pistol at an in-game gun range, he has poor shooting technique and completely misses the target. The first time in battle he uses it, he fired 5 shots from it, and only two hit, and his opponent still had 90% health[[note]]What it DID do, was further distract his opponent from reloading, giving Kirito enough time to stab him with an imitated Vorpal Strike sword skill to finish him off.[[/note]]
* ItHasBeenAnHonor: [[spoiler:Gives his thanks to "Eugeo" before finishing Gabriel off with a 17-hit Starburst Stream.]]
* IRegretNothing: [[spoiler:When Sinon asks Kirito if he regretted what he did to [=PoH=], he replies that he didn't; because he couldn't face her and Leafa if he did.]]
* JerkassFacade:
** After clearing SAO L1, he decides to out himself as the first Beater in attempts to keep beta tester discrimination under control.
** More specifically, his cold behavior around Klein is meant to cover up the guilt he feels for "abandoning" him on the first floor.
* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: [[spoiler:While he was still [[GameBreakingInjury paralyzed]], he receives visions of his past, suffers from a huge HeroicBSOD over Eugeo's death, and nearly [[DespairEventHorizon commits]] [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]] by attempting to crush his heart ''with his bare hands''. It took a ''lot'' of healing from Asuna, Leafa, Sinon, and Eugeo's images that Kirito has finally recovered from his GameBreakingInjury to finish the heroes' job.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:K-O]]
* KickTheSonOfABitch: After acquiring Kayaba's Administrator ID, Kirito proceeds to use it on Sugou, brutally chopping up his avatar, followed by beating him up in the real world, and finally leaves him to the police as retribution for sexually harassing poor Asuna.
** [[spoiler:He also has no problems imprisoning [=PoH=] in a tree for putting the lives of his friends in grave danger (especially Asuna's) and beating him up while he was still suffering from his GameBreakingInjury, followed by giving Gabriel [[KarmicDeath poetic justice]].]]
* KidHero: Only 14 at the beginning, 16 by the end of the SAO arc and by then he's put a number of bad guys behind bars (or six feet under in the case of Laughing Coffin).
* LaserBlade: His primary weapon in GGO is a beam sword. He doesn't like it because it's too light.
* LightningBruiser: Let's just say that most of his enemies can't see him dashing across the battlefield towards them before it's too late.
* LikesOlderWomen: As illustrated by his relationships with Sachi, who's in high school when he was still a secondary school student, and Asuna, who is a full year older.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: To Asuna. Their relationship is very serious, to the point that they cannot live on if one of them dies. He also sees Eugeo as this too.
* LonersAreFreaks: Actively cultivated this, first due to the stigma against beta testers, and later after his guild was annihilated. He gets better, as part of his character development.
* LongHairedPrettyBoy: His Avatar in GGO has waist length hair which amplifies his already feminine appearance.
* MageKiller: In ALO, he is able to target the small hitboxes in magic attacks and destroy them, a skill he acquired from deflecting bullets in GGO.
* ManlyTears: Several times, but two moments stand out: while listening to the audio recording Sachi left him, and [[spoiler:while apologizing to a comatose Asuna for being unable to fulfill his promise to her to help her return to the real world]].
** [[spoiler:Happens again near the end of Alicization when Kirito went to the now inactive World End Altar after disposing of [=PoH=] and Gabriel, thinking that he won't be able to see everyone in the RW again since he's stuck in UW for 200 years. Thankfully, Asuna shows up to keep him company.]]
* MarryThemAll: [[spoiler:His solution to his UnwantedHarem in the post-Alicization Gaiden X2 special.]]
* MasterOfIllusion: Comes with being a Spriggan in ALO. Used to [[IAmAHumanitarian terrifying effect]] against a twelve-person attack squad.
* MasterSwordsman: In SAO he mastered the One Handed Straight Sword skills and Dual Blades unique skills.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: At the end of SAO, Kirito [[spoiler:[[TakingYouWithMe keeps himself from dying long enough to kill]] Kayaba.]] Also, Kirito [[spoiler:or possibly Kayaba's ghost, in which case this wouldn't count,]] unstuck a sword that was position-fixed at the end of ALO. These were apparently impossible based on the laws of SAO. PowerOfLove? Yes. RealityWarper? Maybe. Or [[spoiler:[[LightNovel/AccelWorld incarnate system,]]]] which would count as a mundane explanation.
* MirrorBoss: In ''Hollow Fragment''. [[spoiler:His Hollow AI counterpart is the FinalBoss of the optional Hollow story arc.]]
* TheMourningAfter: [[spoiler:Eugeo's loss hits him so badly, he even mourns for his best friend and LivingEmotionalCrutch after ending the war in UW to the point where Suguha has to come in his room and comfort him.]]
* MyGreatestFailure: The aforementioned fall of the "Moonlit Black Cats" and failure to revive Sachi defined him as a person for all of SAO.
** [[spoiler:And Eugeo's death is added to his list in Alicization.]]
* MyGreatestSecondChance: After the whole SAO (and, by extension ALO) experience, he vows to become a more honest and better brother figure for Suguha.
* MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours: He's the "Yours" in the equation during the Alfheim and GGO arcs. He [[IKnowMortalKombat knows Mortal Kombat]]... but two years of twenty-four-hour full dive takes its toll on your muscles. A few months of rehab let him go toe-to-toe with Suguha, but she's got the better body for it (and he's [[DamnYouMuscleMemory still trying to use Sword Skills]]). When he confronts Sugou in the real world at the arc's end, he would have ''died'' from being stabbed by Sugou if the man wasn't suffering from his phantom injuries dealt by Kirito minutes earlier in the game that allowed Kirito to dodge and easily overpower him. The nurse watching over him during his GGO stint notes that, although he's got a bit of meat on him, it's still obvious he's an SAO survivor, and it shows [[spoiler:when he tries to fight off Kyouji and gets overpowered]].
* NamedWeapons: Has owned a few.
** '''SAO''': Anneal Blade (1H Straight Sword, quest reward), Elucidator (1H Straight Sword, drop) and Dark Repulser (1H Straight Sword, crafted by Lisbeth)
** '''ALO''': [[{{Excalibur}} Excaliber]] (2H Greatsword, quest reward with a handy assist from Sinon)
** '''GGO''': [[LaserBlade Kagemitsu G4]] (Photon Sword, purchased)
** '''Underworld''': Sword of Night Sky [[spoiler:and Sword of Blue Rose]]
* {{Narrator}}: Throughout most of the light novels, he is the one narrating the story. It's easy to tell his parts from those of others because his are always in First Person while others are in third person.
* {{Nephewism}}: His biological parents died in an accident when he was very young and he was adopted by his aunt and uncle.
* NeverBringAGunToAKnifeFight: In ''GGO''. His swordsmanship experience from ''ALO'' and ''SAO'' allows him to turn the [[LaserBlade Kagemitsu G4]], the game's JokeWeapon, into a LethalJokeWeapon.
* NiceGuy: Kirito generally tries to help everyone he meets, and will routinely charge into danger to help random strangers in trouble.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: He has this opinion of himself because he didn't try hard enough to prevent the Moonlight Black Cats from falling for SchmuckBait. Thus, they died. [[note]] Keita blames him too but also says that a beater had no business associating with them in the first place[[/note]].
* NoSell: During his match against the (player-attacking) orange guild Titan's Hand, half a dozen players hack away at Kirito as hard as they can. He has so much HP it'd take them about 5 minutes to kill him... except he regenerates faster than they can hurt him... and he gets tired of being used for target practice and tells them off.
* NotSoDifferent:
** Notes that he and Sugou are similar, as they were both defeated and then forced to assist Kayaba -- the difference being that Kirito never sought to become like [[AGodAmI Kayaba]] or Sugou.
** Kayaba himself. [[spoiler:Both are the best players in Aincrad]], immerse themselves in the game to the point where it's more real to them, and they both love video games. The difference, however, is fairly obvious, as Kirito never tried to become a god.
* ObliviousToLove:
** Subverted refreshingly. Unlike the stereotypical harem protagonist, Kirito is well aware of the girls' affections toward him. It's just that he has already given his heart to Asuna and deliberately plays SelectiveObliviousness so as not to hurt their feelings.
** Played straight [[PlayedForDrama for drama]] when he not only fails to realize Suguha's feelings for him until she [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove spells it out for him]], but he fails to realize ''Leafa's'' feelings for Kirito until he realizes that ''she's Suguha''.
* OfficialCouple: With Asuna since the very first light novel. In SAO they were married according to the game's mechanics. In later arcs, they are dating.
* OneManArmy
** Played around with. Kirito's stats are so high in the VRMMO games he plays that he can take on raiding parties or a powerful event boss like Nicholas the Renegade and emerge victorious as a solo player. At the same time, this fact makes him arrogant, as shown in ''Fairy Dance'' when he falls victim to a massive ZergRush [[spoiler:and a real-world psycho with GM privileges]].
** [[spoiler:Guess what Kirito did to the remaining 30,000 foreign players near the end of the Alicization arc.]]
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: His real name is barely mentioned at all. This is less prevalent in the English dub, though, since Suguha calls him by his name instead of "brother", probably highlighting their alienation from each other.
* OnlyMostlyDead: Partway through Volume 9, [[spoiler:Atsuhi attacks Kirito to avenge the downfall of Death Gun, and stabs him with a fatal dose of succinylcholine. Although he manages to take him down before succumbing to the poison, the volume ends with him flatlining.]] By the beginning of the next volume, it is revealed that [[spoiler:his body recovered from the dose but his brain was damaged, so Seijuro has to use his political clout to get him to Ocean Turtle and hook him up to [=UnderWorld=] so it can be repaired]].
* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: Yeah, Kirito is a rather skilled VRMMORPG player-slash-addict and an SAO beta tester, but other than his mild family issues, there's not much unusual about his backstory. Or his present... until Kayaba traps everyone in SAO.
* OutOfFocus: During the ''Mother's Rosario'' arc his screen time is much reduced. This storyline focuses on Asuna and her RomanticTwoGirlFriendship with Yuuki, so he takes a mild supporting role, helping buy the Sleeping Knights enough time to break through to the boss chamber and giving Asuna a piece of information that helps her find Yuuki in real life. He plays an important role in the storyline, but it's Asuna and Yuuki's story.
* OverprotectiveDad: Mostly in the chibi special Sword Art Offline. He makes multiple threats to Klein about teaching Yui bad things and states he would kill Klein if the guy ever flirted with Yui.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:P-T]]
* PapaWolf: He hacked Aincrad's Cardinal system to save Yui.
* TheParagon: Kirito's experiences have made him an altruistic and courageous character who helps and inspires many other players, like Sinon.
* ParentalSubstitute: He is Yui's "Daddy", or rather [[invoked]] MyRealDaddy, since she was programed by Kayaba but it was Kirito (and Asuna) who inspired her to [[GrowBeyondTheirProgramming grow beyond her programing]].
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Just watch him [[spoiler:torture Sugou after turning the tables on the man who nearly raped the love of his life]].
* PhysicalGod: [[spoiler:His OneHitKill on the remaining 30,000 foreign players, and subsequent smackdown of both [=PoH=] and Gabriel after recovering from his GameBreakingInjury makes him this. He even becomes the "Star King" within 200 years in UW.]]
* {{Polyamory}}: [[spoiler:Aside from [[OfficialCouple Asuna]], it is implied that he has a lot of "wives" during his 200-year stint as [[PhysicalGod the boss of UW]]. Played straight and taken UpToEleven in ''There is But One Ultimate Way''.]]
* PocketProtector: A mild variant in GGO; he forgot to detach one of the electrodes used to monitor his health, but it ultimately saved him from [[spoiler:Kyouji's attempt at injecting him with succinylcholine while he went to Shino's house to save her from the Death Gun perpetrators]].
* ThePowerOfLove: His love for Asuna is what enabled him to get as far as he did during his solo attempt at the World Tree's Grand Quest. Every time a new obstacle appeared or he started to run out of steam, a image of her would flash in his mind and he continued forward. Sure, he ultimately failed but it took an army of archers firing ''swords'' to stop him.
* PreAsskickingOneLiner: "Computer, set Pain Absorber to 0." After gaining control of ALO's GM powers and disabling Sugou's, Kirito decides it's time for some payback for Sugou torturing him and molesting Asuna. Sugou also mentioned that a setting of 3 or lower will result in real-world injuries from in-game damage.
* PreMortemOneLiner: Kirito has a penchant of giving these to his opponents whenever he's pissed off or disgusted.
** After using Kayaba's ID to strip Oberon from his GM status, and then cutting off his arm, Kirito gives him a rather cruel one before killing him in-game.
--->'''Oberon''': AAAHHH! MY HAND! MY HAND, MY HAND!!
--->'''Kirito''': It hurts doesn't it? But it's nothing like the pain you made Asuna feel. '''NOT EVEN CLOSE!'''
** Against Genesis in ''Hollow Realization'':
--->'''Genesis''': Don't screw with me... Why does it... have to be you...?
--->'''Kirito''': You are not worthy of the name "Black Swordsman".
** [[spoiler:And later, he does this to [=PoH=] at the end of their fight in the Alicization arc:]]
--->[[spoiler:'''[=PoH=]''']]: [[spoiler:As expected, it really is awful. However... this isn't over. Even if I logged out from this world, I'll show up in front of you over and over again. I'll slit the throat of the "Flash" with you and wait multiple times until it breaks out my heart...]]
--->'''Kirito''': [[spoiler:[[YouAreAlreadyDead No, this is it. You'll never log out from Underworld.]]]]
* PsychoticSmirk: Not shown very often, but he can flash some serious crazy under the right circumstance. A prime example would be during his one-man attack against the World Tree guardians.
* PurpleIsPowerful: His LaserBlade during the GGO arc is purple light.
* RavenHairIvorySkin: More so with his GGO avatar, [[DudeLooksLikeALady complete with crimson red lips, shining eyes, and long eyelashes]].
* RealNameAsAnAlias: His in-game name of Kirito. Makes more sense if you remember that in Japan, naming convention is reversed from that of native English speakers, with family name first, then given name second. In this case, his name is a combination of '''Kiri'''gaya Kazu'''to'''
* RedBaron: In SAO, he is known as "The Black Swordsman" due to his clothes, hair, eyes, and primary weapon being black. He is later known as "The Twin Blade Swordsman" after he reveals that he can dual wield. [[spoiler:During his 200-year rule in UW, he is referred to as the "Star King" by its people.]]
* RelationshipCeiling:
** Despite all the female characters that seem to flock towards him, the story still makes clear that [[SingleTargetSexuality Asuna is the only girl for him]], meaning any new addition to his SupportingHarem will never go beyond ShipTease.
** In a different way, the same applies to him and Asuna in the ''Progressive'' mini-series. Although the reboot is partly meant to flesh out their relationship, they're still intended to officially get together in the events narrated in the first novel.
* ReverseGrip: It's very difficult to spot, but on rare occasions, Kirito will wield his sword(s) like this if he needs to. The most visible example is from Episode 9 of the anime, during the battle with Gleam Eyes; he tanked a strike and briefly switched his grip to counterattack.
* TheSacredDarkness: His "Darkness of the Boundless Night Sky". [[spoiler:This is later proven useful during his fight against Gabriel.]]
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: As to be expected of a Creator/YoshitsuguMatsuoka character, Kirito is prone to hilariously-adorable girl-like-screams and shrieking when shocked, surprised, or [[ThisIsGonnaSuck desperately pleading his wife and this week's girl guests]] to ''not'' beat/cut/shoot him-up for his latest stupid/insensitive comment on the adorable Blu-Ray and DVD extras ''Sword Art Offline.''
* SecretIdentity: Kinda. When he returns to the real world, he tries to keep his Kirito identity on the down low.
* SempaiKohai: Has this relationship with Ronye.
* ShellShockedVeteran: [[DeadlyGame SAO]] will do that to you. It's hard to tell what messes him up more: the fact that he let the Black Cats of the Full Moon die or the fact that he killed three Laughing Coffin members.
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend:
** Said this almost word for word when Klein speculated he was partying with Asuna because he fell for her. [[EveryoneCanSeeIt The smiles of Asuna and the Furinkazan members show they don't buy it]].
** He also said it about Sachi, though [[AllThereInTheManual the character interviews]] reveal that to be a lie.
* ShutUpKiss: Kirito does this to Asuna in episode 10. The light novel notes that this is technically a violation of the Ethics Code, but fortunately for him, Asuna didn't mind.
* SignatureMove: In SAO, it's the "Starburst Stream" a [[BladeSpam 16-hit]] [[DualWielding Dual Blades]] sword skill.
* SilentScapegoat: In Season 1 Episode 2, he takes on the title of "Beater" in order to separate all other Beta players who help others with Betas who take advantage of their knowledge at the expense of others (Beta+Cheater).
* SixthRanger: Was the extra member of the Black Cats of the Full Moon; the rest were friends from a real-world computer club. He's also the only survivor.
* SkywardScream: Kirito fulfills this trope at the end of Season 1 Episode 1, after he resolves to survive SAO.
* SoleSurvivor: Of Black Cats of the Full Moon, he was the only one to survive the chest trap. Ironically, he was the extra man.
* SpinToDeflectStuff: In SAO, he once used a sword skill to block a breath attack of a dragon.
* SpiderSense: The Outside System Skill, "Hypersense". Despite being a hypothetical hidden skill, Kirito notes that several times in SAO, he'd felt the presence of someone watching him and credits the skill for saving his life.
* StupidSexyFlanders: When he enters GGO, his avatar looks too much like a girl, and he [[MostCommonSuperpower checks]] to make sure he is actually a guy (to his relief, he is). Cue guys ''hitting on him'' and Sinon mistaking him for a girl. Also, cue him ''playing up the girly tone'' when he confronts Sinon.
* SuddenlyShouting: During the climax of the Fairy Dance arc, he dips into this after performing his HeroicSecondWind and turning the tables on Sugou, particularly after he gives Sugou a small cut on the cheek, and [[MinorInjuryOverreaction Sugou flips out and whines about the pain]]:
-->'''Kirito''': Hurts, doesn't it? But it's ''nothing'' like [[AttemptedRape the pain you made Asuna feel]]. ''NOT EVEN '''CLOSE!!'''''\\
[''cue him [[AnArmAndALeg lopping Sugou's right arm clean off]]'']
* SuggestiveCollision: Happens when Asuna falls on him when teleporting into his zone.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: He's a nice guy but he can be a bit cold and distant, being paralyzed by the fear of reliving the Black Cats experience all over again.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: When his determination is at its peak, his eyes turn from dark grey to bright yellow. [[spoiler:This is seen when he lands the final blow on Heathcliff and Death Gun, as well as during his final push in ALO's Grand Quest.]]
* SuperReflexes: A big reason for his [[TheAce ace]] status in any [=VRMMORPGs=] he plays.
** He had the fastest reaction speed of all players in SAO, which was why the system granted him his trademark dual-wielding ability.
** In ALO, his reaction speed played an even bigger role as it determined one's in-game movement speed and attack damage. He was so fast his speed completely overwhelmed one of the fastest players of the race with an affinity for speed and was able to pummel players with high-level armor with ''initial equipment''.
** In GGO, his reaction speed is shown to be demonic enough for him to slice showers of bullets midair with his lightsaber as long as he can sense their trajectories. When he returns to ALO, he uses the same technique to easily block magic attacks which have notoriously small hitboxes, noting that magic attacks were far slower than bullets.
* SurvivalMantra: The quote at the top of his trope list, said at end of the first episode of the anime. And followed up by the aforementioned SkywardScream.
* SurvivorGuilt:
** Feels haunted by the guilt of being the only surviving member of the Black Cats of the Full Moon.
** In SAO II, there's also him surviving SAO in general and the fact he took lives to ensure his own survival that comes to haunt him.
* SwordAndGun: Does this in GGO, due to his preference and the lightsaber being too expensive for him to get anything better than a pistol.
* SwordOverHead: [[spoiler:Sugou is finally held with a knife to his throat by Kirito in real life. [[WhatYouAreInTheDark With no one else around at so late an hour, Kirito could easily kill him and put him out of everyone's misery...]] [[CruelMercy But he doesn't. He simply beats Sugou to a barely-breathing pulp and leaves him for the police.]]]]
* ThatOneGuy: Post Aincrad, his close circle of friends and in-game party are all girls: Asuna, Yui, Lisbeth, Silica, Leafa, Sinon. Though Klein sometimes tags along.
* TheseHandsHaveKilled: He's haunted by the fact that he killed three Laughing Coffin members.
* TookALevelInBadass: Every time Kirito picks up a(nother) weapon in a different world from the last, it qualifies. In order:
** Surviving in SAO, TheMostDangerousVideoGame;
** DualWielding in SAO, something [[SecretArt no other player can do]];
** Surviving in ALO, and [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight defying all the world's PvP rules in the process]];
** Dual wielding in ALO, which means he's controlling two swords separately rather than getting system assist like in SAO;
** Threatening Sugou in the ''real world'', using a knife several times lighter than anything he's good with;
** Surviving in GGO's [=BoB=] tournament with a ''sword'';
** Fighting in GGO with SwordAndGun, despite having no experience with the latter;
** Dual wielding in ALO ''with Sword Skills''.
** [[spoiler:Ending Quinella's reign in UW.]]
** [[spoiler:And finally, pulverizing '''two of the most dangerous player killers''': [=PoH=] and Gabriel.]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: ''Anything'' cooked by [[SupremeChef Asuna]]. Other than that, Kirito's favorite food is Teriyaki chicken burgers. Thus, Teriyaki chicken burgers ''[[BreadEggsBreadedEggs cooked by Asuna]]'' is number one.
* TragicKeepsake: [[spoiler:Keeps Eugeo's sword in his arsenal at the end of Alicization.]]
%%%%* TroubledButCute
[[/folder]]
[[folder:U-Z]]
* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny: [[spoiler:Meets Silver Crow/Haruyuki from ''LightNovel/AccelWorld'' in the side story Versus. Of course, as pure fanservice, he's back to his old Black Swordsman Kirito form as the two fight in an epic battle. It ends in a draw.]]
* UnreliableNarrator: Contradicts himself in different accounts of the incident with the Black Cats of the Full Moon. This suggests he may be giving a distorted account of other past events.
* UnsettlingGenderReveal: When he and Sinon first met, she mistakes him for a girl. They get along and she helps him get his equipment, but when it's time to put on their battle suits Sinon gets undressed right in front of Kirito and he awkwardly tells her he's a guy. Sinon delivers an ArmorPiercingSlap for that.
* UnskilledButStrong:
** Because SAO and ALO are built on the same source code, Kirito's compatible stats from SAO are transferred over. For the duration of the ALO arc, he uses the default starting skills and equipment of the Spriggan class. However, since his SAO stats are through the roof (and ALO stats are limited by there being no levels to grind), the effects of his basic spells are amped up beyond belief. A small smokescreen spell turns into a massive explosion of smoke, and a basic illusion casting spell outright transforms him into the boss creature he was trying to create a facsimile of, broken party-killing moveset and all. He later resets his stats so he can make a proper Spriggan build and have fun with it.
** This translates over to GGO as well. Once again having a converted account with all of his stats from SAO and ALO, his speed is unbelievable and he can [[BulletTime dodge bullets]] from ''almost'' point-blank rage. Sinon notes that he can pull off these impossible dodge maneuvers even though he lacks even the most fundamental knowledge of guns in the game.
* UnstoppableRage: Go ahead, just try to harm anyone he cares about. Especially Asuna. Hopefully, there's still enough of you to fill a bucket once he's through.
* UnwantedHarem: Despite his OfficialCouple status with Asuna (the first heroine of the series), he gains a number of admirers as the series goes on.
-->'''Klein:''' Man, you chick magnets have it tough, huh?
* WeaponOfChoice: Kirito is always a sword user. Specifically, One-handed swords, and typically [[DualWielding one in each hand]]. In SAO, he uses the Elucidator and Dark Repulser. Even in GGO, he picks up a lightsaber. It's fitting given his [[KnightInShiningArmor chivalrous impulses]].
* WeWantOurJerkBack: As for Leafa/Suguha not taking well to finding out Kirito is really her cousin/adopted brother...
-->'''Suguha''': "If that's how it is, I wished you kept on being a jerk to me."
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: [[spoiler:When given the opportunity to kill Sugou, the man who nearly ruined his life and tried to rape Asuna, Kirito simply gives him a beatdown and leaves him to the cops.]]
* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: Kirito prefers swords. Even GGO, which focuses heavily on ranged combat.
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Four of his costumes involve him (in his GGO Avatar) cross-dressing as an IdolSinger, a FrenchMaid, a MagicalGirl, and a Bride in ''Code Register''. Asuna, Lisbeth, and Silica tried to forcefully put him in a maid uniform at one point in the ''Maid in Aincrad'' Omake.
* WillfullyWeak: Lisbeth and the rest of the girls speculate this is the case for Kirito.
-->'''Lisbeth:''' "This is what I think. Probably, in a normal game, Kirito won't fight seriously anymore. On the other hand, Kirito only fights seriously when the game isn't a game anymore when the virtual world becomes real... That's why it's better if situations which force him to fight seriously don't appear. From the beginning, he was the type to easily get wrapped into troublesome things."
* WorldsBestWarrior: Shares this honor with his wife Asuna in Sword Art Online; in Alfheim Online, that honor belongs to Yuuki the Absolute Sword.
* WouldHitAGirl: He expresses that he does not like to fight females, but he could if he has to.
** He threatened the female leader of the player-killing guild "Titan's Hand" to intimidate the guild.
** He once dueled Asuna due to their disagreement on using an NPC village as bait for a floor boss and won.
** He took out the female GGO player Musketeer X during [=BoB=].
* YouAreAlreadyDead: [[spoiler:When [=PoH=] keeps on bragging about killing both Kirito and Asuna in the RW once he gets out of the STL, Kirito replies that [[PreMortemOneLiner he's not going anywhere in UW]].]]
* ZeroApprovalGambit: Outs himself as the first "Beater"[[labelnote:*]]a {{portmanteau}} of "beta tester" and "cheater"[[/labelnote]] to reduce prejudice against beta testers. By doing this, he focuses the stigma exclusively on beta testers who selfishly keep foreknowledge of the game to themselves, protecting other, less unscrupulous beta players (such as his friend Argo).
[[/folder]]
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[[center: [-[[Characters/SwordArtOnline Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineProtagonists Protagonists]] | '''Kazuto Kirigaya''' | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad Aincrad]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlfheimOnline Alfheim Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineGunGaleOnline Gun Gale Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineUnderworld Underworld]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAntagonists Antagonists]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineOthers Others]]]]-]
This page details the main protagonist himself, Kirito, in ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline''.
->Real world names are in western naming order. Followed by their online name and worlds they played in.[[note]]If only the online name is known, then display as normal.[[/note]]
'''Note: Unmarked spoilers ahead.'''[[note]]Especially from the web novels.[[/note]] '''If you're starting the anime, ''do not'' read this page!'''
[[header:Kazuto Kirigaya / Kirito (SAO, ALO, GGO) / Star King (UW)]]
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aincrad_kirito.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: [[labelnote:Click here to see Kirito's first ALO avatar]] http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alo_kirito_0.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350: [[labelnote:Click here to see Kirito's second ALO avatar]] http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/new_alo_kirito_6.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350: [[labelnote:Click here to see Kirito's GGO avatar]] http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ggo_kirito.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350: [[labelnote:Click here to see Kirito in Hollow Realization]] http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ainground_kirito_6.png [[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YoshitsuguMatsuoka (Japanese), Creator/BrycePapenbrook (English), Luis Leonardo Suarez (Latin American Spanish), Darío Torrent (European Spanish)
->''"I got this... I can do this! This world can't beat me! [[SurvivalMantra I will survive!"]]''
The protagonist of the series.
His parents died in a car accident when he was a toddler, but was promptly adopted by his aunt. From a very young age, Kazuto developed an extraordinary ability with computers in general, and at age 10, he was able to hack into the Japan's National Registry, where he found out about his adoption. After this discovery, he started to distance himself from his family and started to compulsively play MMO-RPG games under the nickname "Kirito" as a mean of escapism.
At 14 years old, he gets to be a beta tester for the first Virtual Reality MMO-RPG ever created: "Sword Art Online". However, when the game is officially launched, he gets trapped inside of it along with the other 9999 players. Knowing how the game works thanks to his experience as an MMO player and beta tester, Kirito vows to survive in SAO no matter what.
However, due to his trust issues, he decides to make it as a solo player, rather than trying to socialize with other gamers. That changes temporarily when he joins a small guild called the Black Cats of the Full Moon, where he seems to manage to feel comfortable enough to start opening out to other people. However, Kirito decides to hide his true strength and his past as a Beta tester out of fear of alienating them, which later on indirectly gets his guild mates killed. Blaming himself for their death, Kirito decides even more strongly to write off relating to other players almost entirely for a long time.
Thanks to his extraordinary abilities as a gamer, though, Kirito becomes [[TheAce one of the strongest players in SAO]], which gets him to be known as "[[RedBaron The Black Swordsman]]". Eventually, he earns the Unique Skill "DualWielding", which allows him to equip a second sword in his off-hand.
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:A-E]]
* AccidentalPervert:
** In SAO, he accidentally [[ThanksForTheMammary gropes]] Asuna after she falls over him when she used a Teleport Crystal while running away from Kuradeel. She responds with a MegatonPunch.
** Later in GGO, he sees Sinon in her underwear, thanks to [[DudeLooksLikeALady a gender mix-up]].
* ActionDad: To the AI Yui. In this case, the "action" is hacking.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: He's already good looking in the web version despite being seen as a {{Shonen}} hero but the light novel, anime, manga, and game adaptations gave him more {{Bishonen}} features. Taken UpToEleven with [[DudeLooksLikeALady his GGO avatar]] and [[WholesomeCrossdresser some of his costumes]] in ''Code Register''.
* AdaptationalBadass: In the light novels and anime, [[spoiler:he was the one who killed Kuradeel instead of Asuna.]]
* AdoptivePeerParent: He is only 16 years old and he and Asuna essentially adopted the AI Yui as their daughter. [[spoiler:If he considers Strea this in the game continuity is still up in the air, especially due to his reaction after Strea brings it up and even calls him "Daddy" (possibly as a joke) in ''Hollow Realization''.]]
* AlliterativeName: Both his given and family names begin with a "K", as is his online name.
* AloofBigBrother: He distanced himself from his adoptive sister/cousin Suguha after he found out they aren't real siblings. After SAO he works to repair the distance.
* AmazonChaser: He is often stunned speechless by the sight of Asuna in action. He's described her as "an angel" and her combos as "pure beauty".
* AngstComa: [[spoiler:Spends almost three books being stuck in this state until [=PoH=] shows up while Rath fixes his brain damage in the RW.]]
* AntiHero: The KnightInSourArmor variant at the beginning -- at his worst he's willing to do what it takes to survive. He largely grows out of it as his experiences expand beyond SAO.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: [[spoiler:Dude deserves a lot of credit. From clearing SAO to ending the war in UW by kicking Gabriel's ass, Kirito is not only a PhysicalGod, but also the boss of UW for 200 years.]]
* AttackItsWeakPoint: Specializes in this. Asuna notes that in SAO/ALO, Kirito's fighting style focuses on going after his enemy's weak points [[BreakableWeapons and weapons]], and is called "Arms Blast", an Outside System Skill. In ALO, this leads to the creation of another Outside System Skill, "Spell Blast", where he accurately targets the tiny core in the middle of spells and destroys them.
* AwesomeButImpractical: In SAO, he's still using and upgrading Dark Repulser months after Lisbeth crafted it for him. As she noted, it's rapidly being outclassed, and any moderately upgraded rare weapon from the 70th floor could match it even if fully upgraded, with much less material expense. The reason is because of its name, Kirito believes that he is destined to use it on the 100th floor final boss. [[spoiler:[[CrazyPrepared He's right]].]]
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Or coming back from being brain dead in this case. Just when [=PoH=] is about to go for the kill against the heroes, Kirito wakes up and gives him a well-deserved beatdown.]]
* BadassAdorable: Awww, he's so cute -- wait, he's what?! The strongest player in SAO?!
* BadassBiker: Downplayed in the real world, as he owns a motorcycle and often rides it. The skill becomes useful during [=BoB=] when he and Sinon are being chased by Death Gun.
* BadassBoast: While disarming his opponent and sizing up the kabar combat knife...
--->"Such a weak weapon. Too light, no reach. And it's all I'm gonna need to kill you once and for all."
* BadassInCharge: [[spoiler:Post-Alicization, the UW people worshiped him as their immortal ruler.]]
* BadassLongcoat: He often wears black long coats; even in real life he prefers at least dark clothing. [[EarnYourTitle There's a reason he's called]] '''[[RedBaron The Black Swordsman]]'''.
* BareFistedMonk: He knows unarmed combat to supplement his swordsmanship.
* BattleCouple: With Asuna, especially during the ''Aincrad'' arc. They show an uncanny understanding of each other in battle, and coordinate their movements perfectly.
* TheBerserker:
** His use of Dual Blades skill makes him seem like one and [[TheGlovesComeOff he gets really serious in a fight]]. It's lampshaded by himself in Season 1 Episode 19. [[spoiler:The biggest example was during ALO, when he transforms into a demon, using his claws to fight and kill, not to mention eating some of his opponents.]]
** His berserk rage is such that [[spoiler:Death Gun intends to kill Sinon just to see if [[DudeLooksLikeALady the Kirito competing in [=BoB=] ]] is the Kirito from SAO.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Death Gun:''' If a friend of yours is killed, and you go berserk, then you're the real deal.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes:
** Just watch Season 1 Episode 4. He will not let murdering psychopaths go unpunished. [[SerialKillerKiller Even if he has to turn his status into a ''Player Killer'']].
** In the battle against the murderous guild Laughing Coffin, Kirito kills two of its members who would not surrender. This comes back to haunt him in GGO: [[spoiler:he discovers that Death Gun is a survivor of said purge.]]
** Near the end of Season 1, [[spoiler:you should see how many pieces of the person who tried to rape his beloved remain after [[UnstoppableRage Kirito's done with him]].]]
* BigBrotherInstinct: Mostly towards his cousin and little sister-figure Suguha. He also tends to extend this to Silica, who reminds him of the former, so much so he helped her revive Pina.
* BigBrotherMentor: Often acted like this to his friends when they were still getting used to playing [=VRMMOs=], even to those who were technically older than him (like Klein). In the video game continuity especially he's this to [[ArcherArchetype Shino/Sinon]], who often refers to him as her teacher proudly.
* BigDamnHeroes: His favorite method of dealing with psychopaths. [[spoiler:Alicization takes it further when he deflects [=PoH=]'s attacks after waking up and bails out Alice in the aftermath of her fight against Gabriel.]]
* BirdsOfAFeather: The roots of his close friendship with Sinon who, like him, has also killed someone in the past.
* {{Bishonen}}: Applies to his physical self as well, but it should be noted that it's due to being essentially stuck in a coma for two years and still recovering. Sinon realizes this, so she never makes fun of him for looking so effeminate.
* BigGood: [[spoiler:As the "Star King".]]
* {{BFS}}: In ALO the second sword he owns is almost as big as his character, though it's more of a longsword.
* BlackSwordsAreBetter: In SAO, his primary weapon "Elucidator"; In ALO, a {{BFS}} that replaced his starter weapon; In GGO, a "Kagemitsu G4" lightsaber with a black hilt.
* BloodKnight: Never quite admitted or gets out of hand with it, [[TheBerserker but it exists]]. It's acknowledged as such by Asuna as well:
-->'''Yulier:''' ''[as Kirito is slicing up dozens of frog enemies]'' I feel like I should apologize; he's doing all the fighting.\\
'''Asuna:''' ''[with a smile, holding Yui]'' Oh no, he's happy out there. Really, he loves getting his battle on.
* BreakTheCutie: Let's see, finding out that his parents actually died when he was 2 at the age of 10, being trapped in a VRMMORPG where if people die, they die for real, encountering some particularly nasty folks who still wanted to kill people, and being nearly killed by one of them, and seeing his closest friends die yet again have really hit him so hard that he almost [[DrivenToSuicide attemped suicide]], and ''twice''!
* BringIt: During ''Fairy Dance'', he tried to solo the Grand Quest at the World Tree and when countless guardians spawned to block his way, he just smirked and charged forward screaming.
* BrokenAce: Out of all 10,000 players in SAO, Kirito is the most skilled of them all, able to do feats that nobody else can, and is nearly unbeatable in battle. At the same time he hides a lot of personal demons. Prior to SAO, he has little to NoSocialSkills due to his insecurity regarding his place in his aunt's family. In his earlier SAO days, he suffers a massive SurvivorsGuilt due to what happened to Moonlit Black Cats guild, causing him to develop a severe tendency for [[ItsAllMyFault self-imposed guilt trips]]. He largely grows out of it come ALO but he slips back into it during GGO due to Death Gun [[spoiler: being a former member of Laughing Coffin]] and in Alicization [[spoiler:after Eugeo is killed off.]]
* BrokenBird: The Moonlight Black Cats ordeal [[spoiler:and Eugeo's death]] will certainly haunt him for many years.
* BroughtDownToBadass: He's in reality. He's just a scrawny guy who's been in a coma for the last year, and you've just stabbed his arm in a sneak attack. He has no gear, no Sword Arts, no insanely high level. Think you can take him in a fight? So did Sugou.
* BullyHunter: Kirito's failure to protect Sachi left in him a deep-seated resolve to never let the weak be victimized in front of him ever again: and heaven help you if you try.
* CameBackStrong: [[spoiler:Once Kirito wakes up, he single-handedly wipes out the remaining 30,000 foreign players [[OneHitKill in one strike]].]]
* CaptainErsatz: His GGO avatar looks similar to [[VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia Yuri Lowell]].
* CharacterDevelopment: In ALO, he's more confident and lighthearted despite having lost [[spoiler:Asuna]] due to the fact that he can actually play ALO like a game, instead of having to watch people die all the time. Plus, he now has his adoptive AI daughter to keep him company.
* ChekhovsSkill:
** His Unarmed parameter is 100, but we never see him use it in-game, save a few special occasions,[[spoiler:such as when Kirito bores a hole in Kuradeel's chest with his bare hands, as said psychopath attempts to murder Asuna.]] [[spoiler:In the real world, Kirito also manages to disarm Sugou using his bare hands.]]
** All the time he's spent playing VRMMO games, has ingrained in him some self-defense skills. This allows him to take on several attackers outside of the game, in the real world.(though he does have to rely on his own natural strength, and not calculated statistical numbers to help him)
** In the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc, his high reaction speeds, and sword skills let's him turn the Kagemitsu G4 [[LaserBlade Photon Sword]] into a LethalJokeWeapon as he's able to block, and vaporize bullets, by using the Bullet Trace lines as a guide.
** Also in the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc, his time riding a motorcycle in the real world (and possibly some racing style games) has given him good understanding of how to handle GGO's Trike "buggies", which he uses first to get Sinon and himself to the Governor's Palace just in time before registration closed for the Bullet of Bullet preliminary. He later uses it to help Sinon and him escape from a pursuing Death Gun who was riding a mechanical horse.
** More like "Chekhov's ''Lack of'' Skill", but the nurse assigned to watch over him while he's in GGO notes that he doesn't have a whole lot of meat on him. [[spoiler:When he goes to Shino's house IRL and tries to fight of Kyouji, he's able to land some good hits, but the {{Yandere}} is able to overpower him.]]
* ChickMagnet: Plenty of girls flock to him, though it's a bit better-handled than other harem series. One of the ways is that he has eyes only for Asuna.
* ChildhoodFriends: With Alice and Eugeo, [[MindScrew probably]].
* TheChosenOne: An unusual and indirect example, but [[spoiler:his Dual Blade skill was programmed by Kayaba to go to he/she who has the fastest natural reaction time, with the intent of making him/her be the one to face him as the final boss... and it just so happened to be Kirito. Which makes this a rare example of the TheChosenOne being chosen by the villain.]]
* ColorMotif: He's always related to the color black. Even Asuna says as a joke at one point that she should party with him "because her horoscope said black was her lucky color that week". Blue usually acts as his secondary color.
* CombatPragmatist: In ALO, by using his SAO skills and buffs that were carried over. While in SAO he had an advantage purely by having a head-start over most people; he even points out what he's doing is ''cheating'' in ALO. "Before I was a beater, but now I'm just a cheater".
* CoolGuns: In GGO, an FN Five seveN is his secondary weapon.
* CosmicPlaything: Hmm, let's see... Being trapped in SAO for two years, failing to save the Moonlit Black Cats, killed three Laughing Coffin members as part of his DirtyBusiness, [[spoiler:being ForcedToWatch Sugou molesting Asuna until Kayaba's virtual ghost bails him out, finding out that Death Gun is a Laughing Coffin member, being dumped into UW by Rath after Johnny Black poisoned him, witnessing Quinella cutting Eugeo in half, being '''''brain dead''''' for almost three consecutive books until Eugeo's "spirit" snapped him out of his DespairEventHorizon, and finally, being stuck in UW for 200 years with Asuna after killing Gabriel.]] Being Kirito isn't easy, huh?
* CripplingOverspecialization: Kirito primarily uses heavy swords in both SAO and ALO out of personal preference. This bites him badly when he plays GGO, as the closest sword available is a Lightsaber, which is very light. [[spoiler: This nearly causes him to lose to Death Gun, as Death Gun, aka [=XaXa=], uses an Estoc, a weapon he's familiar with, to combat him.]]
* CrossDressingVoices: InUniverse. Due to his GGO avatar [[{{GIRL}} looking like a girl]], Kirito puts on a higher-pitched voice when pretending to be a girl.
* CruelMercy: After managing to overpower Sugou in real life, Kirito is fully prepared to just [[SlashedThroat slit his throat]] and be done with it, but ultimately settles for just knocking him out and leaving him to the mercy of the cops.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: In real life and his game avatars, both his hair and eyes are black.
* CuteAndPsycho: What GGO players think of him after he sweeps the [=BoB=] preliminaries, because they see him as a beautiful yet crazy girl running around with a lightsaber in a gunfight... and winning.
* CuteBruiser: His appearance is so feminine it causes him to swear off metal armor, and more than one foe comments "he doesn't look very strong"... yet he becomes the strongest player in SAO and ALO, forces a tie with Sinon, GGO's ace, ''and'' apparently does quite a bit in UW, not to mention the skills he learns while playing [=MMOs=] transfer to real life. [[spoiler:Just ask Sugou.]]
* CynicismCatalyst: Kirito becomes a loner after he loses all the members of the Black Cats of the Full Moon and fails to revive Sachi. He blames himself for their deaths and avoids people because he's afraid of losing those close to him again.
* DamnYouMuscleMemory:
** InUniverse, his experience with a sword in SAO and ALO has given him extra experience with swords in later games he plays. However, once in real life after a Kendo sparring match with Suguha he tries sheathing his shinai bamboo sword on his back, and does it again at least twice in GGO, where there are no "swords" [[spoiler:that he can get at in time for the [=BoB=] tournament]] but retractable lightsabers, he constantly forgets that there is no sheath for it and he's supposed to hang it from his waist with a clip.
--->'''Kirito:''' Not again...
** It also bites him in the rear hard in several instances. At the end of the Aincrad arc, while fighting [[spoiler: Kayaba/Heathcliff for a second time, this time to the death]] he tries avoiding triggering any Sword Arts, as he knows his opponent will know immediately from the motions and glow, and block according.. Unfortunately, Muscle Memory kicks in at a point of desperation to land at least one hit in, triggering a Sword Skill, and making his attack pattern obvious [[spoiler:and ends up breaking one of his swords on Kayaba's shield, giving Kayaba the opening he needs to swing back]].
** At the beginning of the Fairy Dance Arc, it happens again during a Kendo sparring match with Suguha. She's a National Quarterfinalist in Japan for Kendo, and he's just completed about 2 months of physical therapy from his time stuck in a coma like state due to being stuck in SAO. His skill with swords in SAO transfers over, matching Suguha's techniques almost equally, up until muscle memory kicks in, and he tries activating a Sword Skill in real life. RealityEnsues, letting Suguha get an easy head strike in on the flat-footed, tiring out, and unguarded Kazuto.
** It happens again in the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc, though further time playing ALO has allowed Kirito enough practice that he imitate some simpler Sword Skills very well without any system assist, such as "Horizontal Square" and "Vorpal Strike" in GGO with his Photon Sword. Versus most GGO players, who have spent 99% of their time in game combat in gun fights, don't even have a clue how to dodge melee attacks. Unfortunately for Kirito, the enemy he's chasing, Death Gun, ''does'' [[spoiler:as he's a SAO Survivor as well, and has been practicing with the same Estoc skills he used in SAO. To make matters worse, he has fought Kirito before, so he know's Kirito's fighting style, and has an equipment advantage as Kirito's Photon sword doesn't have the heavy weight he's used to with swords, whereas Death Gun's weapon (made from starship armor plate materials) has a similar weight to his old Estoc, allowing him to easily parry and overcome Kirito and his Photon Sword.]]
* DarkAndTroubledPast:
** Prior to the events of SAO, Kirito at age 10 managed to find on Japan's National Registry his records which showed that the family he lived with were not his real parents and sister. Rather, they were his his aunt, uncle, and cousin, and they adopted when he was just over a year old when his real parents died in a car crash. This revelation caused him to distance himself from them and became focused on gaming as a way to cope until after the events of the SAO incident.
** Unfortunately, being a SAO survivor who spent much of his time on the front lines, has given him a whole new list of troubles that weigh upon his shoulders; survivor's guilt, taking lives to protect others, battle fatigue. It's not ideal for a 14 to 16 year old kid to deal with getting trapped in a video game that was originally meant to be fun. Getting reminded of uglier events certainly affects his psyche to the point that in several cases, he either shuts down in shock, or breaks down in tears.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Wears black as his main colors, both in real life and in the [=VRMMOs=] that he participates in. Initially, this was part of his "jerkass beater" guise but even then that was about taking heat off other beta testers.
* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: His birth parents died when he was younger.
* DeclarationOfProtection: He has sworn to protect Asuna.
* DemotedToSatelliteLoveInterest: During the Mother's Rosario arc, Asuna becomes TheProtagonist, while he has very little to do with the main plot. It's interesting, considering this had happened to Asuna from the Fairy Dance Arc through the Phantom Bullet arc.
* DespairEventHorizon: Almost crosses it when he manages to obtain a resurrection item to revive Sachi with (on Christmas Eve, no less) and goes near-suicidal after finding out that it doesn't work the way he thought it would.
* {{Determinator}}: Shows this trait from time to time. Best example is the climax of the SAO arc where, [[spoiler:despite being technically killed by Kayaba, he holds on long enough to return the favor.]]
* DifficultButAwesome: So many that only the outstanding examples will be listed here. DualWielding without system assist; Cutting bullets out of the air; Chaining together one-handed Sword Skills (he has to start one sword skill within a 0.1-second window in order to stop himself from freezing, basically a combo of combos); Spell Blast (using a system-controlled Sword Skill precisely enough to strike down fast-moving spells, which have a minuscule hitbox).
* DirtyBusiness: He killed members of the red guild "Laughing Coffin" while on a mission to capture and imprison them. [[KickTheSonOfABitch Not that they didn't deserve it]], but [[ThouShaltNotKill he'd rather not have]] and brought them to justice instead. Given [[AlwaysChaoticEvil the nature of those psychotic sons-of-bitches]], it's not like he has any choice in that matter. [[spoiler:Averted near the end of the Alicization arc when Kirito [[IRegretNothing shows no remorse]] in sending [=PoH=] to his FateWorseThanDeath.]]
* DisappointedByTheMotive: In "A Murder Case In The Area." Kirito considers killing someone over LootDrama petty enough, but is downright appalled when the victim killed his wife because she was no longer the woman he knew.
* DotingParent: Towards Yui; in fact, his main motivation in studying technology is so that he and Asuna may one day have a happy life with their daughter ''outside'' the virtual world.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:He takes Eugeo's loss very personally to the point of attempting to commit suicide if it weren't for a YouAreNotAlone speech from Eugeo's "spirit".]]
* DualWielding:
** The only SAO player who has the Dual Blades Sword Skills.
** In later game worlds, he rarely does this anymore... but whenever he breaks out two swords, much awesomeness will occur. The best part? He's physically controlling two different swords without any System Assist.
** It's seen quite well in Caliber. There are no Dual Blade sword skills... but he has a sword in each hand, so he chains separate one-handed sword skills, controlling each hand separately.
** In GGO, he has two one-handed weapons there as well, an FN [=Five-seveN=] and Kagemitsu G4 "[[LaserBlade Photon Sword]]". However because he's never used guns before in a VRMMO[[note]]with accurately modeled real world guns, with real aiming factors thrown in, such as one's heart beat rate as well[[/note]], he's a complete novice at handling the pistol and other guns he borrows, having low accuracy and only uses it twice outside of a GGO shops gun range, preferring to use the Photon Sword alone. When he remembers he can go SwordAndGun, he's particular effective as shooting [=Five-seveN=] gives him openings by interrupting his opponents actions to charge in and get a vital sword attack against his foes.
* DudeLooksLikeALady: His GGO avatar is a rare M9000-Type which cranks his already feminine looks UpToEleven. When he sees his own reflection in-game, he thinks he got gender-flipped. He looked so much like a girl that his IRL friends recognize him not because of his face nor his name but his sword style.
* TheEngineer: The boy has considerable aptitutde in learning and applying technical knowledge; in a ''little'' over a year since Aincrad, he was able to learn sufficient engineering techniques (coupled with his already considerable programming expertise) to build a shoulder-mounted internet-connected camera-microphone-speaker-interfaced through which Yui, his and Asuna's vitural daughter, can see and ''talk to'' her parents and friends in the real world. In the ''Mother's Rosario'' arc, this same interface, mounted on Asuna's shoulders, also allowed [[spoiler: the bedridden and terminally ill Yuuki Konno]] the chance to experience and live a full and happy school life. When practicality forbids the mounting of this admittedly awkward contraption, Kirito has also written a Smartphone Program through which Yui can ''also'' talk to him and Asuna any time in the real world.
** At the start of the Moon Cradle arc, [[spoiler: he built and test piloted his own creation, a mechanical dragon resembling a cross between a rocket and a jet, only to be blown up shortly afterwards.]]
* {{Escapism}}: Done subtly, but like Yuuki, Kirito embraces VR and is deeply immersed in it, to the point where he's preferring VR over reality. Yuuki realizes this and warns Asuna to watch out for Kirito, though Asuna doesn't understand what she is talking about.
* EvilCostumeSwitch: Kirito invokes this when he declares himself a Beater in front of a horde of players by putting on his recently obtained [[PaintItBlack black coat after accepting his newly obtained name.]]
* EveryManHasHisPrice: Why negotiate or threaten when you can just bribe someone with ludicrous amounts of money?
* ExplainExplainOhCrap: In Progressive, after being reduced to just above half health in his duel with Morte, he remembers that it's possible to kill an opponent with a powerful enough attack even in a duel to half health.
--> If Morte had left me with just a bit of health on purpose... He was not hoping to win this duel and force me to leave my quest for another day. He was planning, here and now... [[OhCrap To kill me]].
* ExperiencedProtagonist: He was one of the beta testers of [=SAO=]. His knowledge of the game's mechanics give him an edge over other players at the game's launch, and allows him to adapt to other VR games fairly quickly.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: His ALO avatar originally has very spiky hair. Between the end of ''Fairy Dance'' and the beginning of ''Phantom Bullet'', he has his avatar's hair cut so it looks more like his hairstyle in the real world.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:F-J]]
* FacePlant: Happens to him several times when trying to get the hang of ALO's flight engine in the beginning of the ''Fairy Dance'' arc. One pretty spectacular one has him slamming into the ground head-first from ''dozens of meters in the air'' and seemingly being stuck for almost a minute after impact.
* FailureToSaveMurder: Blames himself for the deaths of his first guild, the Moonlit Black Cats.
* FamedInStory: [[spoiler:Even his foster parents already knew his accomplishments from Aincrad to UW; someone else wrote a book about him and they read it.]]
* FlechetteStorm: Has the Blade Throwing Skill, and regularly carries throwing spikes.
* ForcedToWatch: During the Fairy Dance arc, after Sugou/Oberon stabs him through his back and spine, he goes out of his way to torture Kirito by chaining up [[LoveInterest Asuna]], ripping her clothes off, and groping and [[LecherousLicking licking]] her, all right in front of him. He [[LaserGuidedKarma gets his just desserts]] when Kayaba overrides Sugou's control of the game and gives Kirito admin privileges, which Kirito takes full advantage of, turning off Sugou's pain inhibitor and killing his in-game avatar so brutally that Sugou is [[WoundThatWillNotHeal left permanently injured in real life]].
* TheGadfly: After Asuna taught him it was alright to feel the joy of living again, Kirito develops a mischievously sardonic sense of humor when at ease, which manifests in (relatively) harmless teasing towards girls.
** Hearing about a ghost story tied to the woods in which he and Asuna had purchased a house on Floor 22, Kirito proceed to lay it on thick while relaying the ghost story to Asuna. Her reactions just kept getting better and better... [[spoiler:and then the "ghost girl in white" appeared: Yui.]]
** After trashing a Salamander hit squad using the illusionary form of Gleam Eyes, Kirito saw Leafa's shock at his tactics (literally chomping down on several of the Salamanders) and decided to jokingly bite her hand. Her reaction was ''spectacular.''
** In GGO: Kirito deliberately played up the cuteness of his [[DudeLooksLikeALady avatar]] just to take amusement at the lovestruck faces of admirers, who were not aware that he is not a cute ''girl.'' Though it's not there, one can imagine a SayItWithHearts moment because he lays it on so thickly.
--> ''Cheer for me!''
** Back in ALO: tired of listening to his party gripe about a particularly long set of stairs, Kirito pulls the cat's tail. Sinon's tail, to be precise. He then has to dodge her retaliatory attempt at literally clawing his eyes out... The look on Sinon's face needs to go down as one of the best reactions to trolling in VRMMO history.
-->'''Sinon:''' ''[rageface]'' You jerk! Do that again, and I'll shoot a flaming arrow ''up your nose''!
* GameBreakingInjury: [[spoiler:During the Alicization arc, the attack on the Ocean Turtle in real life damages Kirito's nervous system even more and leaves him paralyzed in UW until the images Asuna, Suguha, Sinon, and Eugeo snap him out of his [[DespairEventHorizon epic]] [[DrivenToSuicide depression]] in the middle of his JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind moment.]]
* GenreSavvy: When it comes to [=MMORPGs=], he has a great deal of experience and thus knows how they work. This becomes crucial for survival in SAO and all the more so because he was a beta tester.
* {{GIRL}}: In GGO, he initially takes advantage of his feminine player avatar to get help from Sinon, and later [[ExploitedTrope exploits]] it again to garner support from male players.
* GlassCannon: When he whips out Dual Wielding, he gains a completely massive attack output that outstrips everyone in the game. However, he basically becomes TheBerserker and gives up all forms of defense.
* GoodThingYouCanHeal: As a group of orange guild Titan's Hand members find out, Kirito HP heals faster than they can damage it, allowing him to NoSell a simultaneous attack from nine players.
* GrossUpCloseUp: Gets a few of these when he gets battle-crazy.
* HappilyAdopted: By his aunt Midori and uncle Minetaka. Although he became distant when he found out they aren't really his parents, he gets over it after the SAO incident.
* HappilyMarried: His marriage to Asuna in SAO is the only time during the death game that he was truly happy. They're too young to marry in real life, and even there, they're happily ''dating''.
* HesBack: [[spoiler:The first thing Kirito did after [[BackFromTheDead coming back from being brain dead]]? Freeze the remaining 30,000 foreign players in ice, and then [[FateWorseThanDeath turn [=PoH=] into a tree]].]]
* HeroesPreferSwords: All of his avatar characters use some sort of CoolSword. Even in ''Gun Gale Online'', he forgoes using a gun (aside from a pistol sidearm) in favor of a LaserBlade.
* HeroesWantRedheads: Fall in love with and becomes an {{official couple}} with Asuna.
* HeroicBSOD:
** He suffers one when [[spoiler:Asuna performs a HeroicSacrifice.]] It debilitates him so badly that he can't bring himself to do more than slowly and feebly swing his swords at [[spoiler:Heathcliff]] for a few seconds.
** Suffers another one when he encounters [[spoiler:Death Gun and realizes that not only is he a survivor of SAO, but also a member of Laughing Coffin. All of Kirito's repressed memories of the purge against that guild return and leave him in such a wrecked state that Sinon is worried by his nonresponsiveness.]]
** He also briefly suffers one in his NearDeathExperience in Episode 24 when Sugou[=/=]Oberon sexually assaults Asuna after paralyzing him, thinking he couldn't be able to save her, and basically gives up (in his words "facing reality"). The spirit of Kayaba, the first half's AffablyEvil baddie, manages to snap him out of it and give him a HeroicSecondWind, as well giving him his system administrator privileges to take Oberon down.
** [[spoiler:Happens to him again twice during the events of Alicization. First when Eugeo was cut in half by Quinella, and second when he finally recovers most of his past memories during his JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind moment.]]
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: During SAO, first due to his status as a "Beater", although he gets better when he joins the Black Cats of the Full Moon. Then it's turned UpToEleven after [[MyGreatestFailure the whole guild is wiped out]], to the point he becomes quite self-loathing.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Eugeo. [[spoiler:[[TheTragicRose It doesn't end well for them in the end, however]].]]
* HeyYou: It's pointed out that he talks very casually with Kikuoka, something that would be highly disrespectful considering that Kikuoka is significantly older than Kirito. It's implied that this is because Kirito doesn't exactly like Kikuoka, although he acknowledges that he's more competent than he seems.
* HurtingHero: Believes letting the Black Cats of the Full Moon die is unforgivable. He's also haunted by the fact that he killed three Laughing Coffin members. He'd also rather storm the gates of Hell than let anything happen to his friends.
* HopeSpot: The resurrection item, the Stone of Returning Soul. Kirito relentlessly pursued it in hopes of redemption, but it only works within ten seconds of a player's death, making it utterly useless for reviving Sachi, who died months ago.
* AnIcePerson: [[spoiler:After acquiring Eugeo's Sword of Blue Rose, he can cast ice magic.]]
* IKnowMortalKombat: At the beginning of Fairy Dance, Kirito proves that he has real-world reaction and dodging speed on par with his cousin, the UsefulNotes/{{kendo}} expert. At the end of the arc [[spoiler: he easily handles an asshole attacking him with a knife, though it should be noted the asshole was suffering [[WoundThatWouldNotHeal from phantom injuries]] dealt by Kirito minutes prior .]]
* IKnowYourTrueName: In the climax of GGO, Kirito is faced with a situation where he can't remember [[spoiler:the name of the Laughing Coffin member who is impersonating Death Gun]], despite having found a few clues during the [=BoB=] tournament. Throughout the final duel, he frantically scrapes through his memories and remembers [[spoiler:the briefing before the raid on Laughing Coffin's HQ, which brought out the names of several key members]]. It is then, through the conjecture of [[spoiler:Death Gun's physical appearance, specifically the skull mask and red lenses]], that Kirito realizes he is fighting [[spoiler:Red-Eyed [=XaXa=], prompting the latter to be distracted and eventually get defeated. The implication runs even deeper since Kirito now has the means to arrest the Death Gun perpetrators.]]
* ILetGwenStacyDie: During his time with the Black Cats, protecting and comforting Sachi from her fear of dying helped to assuage some of his guilt over being a beater and solo player, but it came back to bite him hard in the end when his [[{{Irony}} inability to admit his background and knowledge]] indirectly caused her to die from a trap.
* ImageSong: He has a total of three. Sword & Soul, BLAZING BULLET (Sinon and Kirito), and Sing All Overtures (Asuna, Yui, Silica, Lizbeth, Leafa, and Kirito).
* ImAHumanitarian: When he uses an illusion spell to apparently turn into a monster, he ''eats'' some of the enemy players, and then chomps on Leafa's fingers when he turns back to normal. He was joking.
-->"Just trying to lighten the mood."
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice:
** In Season 1 Episode 22, where he tries to reach the apex of the tower by himself, only to be overwhelmed by the infinitely respawning guardians throwing swords through him.
** Again in Season 1 Episode 24, [[spoiler:when Sugou impaled him with his own sword, just after altering the pain absorber to make it even worse for him.]]
* ImplausibleFencingPowers: After two years trapped in SAO, Kirito is possibly the best virtual swordsman in existence. He goes into Gun Gale Online... and buys a lightsaber which he uses to deflect bullets. He later uses this experience to control otherwise uncontrollable Sword Skills well enough to ''cut spells out of the air''. You can practically ''taste'' the expressions of the first set of enemies he demonstrates that too.
-->'''Kirito:''' Compared to a bullet from an anti-materiel rifle, magic spells are just too slow.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Played with in Gun Gale Online. While swords are a perfectly good weapon in other games, his Photon Sword is part of what is considered the resident JokeItem class in ''Gun Gale'' since the game is a realistic shooter. Kirito picks up the Photon Sword and basically acts like a Jedi through ''pure skill.''
* IneffectualLoner: Due to his DarkAndTroubledPast, he mostly acts as a lone wolf but still his friends, people in need and girls will flock to him whether he wants it or not. Of course, [[NiceGuy he does care back]].
* TheInformant: Becomes one to Seijirou to investigate the Death Gun rumors.
* InstantExpert: Averted to some degree. In ever single case, there's an explanation to how he's so good or bad at new feats being demonstrated.
** In SAO, he has a jump start on how SAO works because he was a Beta Tester, and got particularly far during it, as well as a good understanding of [=MMOs=] in general from other, non [=VRMMOs=], so he understands meta, and how to use in game systems in alternative ways.
** In ALO during the ''Fairy Dance'' arc, the game, being based on SAO's systems and even using the Cardinal engine, detects his old SAO data and thinks it's his ALO stats. Having high or mastered level skills in combat puts him on even grounds with much better-equipped veteran players. However, he is completely unfamiliar with the use of the flight system, and at first, has to use the control stick item. Even after Leafa teaches him how to fly more naturally, without the aid of the flight stick, Kirito has absolutely no skill at actually landing, instead, relying on crashing into the ground, or a building to stop.
** In GGO, he has absolutely beginner's skill with firing guns. The first time he fires his pistol at an in-game gun range, he has poor shooting technique and completely misses the target. The first time in battle he uses it, he fired 5 shots from it, and only two hit, and his opponent still had 90% health[[note]]What it DID do, was further distract his opponent from reloading, giving Kirito enough time to stab him with an imitated Vorpal Strike sword skill to finish him off.[[/note]]
* ItHasBeenAnHonor: [[spoiler:Gives his thanks to "Eugeo" before finishing Gabriel off with a 17-hit Starburst Stream.]]
* IRegretNothing: [[spoiler:When Sinon asks Kirito if he regretted what he did to [=PoH=], he replies that he didn't; because he couldn't face her and Leafa if he did.]]
* JerkassFacade:
** After clearing SAO L1, he decides to out himself as the first Beater in attempts to keep beta tester discrimination under control.
** More specifically, his cold behavior around Klein is meant to cover up the guilt he feels for "abandoning" him on the first floor.
* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: [[spoiler:While he was still [[GameBreakingInjury paralyzed]], he receives visions of his past, suffers from a huge HeroicBSOD over Eugeo's death, and nearly [[DespairEventHorizon commits]] [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]] by attempting to crush his heart ''with his bare hands''. It took a ''lot'' of healing from Asuna, Leafa, Sinon, and Eugeo's images that Kirito has finally recovered from his GameBreakingInjury to finish the heroes' job.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:K-O]]
* KickTheSonOfABitch: After acquiring Kayaba's Administrator ID, Kirito proceeds to use it on Sugou, brutally chopping up his avatar, followed by beating him up in the real world, and finally leaves him to the police as retribution for sexually harassing poor Asuna.
** [[spoiler:He also has no problems imprisoning [=PoH=] in a tree for putting the lives of his friends in grave danger (especially Asuna's) and beating him up while he was still suffering from his GameBreakingInjury, followed by giving Gabriel [[KarmicDeath poetic justice]].]]
* KidHero: Only 14 at the beginning, 16 by the end of the SAO arc and by then he's put a number of bad guys behind bars (or six feet under in the case of Laughing Coffin).
* LaserBlade: His primary weapon in GGO is a beam sword. He doesn't like it because it's too light.
* LightningBruiser: Let's just say that most of his enemies can't see him dashing across the battlefield towards them before it's too late.
* LikesOlderWomen: As illustrated by his relationships with Sachi, who's in high school when he was still a secondary school student, and Asuna, who is a full year older.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: To Asuna. Their relationship is very serious, to the point that they cannot live on if one of them dies. He also sees Eugeo as this too.
* LonersAreFreaks: Actively cultivated this, first due to the stigma against beta testers, and later after his guild was annihilated. He gets better, as part of his character development.
* LongHairedPrettyBoy: His Avatar in GGO has waist length hair which amplifies his already feminine appearance.
* MageKiller: In ALO, he is able to target the small hitboxes in magic attacks and destroy them, a skill he acquired from deflecting bullets in GGO.
* ManlyTears: Several times, but two moments stand out: while listening to the audio recording Sachi left him, and [[spoiler:while apologizing to a comatose Asuna for being unable to fulfill his promise to her to help her return to the real world]].
** [[spoiler:Happens again near the end of Alicization when Kirito went to the now inactive World End Altar after disposing of [=PoH=] and Gabriel, thinking that he won't be able to see everyone in the RW again since he's stuck in UW for 200 years. Thankfully, Asuna shows up to keep him company.]]
* MarryThemAll: [[spoiler:His solution to his UnwantedHarem in the post-Alicization Gaiden X2 special.]]
* MasterOfIllusion: Comes with being a Spriggan in ALO. Used to [[IAmAHumanitarian terrifying effect]] against a twelve-person attack squad.
* MasterSwordsman: In SAO he mastered the One Handed Straight Sword skills and Dual Blades unique skills.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: At the end of SAO, Kirito [[spoiler:[[TakingYouWithMe keeps himself from dying long enough to kill]] Kayaba.]] Also, Kirito [[spoiler:or possibly Kayaba's ghost, in which case this wouldn't count,]] unstuck a sword that was position-fixed at the end of ALO. These were apparently impossible based on the laws of SAO. PowerOfLove? Yes. RealityWarper? Maybe. Or [[spoiler:[[LightNovel/AccelWorld incarnate system,]]]] which would count as a mundane explanation.
* MirrorBoss: In ''Hollow Fragment''. [[spoiler:His Hollow AI counterpart is the FinalBoss of the optional Hollow story arc.]]
* TheMourningAfter: [[spoiler:Eugeo's loss hits him so badly, he even mourns for his best friend and LivingEmotionalCrutch after ending the war in UW to the point where Suguha has to come in his room and comfort him.]]
* MyGreatestFailure: The aforementioned fall of the "Moonlit Black Cats" and failure to revive Sachi defined him as a person for all of SAO.
** [[spoiler:And Eugeo's death is added to his list in Alicization.]]
* MyGreatestSecondChance: After the whole SAO (and, by extension ALO) experience, he vows to become a more honest and better brother figure for Suguha.
* MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours: He's the "Yours" in the equation during the Alfheim and GGO arcs. He [[IKnowMortalKombat knows Mortal Kombat]]... but two years of twenty-four-hour full dive takes its toll on your muscles. A few months of rehab let him go toe-to-toe with Suguha, but she's got the better body for it (and he's [[DamnYouMuscleMemory still trying to use Sword Skills]]). When he confronts Sugou in the real world at the arc's end, he would have ''died'' from being stabbed by Sugou if the man wasn't suffering from his phantom injuries dealt by Kirito minutes earlier in the game that allowed Kirito to dodge and easily overpower him. The nurse watching over him during his GGO stint notes that, although he's got a bit of meat on him, it's still obvious he's an SAO survivor, and it shows [[spoiler:when he tries to fight off Kyouji and gets overpowered]].
* NamedWeapons: Has owned a few.
** '''SAO''': Anneal Blade (1H Straight Sword, quest reward), Elucidator (1H Straight Sword, drop) and Dark Repulser (1H Straight Sword, crafted by Lisbeth)
** '''ALO''': [[{{Excalibur}} Excaliber]] (2H Greatsword, quest reward with a handy assist from Sinon)
** '''GGO''': [[LaserBlade Kagemitsu G4]] (Photon Sword, purchased)
** '''Underworld''': Sword of Night Sky [[spoiler:and Sword of Blue Rose]]
* {{Narrator}}: Throughout most of the light novels, he is the one narrating the story. It's easy to tell his parts from those of others because his are always in First Person while others are in third person.
* {{Nephewism}}: His biological parents died in an accident when he was very young and he was adopted by his aunt and uncle.
* NeverBringAGunToAKnifeFight: In ''GGO''. His swordsmanship experience from ''ALO'' and ''SAO'' allows him to turn the [[LaserBlade Kagemitsu G4]], the game's JokeWeapon, into a LethalJokeWeapon.
* NiceGuy: Kirito generally tries to help everyone he meets, and will routinely charge into danger to help random strangers in trouble.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: He has this opinion of himself because he didn't try hard enough to prevent the Moonlight Black Cats from falling for SchmuckBait. Thus, they died. [[note]] Keita blames him too but also says that a beater had no business associating with them in the first place[[/note]].
* NoSell: During his match against the (player-attacking) orange guild Titan's Hand, half a dozen players hack away at Kirito as hard as they can. He has so much HP it'd take them about 5 minutes to kill him... except he regenerates faster than they can hurt him... and he gets tired of being used for target practice and tells them off.
* NotSoDifferent:
** Notes that he and Sugou are similar, as they were both defeated and then forced to assist Kayaba -- the difference being that Kirito never sought to become like [[AGodAmI Kayaba]] or Sugou.
** Kayaba himself. [[spoiler:Both are the best players in Aincrad]], immerse themselves in the game to the point where it's more real to them, and they both love video games. The difference, however, is fairly obvious, as Kirito never tried to become a god.
* ObliviousToLove:
** Subverted refreshingly. Unlike the stereotypical harem protagonist, Kirito is well aware of the girls' affections toward him. It's just that he has already given his heart to Asuna and deliberately plays SelectiveObliviousness so as not to hurt their feelings.
** Played straight [[PlayedForDrama for drama]] when he not only fails to realize Suguha's feelings for him until she [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove spells it out for him]], but he fails to realize ''Leafa's'' feelings for Kirito until he realizes that ''she's Suguha''.
* OfficialCouple: With Asuna since the very first light novel. In SAO they were married according to the game's mechanics. In later arcs, they are dating.
* OneManArmy
** Played around with. Kirito's stats are so high in the VRMMO games he plays that he can take on raiding parties or a powerful event boss like Nicholas the Renegade and emerge victorious as a solo player. At the same time, this fact makes him arrogant, as shown in ''Fairy Dance'' when he falls victim to a massive ZergRush [[spoiler:and a real-world psycho with GM privileges]].
** [[spoiler:Guess what Kirito did to the remaining 30,000 foreign players near the end of the Alicization arc.]]
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: His real name is barely mentioned at all. This is less prevalent in the English dub, though, since Suguha calls him by his name instead of "brother", probably highlighting their alienation from each other.
* OnlyMostlyDead: Partway through Volume 9, [[spoiler:Atsuhi attacks Kirito to avenge the downfall of Death Gun, and stabs him with a fatal dose of succinylcholine. Although he manages to take him down before succumbing to the poison, the volume ends with him flatlining.]] By the beginning of the next volume, it is revealed that [[spoiler:his body recovered from the dose but his brain was damaged, so Seijuro has to use his political clout to get him to Ocean Turtle and hook him up to [=UnderWorld=] so it can be repaired]].
* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: Yeah, Kirito is a rather skilled VRMMORPG player-slash-addict and an SAO beta tester, but other than his mild family issues, there's not much unusual about his backstory. Or his present... until Kayaba traps everyone in SAO.
* OutOfFocus: During the ''Mother's Rosario'' arc his screen time is much reduced. This storyline focuses on Asuna and her RomanticTwoGirlFriendship with Yuuki, so he takes a mild supporting role, helping buy the Sleeping Knights enough time to break through to the boss chamber and giving Asuna a piece of information that helps her find Yuuki in real life. He plays an important role in the storyline, but it's Asuna and Yuuki's story.
* OverprotectiveDad: Mostly in the chibi special Sword Art Offline. He makes multiple threats to Klein about teaching Yui bad things and states he would kill Klein if the guy ever flirted with Yui.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:P-T]]
* PapaWolf: He hacked Aincrad's Cardinal system to save Yui.
* TheParagon: Kirito's experiences have made him an altruistic and courageous character who helps and inspires many other players, like Sinon.
* ParentalSubstitute: He is Yui's "Daddy", or rather [[invoked]] MyRealDaddy, since she was programed by Kayaba but it was Kirito (and Asuna) who inspired her to [[GrowBeyondTheirProgramming grow beyond her programing]].
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Just watch him [[spoiler:torture Sugou after turning the tables on the man who nearly raped the love of his life]].
* PhysicalGod: [[spoiler:His OneHitKill on the remaining 30,000 foreign players, and subsequent smackdown of both [=PoH=] and Gabriel after recovering from his GameBreakingInjury makes him this. He even becomes the "Star King" within 200 years in UW.]]
* {{Polyamory}}: [[spoiler:Aside from [[OfficialCouple Asuna]], it is implied that he has a lot of "wives" during his 200-year stint as [[PhysicalGod the boss of UW]]. Played straight and taken UpToEleven in ''There is But One Ultimate Way''.]]
* PocketProtector: A mild variant in GGO; he forgot to detach one of the electrodes used to monitor his health, but it ultimately saved him from [[spoiler:Kyouji's attempt at injecting him with succinylcholine while he went to Shino's house to save her from the Death Gun perpetrators]].
* ThePowerOfLove: His love for Asuna is what enabled him to get as far as he did during his solo attempt at the World Tree's Grand Quest. Every time a new obstacle appeared or he started to run out of steam, a image of her would flash in his mind and he continued forward. Sure, he ultimately failed but it took an army of archers firing ''swords'' to stop him.
* PreAsskickingOneLiner: "Computer, set Pain Absorber to 0." After gaining control of ALO's GM powers and disabling Sugou's, Kirito decides it's time for some payback for Sugou torturing him and molesting Asuna. Sugou also mentioned that a setting of 3 or lower will result in real-world injuries from in-game damage.
* PreMortemOneLiner: Kirito has a penchant of giving these to his opponents whenever he's pissed off or disgusted.
** After using Kayaba's ID to strip Oberon from his GM status, and then cutting off his arm, Kirito gives him a rather cruel one before killing him in-game.
--->'''Oberon''': AAAHHH! MY HAND! MY HAND, MY HAND!!
--->'''Kirito''': It hurts doesn't it? But it's nothing like the pain you made Asuna feel. '''NOT EVEN CLOSE!'''
** Against Genesis in ''Hollow Realization'':
--->'''Genesis''': Don't screw with me... Why does it... have to be you...?
--->'''Kirito''': You are not worthy of the name "Black Swordsman".
** [[spoiler:And later, he does this to [=PoH=] at the end of their fight in the Alicization arc:]]
--->[[spoiler:'''[=PoH=]''']]: [[spoiler:As expected, it really is awful. However... this isn't over. Even if I logged out from this world, I'll show up in front of you over and over again. I'll slit the throat of the "Flash" with you and wait multiple times until it breaks out my heart...]]
--->'''Kirito''': [[spoiler:[[YouAreAlreadyDead No, this is it. You'll never log out from Underworld.]]]]
* PsychoticSmirk: Not shown very often, but he can flash some serious crazy under the right circumstance. A prime example would be during his one-man attack against the World Tree guardians.
* PurpleIsPowerful: His LaserBlade during the GGO arc is purple light.
* RavenHairIvorySkin: More so with his GGO avatar, [[DudeLooksLikeALady complete with crimson red lips, shining eyes, and long eyelashes]].
* RealNameAsAnAlias: His in-game name of Kirito. Makes more sense if you remember that in Japan, naming convention is reversed from that of native English speakers, with family name first, then given name second. In this case, his name is a combination of '''Kiri'''gaya Kazu'''to'''
* RedBaron: In SAO, he is known as "The Black Swordsman" due to his clothes, hair, eyes, and primary weapon being black. He is later known as "The Twin Blade Swordsman" after he reveals that he can dual wield. [[spoiler:During his 200-year rule in UW, he is referred to as the "Star King" by its people.]]
* RelationshipCeiling:
** Despite all the female characters that seem to flock towards him, the story still makes clear that [[SingleTargetSexuality Asuna is the only girl for him]], meaning any new addition to his SupportingHarem will never go beyond ShipTease.
** In a different way, the same applies to him and Asuna in the ''Progressive'' mini-series. Although the reboot is partly meant to flesh out their relationship, they're still intended to officially get together in the events narrated in the first novel.
* ReverseGrip: It's very difficult to spot, but on rare occasions, Kirito will wield his sword(s) like this if he needs to. The most visible example is from Episode 9 of the anime, during the battle with Gleam Eyes; he tanked a strike and briefly switched his grip to counterattack.
* TheSacredDarkness: His "Darkness of the Boundless Night Sky". [[spoiler:This is later proven useful during his fight against Gabriel.]]
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: As to be expected of a Creator/YoshitsuguMatsuoka character, Kirito is prone to hilariously-adorable girl-like-screams and shrieking when shocked, surprised, or [[ThisIsGonnaSuck desperately pleading his wife and this week's girl guests]] to ''not'' beat/cut/shoot him-up for his latest stupid/insensitive comment on the adorable Blu-Ray and DVD extras ''Sword Art Offline.''
* SecretIdentity: Kinda. When he returns to the real world, he tries to keep his Kirito identity on the down low.
* SempaiKohai: Has this relationship with Ronye.
* ShellShockedVeteran: [[DeadlyGame SAO]] will do that to you. It's hard to tell what messes him up more: the fact that he let the Black Cats of the Full Moon die or the fact that he killed three Laughing Coffin members.
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend:
** Said this almost word for word when Klein speculated he was partying with Asuna because he fell for her. [[EveryoneCanSeeIt The smiles of Asuna and the Furinkazan members show they don't buy it]].
** He also said it about Sachi, though [[AllThereInTheManual the character interviews]] reveal that to be a lie.
* ShutUpKiss: Kirito does this to Asuna in episode 10. The light novel notes that this is technically a violation of the Ethics Code, but fortunately for him, Asuna didn't mind.
* SignatureMove: In SAO, it's the "Starburst Stream" a [[BladeSpam 16-hit]] [[DualWielding Dual Blades]] sword skill.
* SilentScapegoat: In Season 1 Episode 2, he takes on the title of "Beater" in order to separate all other Beta players who help others with Betas who take advantage of their knowledge at the expense of others (Beta+Cheater).
* SixthRanger: Was the extra member of the Black Cats of the Full Moon; the rest were friends from a real-world computer club. He's also the only survivor.
* SkywardScream: Kirito fulfills this trope at the end of Season 1 Episode 1, after he resolves to survive SAO.
* SoleSurvivor: Of Black Cats of the Full Moon, he was the only one to survive the chest trap. Ironically, he was the extra man.
* SpinToDeflectStuff: In SAO, he once used a sword skill to block a breath attack of a dragon.
* SpiderSense: The Outside System Skill, "Hypersense". Despite being a hypothetical hidden skill, Kirito notes that several times in SAO, he'd felt the presence of someone watching him and credits the skill for saving his life.
* StupidSexyFlanders: When he enters GGO, his avatar looks too much like a girl, and he [[MostCommonSuperpower checks]] to make sure he is actually a guy (to his relief, he is). Cue guys ''hitting on him'' and Sinon mistaking him for a girl. Also, cue him ''playing up the girly tone'' when he confronts Sinon.
* SuddenlyShouting: During the climax of the Fairy Dance arc, he dips into this after performing his HeroicSecondWind and turning the tables on Sugou, particularly after he gives Sugou a small cut on the cheek, and [[MinorInjuryOverreaction Sugou flips out and whines about the pain]]:
-->'''Kirito''': Hurts, doesn't it? But it's ''nothing'' like [[AttemptedRape the pain you made Asuna feel]]. ''NOT EVEN '''CLOSE!!'''''\\
[''cue him [[AnArmAndALeg lopping Sugou's right arm clean off]]'']
* SuggestiveCollision: Happens when Asuna falls on him when teleporting into his zone.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: He's a nice guy but he can be a bit cold and distant, being paralyzed by the fear of reliving the Black Cats experience all over again.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: When his determination is at its peak, his eyes turn from dark grey to bright yellow. [[spoiler:This is seen when he lands the final blow on Heathcliff and Death Gun, as well as during his final push in ALO's Grand Quest.]]
* SuperReflexes: A big reason for his [[TheAce ace]] status in any [=VRMMORPGs=] he plays.
** He had the fastest reaction speed of all players in SAO, which was why the system granted him his trademark dual-wielding ability.
** In ALO, his reaction speed played an even bigger role as it determined one's in-game movement speed and attack damage. He was so fast his speed completely overwhelmed one of the fastest players of the race with an affinity for speed and was able to pummel players with high-level armor with ''initial equipment''.
** In GGO, his reaction speed is shown to be demonic enough for him to slice showers of bullets midair with his lightsaber as long as he can sense their trajectories. When he returns to ALO, he uses the same technique to easily block magic attacks which have notoriously small hitboxes, noting that magic attacks were far slower than bullets.
* SurvivalMantra: The quote at the top of his trope list, said at end of the first episode of the anime. And followed up by the aforementioned SkywardScream.
* SurvivorGuilt:
** Feels haunted by the guilt of being the only surviving member of the Black Cats of the Full Moon.
** In SAO II, there's also him surviving SAO in general and the fact he took lives to ensure his own survival that comes to haunt him.
* SwordAndGun: Does this in GGO, due to his preference and the lightsaber being too expensive for him to get anything better than a pistol.
* SwordOverHead: [[spoiler:Sugou is finally held with a knife to his throat by Kirito in real life. [[WhatYouAreInTheDark With no one else around at so late an hour, Kirito could easily kill him and put him out of everyone's misery...]] [[CruelMercy But he doesn't. He simply beats Sugou to a barely-breathing pulp and leaves him for the police.]]]]
* ThatOneGuy: Post Aincrad, his close circle of friends and in-game party are all girls: Asuna, Yui, Lisbeth, Silica, Leafa, Sinon. Though Klein sometimes tags along.
* TheseHandsHaveKilled: He's haunted by the fact that he killed three Laughing Coffin members.
* TookALevelInBadass: Every time Kirito picks up a(nother) weapon in a different world from the last, it qualifies. In order:
** Surviving in SAO, TheMostDangerousVideoGame;
** DualWielding in SAO, something [[SecretArt no other player can do]];
** Surviving in ALO, and [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight defying all the world's PvP rules in the process]];
** Dual wielding in ALO, which means he's controlling two swords separately rather than getting system assist like in SAO;
** Threatening Sugou in the ''real world'', using a knife several times lighter than anything he's good with;
** Surviving in GGO's [=BoB=] tournament with a ''sword'';
** Fighting in GGO with SwordAndGun, despite having no experience with the latter;
** Dual wielding in ALO ''with Sword Skills''.
** [[spoiler:Ending Quinella's reign in UW.]]
** [[spoiler:And finally, pulverizing '''two of the most dangerous player killers''': [=PoH=] and Gabriel.]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: ''Anything'' cooked by [[SupremeChef Asuna]]. Other than that, Kirito's favorite food is Teriyaki chicken burgers. Thus, Teriyaki chicken burgers ''[[BreadEggsBreadedEggs cooked by Asuna]]'' is number one.
* TragicKeepsake: [[spoiler:Keeps Eugeo's sword in his arsenal at the end of Alicization.]]
%%%%* TroubledButCute
[[/folder]]
[[folder:U-Z]]
* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny: [[spoiler:Meets Silver Crow/Haruyuki from ''LightNovel/AccelWorld'' in the side story Versus. Of course, as pure fanservice, he's back to his old Black Swordsman Kirito form as the two fight in an epic battle. It ends in a draw.]]
* UnreliableNarrator: Contradicts himself in different accounts of the incident with the Black Cats of the Full Moon. This suggests he may be giving a distorted account of other past events.
* UnsettlingGenderReveal: When he and Sinon first met, she mistakes him for a girl. They get along and she helps him get his equipment, but when it's time to put on their battle suits Sinon gets undressed right in front of Kirito and he awkwardly tells her he's a guy. Sinon delivers an ArmorPiercingSlap for that.
* UnskilledButStrong:
** Because SAO and ALO are built on the same source code, Kirito's compatible stats from SAO are transferred over. For the duration of the ALO arc, he uses the default starting skills and equipment of the Spriggan class. However, since his SAO stats are through the roof (and ALO stats are limited by there being no levels to grind), the effects of his basic spells are amped up beyond belief. A small smokescreen spell turns into a massive explosion of smoke, and a basic illusion casting spell outright transforms him into the boss creature he was trying to create a facsimile of, broken party-killing moveset and all. He later resets his stats so he can make a proper Spriggan build and have fun with it.
** This translates over to GGO as well. Once again having a converted account with all of his stats from SAO and ALO, his speed is unbelievable and he can [[BulletTime dodge bullets]] from ''almost'' point-blank rage. Sinon notes that he can pull off these impossible dodge maneuvers even though he lacks even the most fundamental knowledge of guns in the game.
* UnstoppableRage: Go ahead, just try to harm anyone he cares about. Especially Asuna. Hopefully, there's still enough of you to fill a bucket once he's through.
* UnwantedHarem: Despite his OfficialCouple status with Asuna (the first heroine of the series), he gains a number of admirers as the series goes on.
-->'''Klein:''' Man, you chick magnets have it tough, huh?
* WeaponOfChoice: Kirito is always a sword user. Specifically, One-handed swords, and typically [[DualWielding one in each hand]]. In SAO, he uses the Elucidator and Dark Repulser. Even in GGO, he picks up a lightsaber. It's fitting given his [[KnightInShiningArmor chivalrous impulses]].
* WeWantOurJerkBack: As for Leafa/Suguha not taking well to finding out Kirito is really her cousin/adopted brother...
-->'''Suguha''': "If that's how it is, I wished you kept on being a jerk to me."
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: [[spoiler:When given the opportunity to kill Sugou, the man who nearly ruined his life and tried to rape Asuna, Kirito simply gives him a beatdown and leaves him to the cops.]]
* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: Kirito prefers swords. Even GGO, which focuses heavily on ranged combat.
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Four of his costumes involve him (in his GGO Avatar) cross-dressing as an IdolSinger, a FrenchMaid, a MagicalGirl, and a Bride in ''Code Register''. Asuna, Lisbeth, and Silica tried to forcefully put him in a maid uniform at one point in the ''Maid in Aincrad'' Omake.
* WillfullyWeak: Lisbeth and the rest of the girls speculate this is the case for Kirito.
-->'''Lisbeth:''' "This is what I think. Probably, in a normal game, Kirito won't fight seriously anymore. On the other hand, Kirito only fights seriously when the game isn't a game anymore when the virtual world becomes real... That's why it's better if situations which force him to fight seriously don't appear. From the beginning, he was the type to easily get wrapped into troublesome things."
* WorldsBestWarrior: Shares this honor with his wife Asuna in Sword Art Online; in Alfheim Online, that honor belongs to Yuuki the Absolute Sword.
* WouldHitAGirl: He expresses that he does not like to fight females, but he could if he has to.
** He threatened the female leader of the player-killing guild "Titan's Hand" to intimidate the guild.
** He once dueled Asuna due to their disagreement on using an NPC village as bait for a floor boss and won.
** He took out the female GGO player Musketeer X during [=BoB=].
* YouAreAlreadyDead: [[spoiler:When [=PoH=] keeps on bragging about killing both Kirito and Asuna in the RW once he gets out of the STL, Kirito replies that [[PreMortemOneLiner he's not going anywhere in UW]].]]
* ZeroApprovalGambit: Outs himself as the first "Beater"[[labelnote:*]]a {{portmanteau}} of "beta tester" and "cheater"[[/labelnote]] to reduce prejudice against beta testers. By doing this, he focuses the stigma exclusively on beta testers who selfishly keep foreknowledge of the game to themselves, protecting other, less unscrupulous beta players (such as his friend Argo).
[[/folder]]
