History Characters / SwordArtOnlineMajorCharacters

* SparedByTheAdaptation: In the non-canon game ''Lost Song'', Yuuki's condition improves and she says that she'll be able to stay in the long run. Presumably, this is so that Yuuki (who [[PromotedToPlayable becomes playable in said game]]) won't have to be cut out altogether. This continues into its sequels where Yuuki is ready to tackle new adventures with her friends and any worries about her condition are ''almost'' nonexistent. Yuuki lampshades this by saying that up until recently, she'd been told that she only had three months to live. See YourDaysAreNumbered. This leads into ''Last Recollection'', where the Moon Goddess Lunaria account is replaced entirely by Yuuki's Sword Goddess Gladia account, a living tribute to how Yuuki is, was and always will be the greatest sword fighter in existence.

* TheTeam: While they are not an official guild, they frequently party up together, such as in the Calibur arc, these are generally the roles.
** Kirito is unofficially TheLeader, making general decisions on actions.
** Asuna is basically the NumberTwo, because she is the most likely of taking up leadership after Kirito, [[TheLancer a contrast to his personality]] and is also the TeamMom to the rest of the group, including her love rivals. She also fills the spot of TheMedic in ALO along with the TeamChef due to her [[SupremeChef amazing cooking skills]].
** Klein is TheBigGuy, being the BigFun BoisterousBruiser of the team who roleplays a samurai, which means he refuses to use magic and insists on following (what he thinks is) Bushido and protect the team.
** Lisbeth is TheEngineer due to being an UltimateBlacksmith, managing all of the team's gear.
** Silica is DragonTamer who [[EveryonesBabySister everyone protects like a little sister]], which makes TheHeart who can boost team morale.
** Agil is can be seen as TheTeamBenefactor because he is the primary TokenAdult who runs the GoodGuyBar which serves as HomeBase.
** Leafa is the {{Flight}} specialist as well as TheMedic alongside Asuna. She can also be MsExposition regarding ALO due to being the long time veteran.
** Sinon is the [[ColdSniper sniper]]/archer who provides ranged support.
** Yui is TheSmartGal given she's an ExpositionFairy who provides {{Infodump}}s to help the team out.

** Generally falls into this role in Girls' Ops. See ButtMonkey above.

* ButtMonkey: In her first appearance alone she got her pet killed, nearly answered the door to Kirito in her underwear, and got caught by tentacle monsters far below her level twice. In the Gameverse, she ends up getting assaulted by tentacle monsters or being reminded of [[ACupAngst lack of assets]] and in having animal mobs attack her and nearly damage her clothes. Her first scene in ''Millennium Twilight'' had her running away from mobs by hiding in a barrel...and then getting stuck and needing help to get out.

'''Main series''': ''' Major Characters''' ([[Characters/SwordArtOnlineKazutoKirigaya Kazuto Kirigaya]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAsunaYuuki Asuna Yuuki]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineSuguhaKirigaya Suguha Kirigaya]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineShinoAsada Shino Asada]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineEugeo Eugeo]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAliceZuberg Alice Zuberg]]) | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad Aincrad]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlfheimOnline Alfheim Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineGunGaleOnline Gun Gale Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineUnderworld Underworld]] ([[Characters/SwordArtOnlineIntegrityKnights Integrity Knights]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineDarkTerritory Dark Territory]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineCardina Cardina]]) | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineUnitalRing Unital Ring]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAntagonists Antagonists]] ([[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAkihikoKayaba Akihiko Kayaba]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineLaughingCoffin Laughing Coffin]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineNobuyukiSugou Nobuyuki Sugou]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineQuinella Quinella]]) | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineBosses Bosses]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineOthers Others]]\\

* '''[[Characters/SwordArtOnlineSuguhaKirigaya Suguha Kirigaya / Leafa / Earth Goddess Terraria]]'''

[[folder:Yuuki Konno / Yuuki]]
!!Yuuki Konno / Yuuki (ALO, AE) / Sword Goddess Gladia (UW)
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AoiYuuki (Japanese), Creator/EricaMendez (English), Eva Andrés (European Spanish), Amanda Hinojosa (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/character_24015.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Yuuki IRL (spoiler)]]\\
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yuuki_rl19.png[[/labelnote]]]]

->''"There are things you can only share with someone by fighting. For instance, how serious you are."''

The {{deuteragonist}} of ''Mother's Rosario'' (Volume 7) and the energetic, cheerful Imp leader of the Sleeping Knights guild. She holds a street duel competition, hoping to find someone strong enough to help her guild solo a floor boss, an achievement which will mark their names on the Monument of Swordsmen.

* TheAce: A VR prodigy and combat genius, being the only player able to best Kirito in combat. She earned herself the honor of WorldsBestWarrior for Alfheim Online.
* ActionGirl: She's better at combat than [[TheAce Kirito]], for starters!
* ACupAngst: {{Implied}} in the Manga. When she, through the VR Probe, meets Suguha in the real world, she ends up getting a close-up of her breasts in real life, surprising her and causing her to look down pitiably at her own chest.
* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: In the game continuity, she's a lot closer to Kirito who also directly gets involved in the ''Mother's Rosario'' arc adaptation, in contrast to canon where she mainly got close to Asuna. They even end up LikeBrotherAndSister just like she sees Asuna as a CoolBigSis.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: While she's fairly attractive in the web novels, she's even more prettier and sexier in other adaptations. This only applies to her ALO avatar, however.

** In the canon series, she doesn't appear until after GGO is introduced during the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc. In the video game continuity she has a brief EarlyBirdCameo as a PostFinalBoss in ''Hollow Fragment'' before appearing for real in ''Lost Song'' where the ''Mother's Rosario'' adaptation happens earlier than GGO.
** She shows up ''even'' earlier in ''Integral Factor'', appearing as early as Floor 4 as opposed to Floor 100. She also seems to have been drawn into the game the same way as Leafa did, having her ALO avatar with its Fairy features.
* AffectionateNickname: Her older sister calls her "Yuu."
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: [[spoiler:Yuuki was socially ostracized due to being HIV positive. Dr. Kurahashi notes that parents requested that she be removed from school, forcing her family to move away to avoid the discrimination and harassment. In ''Sisters' Prayer'', Yuuki notes that once her classmates found out, [[EatingLunchAlone she no longer had any friends and ate lunch alone.]] In fact, it's probably not an exaggeration, to say that Asuna was more than likely the only friend she ever made who was not a medical professional or terminally ill who was willing to stick around.]]
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Duels with Kirito twice and wins both rounds. It is debatable (in-universe even!) who is actually more skilled, as Kirito never fights her with his signature style (and Lisbeth theorizes that Kirito never fights "seriously" anymore unless lives are on the line, and thus didn't go after her the way he did with Heathcliff and Death Gun), but her reaction speed and [=VRMMORPG=] experience are significantly better than his. Kirito even stated that had she been in SAO, the system would have instead granted her the dual blades ability due to her superior reflexes. [[spoiler:And he's right about that, at least in ''Integral Factor'', where Yuuki is with the group since the fourth floor. According to Kayaba, she was supposed to get them instead of Kirito. The fact she didn't proves something is going wrong.]] WordOfGod states that if Kirito ''did'' fight Yuuki with two swords, and one of those swords was [[InfinityPlusOneSword Excalibur]], Kirito would win by dint of his superior equipment rather than his skill.
* AlwaysWithYou: [[spoiler: She lives on in the [=OSS=] she gave to Asuna before she died. Her spirit even appeared to Asuna to help her against the FinalBoss in ''Ordinal Scale''.]]
* AmbiguouslyBi:
** She shares a PseudoRomanticFriendship with Asuna in ''Mother's Rosario'' and drops several hints of it her love for Asuna being more than platonic, jokingly stating she would be up for marrying Asuna one day.
** In the gameverse continuity, she is practically a member of Kirito's UnwantedHarem, even sharing a few pillow talk scenes with him, though they view each other more LikeBrotherAndSister. Though she also has even more suggestive moments in ''Hollow Realization'' developing a PseudoRomanticFriendship with fellow GenkiGirl Strea and presenting a bouquet of flowers to Asuna in one event.
** ''Integral Factor'' drops the ambiguity and has her outright confirming she desires to marry a woman someday, in addition to the usual teases like wondering if she and Kirito were love rivals for Asuna's heart, or saying she loves Lisbeth and spontaneously hugging her after the latter makes her a sword.
** In the "My Princess" event in ''Rising Steel'', she makes a secret bet with Kirito that whoever wins the Race Unity Tournament would get to take Asuna on a date. When Asuna expresses confusion at this, saying that she would have been happy to spend time with Yuuki regardless, Yuuki responds that "A knight has to fight for the affection of her princess", naming Asuna as said Princess.
* AngstySurvivingTwin: Yuuki had a twin sister, Aiko. Both girls were infected with HIV as a result of a contaminated blood transfusion, and Aiko died first. Yuuki, who was quite close to her sister, clearly misses Aiko a great deal, and ends up seeing a bit of her in her new friend, Asuna. [[spoiler:When Yuuki dies in Asuna's arms, the last thing she sees is her sister in Asuna's place, clearly showing her undying love for them both.]]
* ArcHero: For the ''Mother's Rosario'' arc alongside Asuna.
* AttackAttackAttack: Her favorite strategy is to charge right at an enemy and fight them head on.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: It's more apparent in the games, however Yuuki at times can get easily sidetracked from whatever task she's performing at hand, such as chasing after a butterfly while she's on a quest to retrieve honey.
* BadassAdorable:
** She's a kind and cheerful little girl, but is also the most powerful player in the game and the only person who can beat [[TheAce Kirito]] in a fair duel.
** In ''Lost Song'' and ''Hollow Realization'', this character trait is amplified by the simple fact that she is living life to the full, no longer shackled by an impending death. She now plays and has fun just as any normal girl would, albeit she does so in the virtual world.
* BestFriend: ''Memory Defrag'' indicates she has become this with Leafa (while thinking of Asuna as a surrogate sister). She and Leafa are BirdsOfAFeather being the two fastest players in ALO and love of rushing into the action without any planning.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: When she was being denied access to the Floor 27 boss, she responds by trouncing one of the grunts blocking the way.
* BigBrotherWorship:
** She looks up to Asuna as a role model and a surrogate sister. She evidently had this relationship with her late real twin sister as well. Particularly notable in that Yuuki is one of the few characters Asuna doesn't address using honorifics, which highlights just how close the two of them are.
** In the game continuity she has this relationship with Kirito, where she remarks she gets a feel for what it's like to have a big brother.
* BigEater: Certain gameverse instances show Yuuki has a voracious appetite, able to wolf down food at high speeds.
* BirdsOfAFeather:
** While the Arc revolved largely around her PseudoRomanticFriendship with Asuna, small snippets and side-materials give her this with Kirito, due to the both of them being [[MasterSwordsman Master Swordsmen]] and contenders for WorldsBestWarrior. It's actually to the point that Asuna gets jealous... not sure who of though...
** In the gameverse, she has this with [[PluckyGirl Strea]] during the events of ''Hollow Realization'', with both of them being so upbeat and cheerful they practically rebound off each other to the point where Asuna wonders if she's actually being a burden on Yuuki, [[spoiler:until Yuuki presents her with a bouquet of flowers Strea helped her with in order to thank Asuna for her help on a real-world test.]]
* ABirthdayNotABreak: In the climax of ''Sisters' Prayer'', Yuuki and Ran are [[spoiler: forced to stop Merida from using Ran's modified Nervegear from trying to get into SAO to help her guildmates from the Beta, with her having visited under the pretext of their birthday for the chance to do so. Merida even {{Lampshades}} this by apologizing for trying to pull her stunt on what was supposed to be an important day for the two sisters.]]
* BladeSpam: Her SignatureMove is the Mother's Rosario, which is an 11-hit Original Sword Skill.
* BloodKnight: Yuuki loves a good fight and is all too eager to challenger strong players to see how she fares against them.
* {{Bookworm}}: By her own admission, she loves to read. When Asuna's teacher allows her to read a short story to the class, she reads the story so enthusiastically that the entire class stayed silent for the whole reading.
* BreakoutCharacter: Yuuki is insanely popular among the fanbase, for being the only character to be a challenge to Kirito along with her [[GenkiGirl eternally cheerful disposition]]. Fans were utterly distraught she was KilledOffForReal at the end of her arc. However, through sheer PopularityPower she was able to [[SparedByTheAdaptation be spared her fate in the game adaptations]]. She also gets a side story titled Sisters' Prayer all to herself which covers her life before she met Asuna.
* TheCameo: Briefly appears in the tail end of ''[[Anime/SwordArtOnlineTheMovieOrdinalScale Ordinal Scale]]'', [[spoiler:as a phantasmal presence when Asuna performs Mother's Rosario against An Incarnation of the Radius]].
* CastingGag: Yuuki is very similar to another one of Creator/AoiYuuki's character, Hibiki from ''Anime/{{Symphogear}}''. Both are energetic [[GenkiGirl genki girls]] who are always ready for anything and both are [[spoiler: [[IncurableCoughOfDeath inflicted with a condition that will soon kill them]]. Unfortunately, while Hibiki is eventually cured of her condition, Yuuki isn't so lucky...]]
* CharacterDevelopment: At the beginning of Sisters' Prayer, hardly as upbeat or optimistic as she is by the time of Mother's Rosario, but by the end, she's on the way to founding the Sleeping Knights.
* ColorMotif: Heavily associated with purple, as part of her PurpleIsPowerful theme. Her in-game avatar's hair is purple and all of the outfits she wears has the color to some degree.
* ContrastingSequelProtagonist: The first female lead whose story arc has almost nothing to do with Kirito, instead revolving around Asuna. She also breaks the trend of the female character being [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter second best]] to Kirito, with her proving to be stronger than Kirito straight from the start.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Is an Imp and wears mostly dark colors but is perpetually cheerful.
* DavidVsGoliath: In ''Sisters' Prayer'', [[spoiler: Yuuki is this in her duel against Merida, who compared to Yuuki had more experience and better equipment, which isn't helped by Yuuki being a ReluctantWarrior at the time. However, [[WarriorTherapist after some encouraging words from Merida]], Yuuki is able to secure a win by using the Samurai's Parry skill to send her shuriken back at her, before managing to slash Merida in a vital area while blocking an attack on her throat, sending her HP below half.]]
* DefeatEqualsFriendship: Yuuki earns the respect and friendship of ''everyone'' she crosses blades with by defeating them. Asuna, for instance, became her surrogate sister after their duel.
* DelicateAndSickly: [[spoiler:She was born HIV-positive, contracted from an infected blood infusion given to her and Aiko's mother while giving birth to them. By the time Asuna sees her physical body, it was already blind, bedridden and on the verge of death, with her consciousness hooked up onto the Medicuboid for three years.]]
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Of the Mother's Rosario arc. In the anime, she takes over the EvolvingCredits opening during the arc.
* DistaffCounterpart: To Kirito. Both are VR prodigies with [[TheGift natural talent]], are MasterSwordsman who became the WorldsBestWarrior for a VRMMORPG and end up as rivals to a degree, as well as both of them being associated with [[DarkIsNotEvil dark colors]] and to top it off both of them love Asuna, though the exact nature of Yuuki's feelings are left ambiguous.
* DoNotGoGentle: Her main motivation for wanting to carve the names of the Sleeping Knights onto the Monument of Swordsmen [[spoiler:before AIDS claims her and the rest of Sleeping Knights also pass on.]]
* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler:Averted in the video game canon, as Yuuki doesn't die.]]
* DualWielding: Her ''[[AvertedTrope lack]]'' of this trope is a minor plot point; Kirito is convinced that if she'd been in SAO, she would have gotten the unique skill instead of him. Upgraded to a major plot point in ''Integral Factor'', where she '''is''' in SAO, [[spoiler:and Kayaba confirms that her SuperReflexes are superior to Kirito's. Yuuki not getting the unique skill tells Kayaba that something is going wrong.]]
* DuelBoss: [[spoiler:After fulfilling certain conditions in ''Hollow Fragment'', Kirito can challenge her to a non-fatal duel after beating Heathcliff. Despite the fact that she came from Alfheim Online, she [[InstantExpert instantly masters]] the mechanics of SAO to the point of giving Kirito a run for his money.]]
* EarlyBirdCameo: She made her first voiced appearance in ''Hollow Fragment'', months before the second season of the ''Sword Art Online'' anime aired.
* EatingLunchAlone: [[spoiler:Once Yuuki's status as an HIV positive individual was revealed, she found herself doing this at school during lunch time. [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer All of her friends abandoned her and would no longer eat with her.]] ]]

** Sinon is the [[ColdSniper sniper]]/[[ArcherArchetype archer]] who provides ranged support.

* DropTheHammer: Happens on a daily basis, as she's constantly beating metal into weapons and armor. She also occasionally wields one in combat, and currently possesses [[Myth/NorseMythology Thor's]] hammer, [[ShockAndAwe Mjölnir]], one of the legendary weapons in ALO.

** Her admin privileges were exclusive to SAO, so she doesn't have access to tools like the [[OneHitKill Object Eraser]] in ALO. What she does still have is access to map and entity data, allowing her to direct the others to a given destination, identify traits of NPCs, warn the others about incoming players, and warn the team of enemies' incoming attacks.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Duels with Kirito twice and wins both rounds. It is debatable (in-universe even!) who is actually more skilled, as Kirito never fights her with his signature style (and Lisbeth theorizes that Kirito never fights "seriously" anymore unless lives are on the line, and thus didn't go after her the way he did with Heathcliff and Death Gun), but her reaction speed and [=VRMMORPG=] experience are significantly better than his. Kirito even stated that had she been in SAO, the system would have instead granted her the dual blades ability due to her superior reflexes. [[spoiler:And he's right about that, at least in ''Integral Factor'', where Yuuki is with the group since the fourth floor. According to Kayaba, she was supposed to get them instead of Kirito. The fact she didn't proves something is going wrong.]]

** Silica is best known as the girl with a {{Feathered|Dragon}}s as a pet. Creator/RinaHidaka ended up voicing a [[TokenMiniMoe little girl]] with feathered wings serving as the pet of TheProtagonist in ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero''.

* ColorMotif: Averted. She is notably the only one of the main cast who doesn't have one. In her main outfits, she has been variably given Yellow, Red, and Blue without any specific fixed color. When she plays GGO in Episode 1 of ''Alicization'' she dons green combat gear, while in ''Hollow Realization'' and ''Alicization Lycoris'' respectively, she wears orange and purple outfits.

** Three characters names begin with 'A' (Asuna, Agil, Alice), two with the letter 'K' (Kirito, Klein), two with the letter 'L' (Leafa, Lisbeth), two with the letter 'S' (Sinon, Silica). Including Yuuki that would mean two with 'Y' (Yuuki, Yui).
** Holds true for their real names as well. The same three with 'A' (Asuna, Andrew, Alice), two with 'K' (Kazuto, Keiko), two with 'S' (Suguha, Shino), two with 'R' (Ryōtarō, Rika).

* {{Bokukko}}: Refers to herself using the personal pronoun "boku" as part of her tomboyish personality.

** Silica is best known as the girl with a {{Feathered Dragon}}s as a pet. Creator/RinaHidaka ended up voicing a [[TokenMiniMoe little girl]] with feathered wings serving as the pet of TheProtagonist in ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero''.

** Silica is best known as the girl with a FeatheredDragons as a pet. Creator/RinaHidaka ended up voicing a [[TokenMiniMoe little girl]] with feathered wings serving as the pet of TheProtagonist in ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero''.

* ArcHero: ''Alicization'' ''Lycoris'' give her a special after story DLC arc named ''Blue Eyed Demon'' that would have her as TheProtagonist with Kirito as the Deuteragonist instead, with the story have them tried to discover a portal to another world that somehow connected to the already shut down SAO serevr.

** Also hapens in the first volume of ''Girls' Ops'' when the party has to fight a hoard of slimes.
* ColorMotif: Averted. She is notably the only one of the main cast who doesn't have one. She has been variably given Yellow, Red, and Blue without any specific fixed color. When she plays GGO in Episode 1 of ''Alicization'' she dons green combat gear, while in ''Hollow Realization'' and ''Alicization Lycoris'' respectively, she wears orange and purple outfits.

* CrazyPrepared: After an encounter with [[ClothingDamage equipment destroying slimes]] in Girls' Ops Volume 1, Silica started investing in a sewing and carries a needle and thread with her everywhere, which comes in handy five volumes later when Leafa gets her clothes damaged by a razor wire trap.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Yuuki (spoiler)]]\\

* DualWielding: Her ''[[AvertedTrope lack]]'' of this trope is what convinces Kirito she's not a SAO survivor; if she'd been in SAO, she would have gotten the unique skill instead of him. [[spoiler:In ''Integral Factor'', where she '''is''' in SAO, her not having it tells Kayaba that something is going wrong.]] On a more light-hearted note, Kirito claims in a Q&A that if he tried to dual-wield against Yuuki, she might just go "Hey, I bet I can pull that off" [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter and kick his ass anyways]].