Jacks of all trades and masters of none, with illusion magic and treasure hunting tossed in as their specialties. These guys actually lean towards physical combat, though being only middling strong, they don't lend themselves to the very heaviest weapons reserved for Gnomes and Salamanders. They were largely free spirits playing ALFheim for fun, role play, or adventure. Morgiana has been their on-again-off-again leader. She basically got the job whenever she asked for it, and then didn't run again if she was getting bored. They may act like mercenaries, but underneath it all, they're still Japanese and will still for the most part look to the good of the group.
- Hired Guns: They are a race of players with the most independent and roguish mentality, and primarily lend themselves to mercenary work.
- Master of Illusion: Their racial magic is centered around confusing their enemies.
Morgiana (Mirai Momoko)
Morgiana the Phantom Queen, Lady of the Spriggans, Countess of Muisca, 'Big Sis' of Kurotaka
The on-again-off-again, Leader of the Spriggans. One of the most powerful Spriggan players and co-founder of the Spriggan Mercenary Guild Kurotaka. Morgiana is extremely protective of her guildmates, whom she sees as an extended family. Has an ongoing rivalry with General Eugene after a PK marathon on the Salamander border in ALO. A skillful wielder of her preferred weapon <<The Jotun Spear>>. Her beast form is a giant crow.She later becomes pregnant by Eugene after a round of Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex in the aftermath of Operation Dunkirk.- Break the Cutie:The larger than life persona that she has built for herself to cope with the Transition is starting to unravel thanks to her pregnancy.
- Cradling Your Kill: Holds Rip Jack in her arms after mortally wounding him and telling him that it was just a GG (Good Game), and later telling the deceased that "Onee-san took the pain away".
- Dark and Troubled Past: She lost her sister in a horrific accident. It's implied that it was actually a cold blooded murder by the daughter of her father's boss. Worst her parents didn't even press charges, and boss daughter got away with it.
- Giant Flyer: Her beast form is a very large flying creature.
- Mama Bear: When she sees her Kurotaka "kids" in trouble during Operation Dunkirk, she slips into a frantic fright followed by Tranquil Fury.
- Marriage Before Romance: While she is physically attracted to Eugene and is endeared by his courage during Dunkirk, she doesn't love him. Her marriage to Eugene is a Shotgun Wedding disguised as already being engaged, but having to move up the wedding date due to her pregnancy, which causes her to go through an emotional rollercoaster. Advice from Asuna has her go through the wedding despite her reservations and canon omakes taking place in the future reveal that she does eventually fall for him.
- A Mother to Her Men: Toward her guild, the Kurotaka, she is quite maternal, such as referring to them as "her kids" but also making sure they stay as safe as possible during missions.
- Mildly Military: Her carefree demeanor and lax discipline of her subordinates boils the blood of more formal commanders like Karin.
- The Nicknamer: Calls new recruits Name-kun (or Name-chan, depending on the gender), until they have proven themselves, at which point she starts using their real names.
- Oh, Crap!: When she realizes she's pregnant.
- Oneesama: Or rather "Oneesan", which she perfers to be called than any leadership title by her guild, the Kurotaka, and the other spriggans by proxy. This is despite the fact that she acts more like a Cool Big Sis...
Maybe that's why they call her that in English rather than leaving it in Gratuitous Japanese. - One-Woman Army: Pre-Transition, she once camped out on the border of Salamander territory and killed every Salamander player that crossed it, by herself, even if they came in large groups. Her subordinates only provided healing between fights.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: In her own words, "I paid top yen for this body. I'd be pretty pissed if guys weren't checking out the goods behind my back".
- She Cleans Up Nicely: When she first appears in her white kimono. Even Karin is left staring.
- Silk Hiding Steel: She is a beautiful and graceful woman who acts like a Cool Big Sis, yet Kirito notes that her muscles are hard as rock underneath her pale and smooth skin, and she can also make death threats without breaking persona.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: After waking up in bed with Eugene following Operation Dunkirk's victory celebration, she reflects that all the courage and charisma he showed during said operation was not a reflection of his avatar. It's how he really is. Then she snuggles in and goes back to sleep.
- The Slacker: Is actually subverted, despite Drake's belief to the contrary.
- Surprise Pregnancy: Morigana tells a physician that her periods are relatively light and she had a contraceptive insert in her body. Cue realization that said contraceptive was in her human body and it has been around two months since she had sex.
Kirito (Kirigaya Kazuto)
The Black Swordsman, The Swordswoman Midori, Sir Kirito Kazuto Kirigaya of the Order of Yggdrasil
Former Beater of SAO, now a Faerie of the Spriggan Race. Fights with a high speed, one handed sword style and a unique dual-wielding style. Usually calm under pressure, Kirito is highly adaptable and a danger to any opponent. As a Spriggan, he prefers to emphasize his physical combat prowess but learns a number of Spriggan magic spells to complement his swordsmanship.- Action Dress Rip: Cuts off all the skirt of "her" gala dress to better chase the fake Mortimer.
- Attractive Bent-Gender: His Faction Disguise form "Midori" is considered beautiful by both people who don't know his real identity, like Guice, and people who do, like Klein.
- Badass Adorable: As Midori, "she" is described as so small and delicate so as to be "endearingly fragile" and thus her skill with a sword and strength in battle is all the more surprising.
- Badass in Distress: When Octavia kidnaps him to spite "Titania" - that is to say, Asuna.
- Big Damn Heroes: His rescue of Asuna in Albion, or rather, reinforcing her in a fight she would have otherwise lost.
- Black Knight: Is this to a tee to Reconquista, who refer to him or rather "her" as "Black Knight Fury" due to the perpetually black outfit. His new armor definitely helps.
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: In the Yui, No Boys! omake, he is mortified by the idea of his daughter dating anyone, and informs Bardiche that the boy is far Too Slow to escape his fatherly wrath.
- Cool Big Sis: No, it is not supposed to be "bro". "Midori" becomes Guiche's surrogate elder sister after Operation Dunkirk. She is the only girl that Monmon isn't jealous of because Midori's teasing and guidance is like that of a sibling. She knows what a cheating Guiche looks like and, as much as Midori means to him, she can tell that he doesn't love her romantically.
- Cool Swords: Gets a pair of black and white blades named Dual Deciders. Also uses an Assassin's Blade at the gala.
- First Law of Gender Bending: Events happen that have Kirito regularly using his "Midori" persona, the biggest of which is that she has become a sort-of big sister towards Guiche and is responsible for much of his growth.
- Happily Married: He as Midori tells Guiche that he's married and not interested in flirting with anyone. Asuna is the only woman he needs in his life. The epilogue to V.1 showing him easing into domestic tranquility with her and their daughter.
- Lightning Bruiser: Faeries in general are this to humans, but even among the fae Kirito stands out as fast, strong and tough. His beast form, Alfheim Baphomet, takes this up a notch.
- Living Legend:
- He became widely known as "The Clearer" after the SAO incident, and later, as "The Guy that Defeated General Eugene". Lady Sakuya has exploited this to prevent Mortimer from making power grabs by insisting he accompany her to political meetings.
- Gallia's Intelligence Department thinks that Midori is a Tristian infiltration expert for being so feared by Reconquestia as to be called The Black Night Fury.
- Love Makes You Dumb: In the words of Argo, "something about Aa-chan makes you stupid". He promptly proves her right when immediately after he is informed that Asuna is in Albion, he abandons the operation at the World Tree in order to reach her, disregarding the facts that Albion is currently over the ocean, there is a civil war going on, and there's a blockade of the Isle because of said war.
- Magic Knight: Has started reinforcing his swordplay with Shadow and Enchantment magic.
- Master Swordsman: Arguably the greatest swordsman of all the Fae.
- One-Man Army: Mortimer has issued standing orders to the Salamanders not to attack him unless they have a fully-equipped raiding party.
- Pimped-Out Dress: Midori's outfit for the Gala is a beautiful creation of silk and pearls. Guiche poetically describes it as "pure midnight".
- Mister Seahorse : In some Omake, playing on his female form, and the idea of Asuna creating a male one as a counterpart.
- Super Mode: Thanks to Yui hacking into Cardinal, Kirito's Alfheim Baphomet form gets upgraded to a true SAO Gleam Eyes during his fight with the Cerberus.
- Through His Stomach: While pondering how to shorten her grounding, Yui makes the deduction that the best way to influence him is with delicious food, which means that no one can do better than his supreme chef wife.
- World's Most Beautiful Woman: Guiche describes Midori as so pretty that all the boys at the academy would be running over themselves to court her.
- When introduced at the gala, Mortmorency gets mad at Guiche for understating her beauty.
Drake
Morgiana's second in command. Often gets irritated at Shirishi's antics. He is Asuna's equal, in that they have both mastered cooking.- Bow and Sword in Accord: He is great with a long sword and competent with a crossbow.
- Foil: Is more serious and cynical in contrast to Morgiana's cocky optimism and Shirishi's more relaxed and carefree attitudes.
- Implausible Hair Color: He's blond, which wouldn't be unusual were it not for the fact that he's a spriggan.
- Jack of All Stats: He's primarily melee but he learned both darkness and fire magic in the name of balance, and also carries a crossbow.
- Number Two: He is the second in command of Kurotaka, which means assisting Morgiana with anything regarding the day-to-day operation of Kurotaka.
- Supreme Chef: Mastered the cooking skill in Alfheim. Being a member of Kurotaka, this also makes him a Chef of Iron.
Marina
Kurotaka's lead archer and a master of stealth magic. She wields a massive longbow in battle.- Expy: Everything about her, from her name to her looks and her skills in long ranged combat, are taken from her inspiration Marina Wulfstan. The only difference is she is a Friendly Sniper rather than a Cold Sniper.
Shirishi
Dark Magic Enchantress
A master of dark magic and part of Kurotaka. A snooty and high-strung girl, she's nevertheless highly skilled in both battle and etiquette, being able to unleash a barrage equivalent to three regular Fae mages. She fought in the battle of York, and later played a part in foiling the conspiracy to kidnap princess Henrietta.- Body Double: Stands in for Henrietta during the Royal Gala because she has the regal bearing to pull it off.
- Lady of Black Magic: It's in her title and she can certainly back it up. Disposes of several mages at York, kills all but one of her captors during the kidnapping plot, and cuts off Digby's arm at close range.
- Not So Stoic: Seems to be this around Drake of all things, as she sheds her other personality quirks around him during serious moments and showed actual concern when a musket shot grazed his armor.
- Ojou: Definitely acts classier than a lot of her teammates, to the point of being chosen as Henrietta's double.
- Rich Bitch: Drake assumes that she was a spoiled rich girl back on earth because she is often snobby and always glamorous.
- Sociopathic Hero: At the very least, she has not shown any regret or distress over racking up an impressive body count. In fact, she wore a Slasher Smile while killing her kidnappers. Drake has noted that she's difficult to read, so she's either hiding her insecurities, or she genuinely doesn't care about killing.
Shime
Name-kun
A member of Kurotaka who had joined just prior to the Transition. He was a participant in the bombing of York during Operation Dunkirk.- Magic Knight: Uses both a spear and magic in battle.
- New Meat: The reason why he has the above-mentioned Embarrassing Nickname. He is acknowledged and called by his "real" name after proving himself in Dunkirk.
Hex
A member of Kurotaka who participated in Operation Dunkirk.- Character Death: Dies during Operation Dunkirk when the bomb he is guiding is detonated early.
- Cowardly Lion: Is terrified of battle, but goes anyway with a little encouragement from Morgiana.
Abigail
A Spriggan doctor specializing in forensic science. She is helping Argo in investigating the murders. She seems to be a fan of Kirito.- Captain Ersatz: Her name, specialty and even her preference for Elegant Gothic Lolita are references to To Abby of NCIS
Nori
Name-chan
One of the first new recruits in Kurotaka after the Transition. According to Word of God, she is a member of the Sleeping Knights. Graduated from her Embarrassing Nickname after proving herself against the assassins meant for Mortimer.Rip Jack
A high-profile Spriggan assassin with a solo ganker build. He and his small guild of four players had become infamous for ambushing and killing new players in ALO. This had been a problem to the point that Morgiana finally kicked them out of the faction. A master of Darkness and Illusion magic, his combat style relies on doing as much damage as quickly as possible and then running away when things turn south. As his name suggests, he styles himself after Jack the Ripper. He was a favored assassin of Lord Mortimer pre-Transition, as well as the one responsible for the murders at the start of the second arc. He was unable to accept the reality of the Transition and because of this, Sigurd and Ephiael were able to manipulate his initial shock and denial into full blown delusion.- Alas, Poor Villain: Dies in Morgaina's arms, unable to accept the reality of the Transition even as he lies mortally wounded. She tells him it's just a game so that he can die in peace.
- Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality: Even months after the Transition, he believed that Halkegenia was just a more advanced form of VR than Alfheim.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: The realization that he's killed real people and that his guildmates are truly dead caused him so much grief and stress that his mind rebelled at it and he fell into delusion.
- Griefer: Back in Alfheim, he got his kicks by stalking and killing other players.
- Master of Illusion: He's a Spriggan after all and illusions, particularly the disguising kind, are most helpful for an escaping assassin.
- Power Born of Madness: Morigana reflects that his combat style, so wild and intense, makes fighting him difficult. It is also so risky it's going to kill him. Fear doesn't hold him back because he thinks he'll respawn.
- Professional Killer: Unlike what is initially assumed, he is not a serial killer. He's killing people on commission.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Due to his belief that he is still in a game having Ganker fun, he acts like a cruel child plucking the wings off of fairies.
- Survivor Guilt: : He is the sole surviving member of his guild after the rest of them were wiped out in an unspecified incident shortly after the Transition. This is what ultimately broke his mind. He even kept his guildmate's gear in a chest in his room at the de Martou estate.
- Unwitting Pawn: Due to his delusions, he is incapable of understanding the true consequences of his actions. It is later revealed that Ephiael and Sigurd had reinforced his initial shock and denial over the Transition to the point where it became full blown delusion in order to use him in their own plans.
