Sword Art Online - Underworld / Characters

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

This page details the various characters first appearing in the Alicization arc.

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

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Friends and Allies

Eugeo

See this page

Alice Zuberg

See this page

Ronye Arabel

Voiced by: Reina Kondo (Japanese), Deneen Melody (English), Regina Carrillo (Latin American Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ronye_17.png

^{Click here to see Ronye in Moon Cradle (SPOILER)}

Kirito's valet during his time in the Master Swordsman Academy.

Adaptational Badass: In Rising Steel, any mention of Deusolbert's assistance in her and Tiese's fight against Cruiga is Adapted Out, hinting they beat him on their own.
Adaptational Curves: The size of her bust varies tremendously depending on the medium, especially in the mobile game Memory Defrag where she's bursting in size. An illustration in Volume 19 of her in the Great Baths with Fizel reveals that she is rather well-endowed.
Adapted Out: Eugeo showed up earlier during the Attempted Rape scene in the light novels and anime, ultimately resulting with Raios and Humbert failing to violate poor Ronye and Tiese unlike in the original web novels.
A Girl and Her X: With her dragon Tsukikage in Moon Cradle. When she, Tiese and Shimosaki (Tiese's dragon) get captured, Ronye sends Tsukikage to get help, ending up on her own little adventure.
Amateur Sleuth: As an Integrity Knight Apprentice, her main role is as a combatant and she mainly serves as Kirito's bodyguard. Despite this, she ends playing a key role in investigating the numerous mystery's that occur in Moon Cradle, figuring out that the murder weapon Oroi allegedly used was likely not an actual Goblin dagger but one made from Sacred Arts and that Leazetta's kidnapper was hiding in Obsidia's castle's throne room, which was sealed off after Vecta's death.
Ambiguous Situation: It's hard to say if the Moonbeam Sword was always a Divine Object, albeit a weak one or one Quinella deemed a failure and placed in the armoury, that Ronye ended up picking out of pure luck or some other guiding force, or if Ronye managed to turn it into one using her own Incarnation in a moment of desperation.
Ascended Extra: A supporting character in the main storyline, but the main character of the Moon Cradle spinoff.
Attempted Rape: Happens to her and Tiese when Raios and Humbert attempted to rape them as "punishment" for defending their friend, only to be stopped by Kirito and Eugeo.
Badass in Distress: Held prisoner by Cruiga after discovering his survival in Moon Cradle.
Best Friend: She and Tiese are best friends, virtually always seen together and are as close as Kirito and Eugeo.
Big Damn Heroes:
- In the end, she's the one who manages to save Leazetta, severing the kidnapper's remaining arm with a Sonic Leap and catching the child before she could hit the ground.
- In Unital Ring, she and Tiese rush over to the Integrity Pilot base to assist them when Admina launches an attack. They arrive just as their descendents, Laurennei and Stica, are about to be set upon by a horde of minions, easily dispatching them.
Boring, but Practical: As far as Divine Objects go, the Moonbeam Sword can come off as such. While its abilities are only given a brief display at the climax of Moon Cradle by the relatively inexperienced Ronye, it appears to amount to just emitting a powerful Luminous Element from the blade. What it lacks in overt destructive power like the other Knight's objects, it more than makes up for in practicality; the Luminous Element emitted creates a bright flash that would likely blind most opponents, and proves especially effective against Minions, and due to the Luminous Elements' healing properties, it can also be used to heal herself and her allies in the middle of battle.
Child Soldiers: She and Tiese are still trainee swordsmen, but manage to volunteer in joining the fight against the Dark Territory in the belief that it would mean they could reunite with their mentors.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Averted. While she is perturbed by Asuna and Alice fighting over Kirito due to her own feelings for him, she is far from rude to them as they are to each other, acting shy and polite when she asks to join in on their deal that involves them telling each other about Kirito and even getting along with Asuna in Moon Cradle despite her marrying Kirito.
Color Motif: Her Integrity Knight armour is a silverish cyan colour, while the clothes she wears beneath are a bluish green color.
Companion Cube: Based on some advice imparted to her and Tiese from Eugeo, Ronye is shown to get attached to the swords she wields, such as her training sword in the academy. When Asuna offers her a new sword to take with her to Obsidia and she chooses the Moonbeam Sword, she briefly displays reluctance to part with her current sword, which she used during the war.
Cool Big Sis: She has a younger brother who's Implied to look up to her greatly having entered the Swordcraft Academy like she did and was happy when she visited from the Cathedral.
Cool Sword: Before she left for Obsidia with Kirito, Asuna encouraged Ronye to pick out a new sword to take with her, and Ronye chose a high-priority with a hilt resembling a crescent moon. She later dubs it "The Moonbeam Sword" It's later revealed to be capable of Perfect Weapon Control, allowing it to create a powerful Luminous Element that creates a bright, blinding light and heals wounds at a faster rate.
The Cutie: Ronye often acts like a timid little girl who is overly polite, has Undying Loyalty to her mentor Kirito, and constantly worried she’s overstepped her boundaries.
Determinator: Even when a Minion-revived Bercouli is about to cut her head too quickly for her to dodge, she still wills herself to counter by thrusting her sword as his chest with strength to send him flying back. Fortunately, Fanatio is able to intercept the blow to her head before it hits her.
Distaff Counterpart: Moon Cradle delves further in the exact nature of her and Tiese's relationship to show some resemblances between Kirito and Eugeo. Ironically enough, it appears that Ronye is the Eugeo, being a comparatively more timid and formal Straight Man in contrast to the more excitable and teasing Tiese.
Dragon Rider: Being promoted to an Integrity Knight apprentice, Ronye is in the process of raising her own riding dragon, a bright yellow one she named Tsukigake.
Dude Magnet: Becoming an Apprentice Integrity Knight has made her this, namely among nobles who, due the Human Unification Council's removal of the nobility ranking system effectively removing their privileges and making all nobles equal, wish to gain her favor and marry her in hopes to restoring some of their status, her cousins whose parents always looked down on her family being among them. Needless to say, she's not exactly happy about this.
Expository Hairstyle Change: In the Moon Cradle arc, Ronye begins to change her hairdo into resembling Asuna's (except for the braids).
Friend to All Children: Moon Cradle reveals that she seems to have a certain affinity for children, usually being asked to take care of Berche when Fanatio's busy, having given some food to Goblin children who remember her fondly, she and Tiese apparently being friends with Linel and Fizel and even getting along with Leazetta and being the one to save her from her kidnapper. She's also revealed to be a Cool Big Sis who her younger brother looks up to.
- In the "Seal of the Right Eye" Event in Rising Steel, she confirms with Shirley about the multi-racial nature of her orphanage, and hopes that they'll be friends with her. She also takes the time to teach them some Sacred Arts, such as how to form shapes with them
Hero of Another Story:
- After the War of Underworld, Tiese and Ronye took part in suppressing a rebellion incited by the leaders of the Four Empires to reclaim the power they believe was taken from them by the Human Unification Council headed by Kirito, and both personally crossed swords with the Emperor of Norlangarth.
Hidden Buxom: Her Swordcraft Academy Uniform, chestplate during the War of Underworld and Integrity Knight Trainee uniform hides it, but the mobile games such as Memory Defrag and Rising Steel and a bath scene in Moon Cradle reveals that Ronye sports a rather impressive bust.
Human Popsicle: She and Tiese spent the next fifty years in suspended animation to keep Selka company before Kirito's group released all three of them in Unital Ring.
Humble Hero: Despite all she's done, even taking out Norlangarth with Tiese, she sees herself as "not great with a sword". Before their inaguration as Integrity Knight apprentices, she's very nervous and Tiese has to give her a pep talk.
Improvised Weapon: To break out of the cells in Cruiga's estate, she and Tiese use their sheaths as battering rams.
Insecure Love Interest: She and Tiese blame themselves for Kirito and Eugeo being arrested for saving them from Raios and Humbert, and as a result they don't believe they have the right to be in love with them, a view that's reinenforced when they learn that Eugeo's dead and Kirito's in a Angst Coma as a result.
- In Moon Cradle, she unfavourably compares herself to Asuna in an effort to bury her feelings for Kirito, even deriding herself for "hiding in carriage" while Asuna was fighting enemy forces to protect Kirito, despite her being asked to stay by Kirito's side as a last line of defence by Asuna.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: A sub-plot in Moon Cradle is Ronye trying to come terms with her unrequited feelings for Kirito and trying to move on from them, especially with her newfound friendship with Asuna. Asuna recognises this from her experiences with the other girls doing the same and wants to help her through them.
Light 'em Up: Her Moonbeam Sword is revealed to have a Memory Release Technique that emits a bright Luminious Element.
- In Rising Steel, her initial unit is a Light-Element Healer unit.
Like Brother and Sister: She and Tiese get very close to the their mentors, Kirito and Eugeo, to the point where the four of them are more akin to brothers and sisters.
- When she and Kirito go to Obsidia and disguise themselves as Darklanders, Kirito has them pose and brother and sister who came to town from Faldera, a Dark Territory village, looking for work.
Master Swordsman: In Rising Steel, despite her and Tiese still being trainees, they are noted by Azurica to have the capabilities of elite trainees, due to being the valets of Master Swordsman Kirito and Eugeo, and are capable enough to impress Bercouli.
Minidress of Power: While female Integrity Knights typically wear long skirts, with the exception of Eydis, Scheta and Tiese, the former wearing Painted-On Pants and the latter two wearing similar skirts with leg-exposing double slits at the front, Ronye's Integrity Knight armor in Unleash Blading has her wear a short skirt similar to the one she wore back she was a trainee.
Mutual Envy: As the homescreen character in Rising Steel, Ronye will imply at having envy of Tiese's long hair, not knowing that Tiese is envious of her shorter hair.
Oh, Crap!: She's in the middle of admiring Kirito's dragoncraft before realising that the heat elements are about to explode.
Older Than They Look: As a result of the Life Freeze Art in Unital Ring, she's now fifty years older in a mental sense.
Penny Among Diamonds: She and Tiese were born in the lowest Noble Class.
Pervert Revenge Mode: As [Seductive Fumes] Ronye, this applies to her Enhance Mode and Incarnate Attack. While former plays out similarly to [Overflowing Affection] Eydis who came before her, her Incarnate has her Freak Out upon noticing the enemy and summon a large spear made of earth elements to chuck at them.
Playing with Fire: She doesn't get as much association with the element as Tiese, but it's stated in Moon Cradle that among the Sacred Arts, she's best with heat elements. It's for this reason that Asuna gets her help in checking if the heat elements in Kirito's dragoncraft are about to go haywire.
The Protagonist: Is set to be the focal character of the Moon Cradle arc.
Satellite Character: In the main storyline, she's mostly reduced to being this for Kirito or Tiese. As unlike Tiese she never got any moments to shine on her own. Moon Cradle rectifies this by making her The Protagonist.
Shrinking Violet: Downplayed. Ronye is by no means a shy person, but she can be rather meek and doesn't like being the center of attention.
Spell My Name With An S: Yenpress translations spell her name as "Ronye", but virtually all other media from Crunchyroll subs and the games spell her name as "Ronie".
Straight Man: In Mood Cradle, she basically takes over Eugeo's role in calling Kirito out on his crazy ideas.
Super-Senses:
- Kirito taught her to not just rely on her eyes, but also all her other senses. This proves useful when Vassago tries getting the drop on her.
- Part of her and Tiese's Incarnation training involved gaining the ability to sense distant objects and living beings. While they have difficulty using this on their own, they are able to use it together when captured by Emperor Cruiga and Zeppos to sense who exactly are in the Emperor's estate and to get an idea of its layout.
Tears of Joy:
- Tackles Kirito while crying uncontrollably in response to his epic comeback.
- Breaks into some when she learns from Kirito that some goblin children she gave bread to remember her fondly, having just guilt-tripped herself for feeling she wasn't sympathetic enough to their plight of living in an infertile land.
Those Two Girls: She's almost always seen with Tiese.
Took a Level in Badass: Along with Tiese, she got promoted to an Integrity Knight apprentice in Moon Cradle, and then became a full-fledged Integrity Knight prior to the events of Unital Ring.
Underdogs Never Lose: She and Tiese managed to avoid being expelled after Raios' murder by beating a pair of Elite Disciples in a duel.
Undying Loyalty: To Kirito. The dedication she shows as his page is truly incredible, where she is a stickler to the rules and will pour blood and sweat into getting her tasks done. Even when Kirito is late every single time, she will still wait until he comes back to dismiss her, while her respect to Kirito remains unwavering. Deconstructed as Rising Steel reveals that it led to her getting sick one time.
Unrequited Love Lasts Forever: Thinks she'll never get married, because she's in love with someone who can never return that love. Still, she has descendants in the epilogue, so it looks like she gets over it.
Weak, but Skilled: As Trainee Knights without Divine Objects and the first ever ones to have not been through the Synthesis Ritual, Ronye and Tiese are not as powerful as the more senior Knights. However, not only do they use the more pragmatic Aincrad Style taught to them by Kirito and Eugeo, but they're also capable of using Body-Spirit Unity and Synchronized Casting, something even senior Knights find difficult.

Tiese Schtrinen

Voiced by: Kaori Ishihara (Japanese), Kimberly Woods (English), Regina Tiscareño (Latin American Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tiese_6.png

^{Click here to see Tiese as a child}

Eugeo's valet during his time in the Master Swordsman Academy.

Adaptational Badass: In Rising Steel, any mention of Deusolbert's assistance in her and Ronye's fight against Cruiga is Adapted Out, hinting they beat him on their own.
Adapted Out: The light novels and anime edited the rape scene of the web novels into an Attempted Rape due to Eugeo interfering sooner.
A Girl and Her X: With her dragon Shimosaki in Moon Cradle.
Arc Hero: Lycoris gave her the spotlight as the main protagonist for a special after story DLC The Knights Of Contradictions with Eugeo and Kirito as the Deuteragonist.
Attempted Rape: Happens to her and Ronye when Raios and Humbert attempted to rape them as "punishment" for defending their friend, only to be stopped by Kirito and Eugeo.
Badass in Distress: Held prisoner by Cruiga after discovering his survival in Moon Cradle.
Best Friend: She and Ronye are best friends, virtually always seen together and are as close as Kirito and Eugeo.
Big Damn Heroes: In Unital Ring, she and Ronye rush over to the Integrity Pilot base to assist them when Admina launches an attack. They arrive just as their descendents, Laurennei and Stica, are about to be set upon by a horde of minions, easily dispatching them.
Brutal Honesty: When she and Ronye are having lunch with Kirito and Asuna, she expresses that Kirito should be this and just be upfront with the Integrity Knights about the truth of the Synthesis Ritual, not realizing that he fears it could cause them to suffer a Logic Bomb. Kirito admits that he agrees that they should know, but he wishes to tread carefully in fear of what could happen.
Character Tic: According to Ronye, Tiese's nostrils tend to twitch when there's something she wants to say.
Child Soldiers: She and Ronye are still trainee swordsmen, but manage to volunteer in joining the fight against the Dark Territory in the belief that it would mean they could reunite with their mentors. It's revealed in Rising Steel that when she was even younger, she was greater with a sword than other Noble children her age and was fully capable of taking on monsters alongside her father, albeit weak ones.
Crazy-Prepared: As an Apprentice Knight, she often goes around with a notebook so she could record every new word of the "sacred tongue" that she learns from Kirito and Asuna.
Curtains Match the Windows: Red hair and red eyes.
Daddy's Girl: Tiese is shown to be very close to her father, believing in his ideals of "Nobless Oblige" and, in Rising Steel, it's shown that he's the one who taught her Swordsmanship and was generally very supportive of her. She even threw a duel with the son of a Noble he worked with in fear of hurting his standing with him.
- Moon Cradle reveals that one of her most prized possessions is a used Sacred Arts textbook that her father bought her since he couldn't afford a brand new one, since she needed one for the academy.
Dance Battler: In Rising Steel, she gets an unlockable character featured in the first season pass called [Shall We Dance] Tiese, which is Tiese dressed in formal wear at a dance party. This presents itself in gameplay via a unique Enhanced Mode, giving her a 40% chance to dodge a physical attack while increasing it by an extra 20% when she attacks at the expense of lowering her magic resistance.
Distaff Counterpart: Moon Cradle delves further in the exact nature of her and Ronye's realtionship to show some resemblances between Kirito and Eugeo. Ironically enough, it appears that Tiese is the Kirito, being a bit more playful and outgoing to the comparatively more humble and dutiful Ronye.
Dragon Rider: Being promoted to an Integrity Knight apprentice, Tiese is in the process of raising her own riding dragon, one she named Shimosaki.
Fatal Flaw: In Moon Cradle, her continued mourning of Eugeo and desire to see him again serves to her detriment. Not only does it put a strain on her current relationship with Renly, but it makes her desperate to prove the rumors of ghosts haunting the deceased Emperor's private estate under the belief that it could be a way for her to see Eugeo again, leading to her and Ronye getting captured by the Big Bad.
Fiery Redhead: Downplayed, but she's this compared to Ronye, being more outspoken and cheerful.
The Gadfly: She seems fond of teasing Ronye for her feelings for Kirito, such as in Moon Cradle where she suggests that since Kirito is a Physical God, he could marry Asuna along with three or four other woman, suggesting Ronye be one of them.
Happily Married: Downplayed. After the events of Moon Cradle, she eventually goes on to marry Renly and have children with him. While it's clear that she still cares greatly for him, with her standing longingly in front of his statue upon reaching the 95th floor, it's stated that issues arose due to his life being halted at such an early age, with her physical age eventually starting to surpass his. This prompted her to throw off her reservations with life-extension methods and have her life frozen so she wouldn't out-age him, with them eventually both entering Deep Freeze.
Heroic BSoD: She doesn't take Eugeo's death very well.
Hero of Another Story:
- After the War of Underworld, Tiese and Ronye took part in suppressing a rebellion incited by the leaders of the Four Empires to reclaim the power they believe was taken from them by the Human Unification Council headed by Kirito, and both personally crossed swords with the Emperor of Norlangarth.
Hold the Line: When faced with three minions summoned by Emperor Addares Wesdareth, Tiese tells Ronye to go after him while she keeps them busy.
Human Popsicle: She and Ronye spent the next fifty years in suspended animation to keep Selka company before Kirito's group released all three of them in Unital Ring.
Humble Hero: Despite all she's done, even taking out Norlangarth with Ronye, she sees herself as "not great with a sword". She's however a bit better about this, giving Ronye a pep talk before their inauguration as Integrity Knight apprentices, saying that the higher ups still believe they earned the right.
An Ice Person: At the end of Moon Cradle, Kirito grants her the Blue Rose Sword.
Improvised Weapon: To break out of the cells in Cruiga's estate, she and Tiese use their sheaths as battering rams with the added help of a Sword Skill.
Insecure Love Interest:
- She and Ronye blame themselves for Kirito and Eugeo being arrested for saving them from Raios and Humbert, and as a result they don't believe they have the right to be in love with them, a view that's reinforced when they learn that Eugeo's dead and Kirito's in a Angst Coma as a result.
- Also feels this way towards Renly, believing that the fact that she views him as a Replacement Goldfish for Eugeo is unfair to him. Renly for his part doesn't mind this at all, even proposing to her in spite of it and even allowing her time to sort out her feelings before giving an answer.
It's All My Fault:
- She blames herself for the incident with Raios and Humbert, in which Eugeo and Kirito broke the Taboo Index to save her and Ronye.
- After she and Ronye expose Cruiga's plot and lead Kirito and Asuna to him via Tsukikage, they're set to be promoted from Apprentices to Lower Integrity Knights. Tiese however intends to refuse because, along with some personal issues, she feels responsible for her and Ronye getting captured and almost killed. Thankfully however, Kirito's able to talk her into accepting the position.
Like Brother and Sister: She and Ronye get very close to the their mentors, Kirito and Eugeo, to the point where the four of them are more akin to brothers and sisters.
Loving a Shadow: Fears this is the reason for her feelings for Renly, admitting to Ronye that she tends to look for similarities between him and Eugeo whenever they're together. This makes her feel immensely guilty and makes her reluctant to take their relationship further when he proposes to her.
Master Swordsman: In Rising Steel, despite her and Ronye still being trainees, they are noted by Azurica to have the capabilities of elite trainees, due to being the valets of Master Swordsman Kirito and Eugeo, and are capable enough to impress Bercouli. This is partially Justified by her father being one of the few Nobles to take the fact that all of them are expected to take up arms when war finally breaks out seriously, meaning he made it a point to teach her as much as he could.
Mutual Envy: As the homescreen character in Rising Steel, Tiese will admit that she's envious of Ronye's short hair, not knowing that Ronye is envious of her long hair.
Obliviously Beautiful: The bio for [Beauty of the Harvest Festival] Tiese has her getting ready for the Harvest Festival^note and putting on a dress she prepared for the occasion. As she makes her way out of the dorms, she's surprised to see all the students staring at her in awe, prompting her to briskly leave, oblivious as to why they were staring. Afterwards, rumors of a mysterious beauty started circulating.
Older Than They Look: As of Unital Ring, she's mentally fifty years older after being released from the Life Freeze Art.
Paranormal Investigation: After she hears rumors of ghosts appearing at the former Emperor's private estate, she convinces Ronye to help investigate if they're real, believing it might be a way for her to see Eugeo again.
Penny Among Diamonds: She and Ronye were born in the lowest Noble Class.
Playing with Fire: In Rising Steel, she primarily uses fire magic. While she has used different elements as other Units, fire is the most prominent since the majority of them wield it^note.
Royal Rapier: While canonically speaking she wields a One-Handed Sword like her and Ronye's mentors, Rising Steel and Alicization Lycoris depict her as being knowledgeable with a Rapier, with the former giving her four Rapier Units^note, while the latter has a DLC chapter where she gets a Divine Object in the form of a rapier that shoots lightning.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Tiese was raised by her father on the ideals of Nobless Oblige, in that Nobles should grateful for the privileges given to them and that they should repay that by protecting the commonfolk and being willing to take up arms in times of war. This is also the reason she doesn't have high opinion of most other Nobles, whose privileges have turned them hedonistic and lazy with overblown egos in spite of the fact that they have little actual skill in swordsmanship, such as the case with the son of one of her father's business partners who she quickly grew to dislike when they were forced to spend time together.
Shipper on Deck: In the Moon Cradle arc, she suggests that Ronye to hook up with Kirito, since Polyamory is legal in the Underworld for someone in his position, meaning nothing is stopping him from taking multiple wives if he wanted^note. Ronye however points out that he would never take advantage of that law due to Asuna.
Ship Tease: Near the end of the War and during the post-War period, she starts some of this with Renly-Synthesis Twenty Seven. He's implied to hang out with the girls often and when Tiese reveals to Ronye that she received marriage proposal and wants advice on the matter, Ronye's first assumption is that it was Renly and she's quickly proven right.
Shock and Awe: In contrast to her association with fire and her canon status as the current owner of the Blue Rose Sword, the Taboo Knight DLC chapter for Alicization Lycoris has her gain a unique Divine Object in the form of a rapier that shoots bolts of lighting under Enhance Armament. It also grants her special gear made out of the Hollow Guardian Divine Beast that the rapier was made from.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She was raised on ideals of "Noblesse oblige" and this is part of what endears her to the kind and determined Euego. In Moon Cradle she's hinted to have gotten together with Renly, who's similar to Eugeo in that regard.
Something about a Rose: Likely following in Eugeo's footsteps and in line with her becoming the owner of the Blue Rose Sword, her Integrity Knight armour features rose-like decorations on the chestplate and gauntlets.
Spell My Name With An S: Whether the I or the E comes first depends on the translation.
Super-Senses: Part of her and Tiese's Incarnation training involved gaining the ability to sense distant objects and living beings. While they have difficulty using this on their own, they are able to use it together when captured by Emperor Cruiga and Zeppos to sense who exactly are in the Emperor's estate and to get an idea of its layout.
Those Two Girls: She's almost always seen with Ronye.
Took a Level in Badass: Along with Ronye, she got promoted to an Integrity Knight apprentice in Moon Cradle, and then became a full-fledged Integrity Knight prior to the events of Unital Ring.
Tragic Keepsake: At the end of Moon Cradle, Kirito bequeaths to her the Blue Rose Sword, which Eugeo wielded before his death.
Underdogs Never Lose: She and Ronye managed to avoid being expelled after Raios' murder by beating a pair of Elite Disciples in a duel.
Unrequited Love Lasts Forever: She is in love with Eugeo, and hopes that he'll become a noble so that she can marry him, as opposed to ending up with a husband like Raios or Humbert. Eugeo can't do what she wants, since his goal is to find Alice, so he lies to her and tentatively promises to see her again. Unfortunately, Tiese becomes devastated over Eugeo dying at the end of Volume 14 and she hasn't been able to move on by the time of Moon Cradle, where she appears to be in a relationship with Renly due to their similarities, which causes her no end of guilt and makes her reluctant to wed him when he proposes. Even by the time of Unital Ring, where she's married to Renly, with whom she's had children, and has, through a combination life freezing and entering Deep Freeze, lived for over a hundred years, a part of her can't move on from Eugeo's death, which make Eolyne's uncanny resemblance catch her off guard and makes her distracted.
You Are Not Alone: In "Peace Treaty" after discovering Kirito privately mourning Eugeo during the festivities, she's quick to comfort him when he apologizes for looking pathetic for crying, saying he shouldn't have to hold back his tears, convincing him to drop the Stepford Smile and properly mourn.
You Remind Me of X: Some of her affections for Renly seem to stem from him reminding her of Eugeo, something she feels guilty over and causes her some hesitance in accepting his marriage proposal. Renly himself aware of this and is very understanding of the whole thing, allowing her time to think it over and work out her problems.
What the Hell, Hero?: Gives a brief but well-intentioned one to a nervous Ronye before their inauguration as Integrity Knight apprentices, claiming her nervousness and talking down of her abilities reflects poorly on Kirito, who recommended her in the first place.
Weak, but Skilled: As Trainee Knights without Divine Objects and the first ever ones to have not been through the Synthesis Ritual, Ronye and Tiese are not as powerful as the more senior Knights. However, not only do they use the more pragmatic Aincrad Style taught to them by Kirito and Eugeo, but they're also capable of using Body-Spirit Unity and Synchronized Casting, something even senior Knights find difficult.
Worf Had the Flu: While the Goblin Minions created by Cruiga were indeed powerful, part of Tiese's defeat at the hands of one of them was because, just as she was about to slash one in self-defence, the Seal of the Right Eye stopped her since she'd technically be attacking an innocent goblin in the process, causing her to get slashed and knocked out.

Sortiliena Serlut

Voiced by: Megumi Han (Japanese), Jeannie Tirado (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sortiliena_3.png

^{Click here to see Sortiliena as a child}

Kirito's senior during his time at the Imperial Sword Academy.

A Day in the Limelight: Rising Steel has a special tie-in event that gives her an Adaptation Expansion and showcases her childhood before she met Kirito, including anime-style cutscenes.
Alliterative Name: Sortiliena Serlut.
All the Other Reindeer: Sortilliena was essentially an outcast growing up due to her family not being able to use a traditional sword style and other kids calling her a cheater whenever she won duels.
Always Someone Better: The reason she kept losing to Volo. While she had great pride and confidence in the Serlut Style's Techniques, she was always plagued with doubts that it could truly surpass the High-Norkia, negatively affecting her Incarnation when pitted against Volo, who was for all intents and purposes a master of the High-Norkia Style. It was only after seeing Kirito, her page who wielded a similarly unorthodox style, reflect Volo's best technique to score a tie, that she gained the confidence that her style could surpass Volo's, powering up her Incarnation and allowing her to best him before graduation.
Appropriated Appellation: As the homescreen character in Rising Steel, she decides to take her nickname of "Walking Tactics Manual" as a compliment.
Back-to-Back Badasses: Does this with Eiji in the "What I Can Do Now" Event in Rising Steel, when he helps her platoon beat back some American players. She also, upon noticing a cut on his arm, heals him.
Bearer of Bad News: She's the one who informed Kirito and the Human Unification Council of the Uprising of the Four Empires.
Blue Blood: From a 3rd class noble family, which is of very high standards, boasting a large mansion and luxurious living conditions.
The Champion: She graduates as the top elite disciple for her year, after beating Volo.
Combat Pragmatist: Her family's Serlut Style puts great emphasis on this, making usage of feints, unarmed combat and even wielding other weapons in conjunction with a sword, with whips appearing to be a personal favorite of Sortiliena's
Cool Big Sis: Kind, beautiful, mature and reliable, Sortiliena is a figure of moral and emotional support in the Swordsmanship Academy that her juniors look up to and seek guidance from. She is also one of the few women in Kirito's life who dotes, loves and looks after him like a little brother rather than romantically, a luxury he dosen't recieve from even his (also older) wife Asuna.
Defiant to the End: Intends to be this when PoH and his forces demand the human army surrenders, but Asuna pleads her out of it.
Eccentric Mentor: Downplayed. It'd be hard to call Liena an odd person by any means, but between her non-traditional Serlut Style, her tendency to act rather playful towards Kirito, and the fact that she chose a commoner with a similarly unorthodox style as her page, whereas other Nobles are hinted to choose fellow Nobles with more flashy styles, she can come off as one towards other Nobles.
Education Mama: In her Rising Steel Event, her father in Implied to be this in regards to her swordsmanship training. Based on his dedication to training her and his disappointed when she starts losing motivation, it's hinted that he hoped that Sortiliena would one day win the Four Empires Unity Tournament so his family could regain the right to use the High-Norkia style.
Encyclopaedic Knowledge: Apparently part of the reason she's called the Walking Tactics Manual, namely in regards to combat. It seems to even go beyond that however, as evidenced by when Kirito, who's in the beginning process of creating his Dragoncraft, goes to her to see if there's any armour or weapons made from materials immune to cold; while she doesn't identify a metal material, she does inform him of a species of centipede that lives in cold temperature and can survive being frozen thanks to their outer shells.
Everybody Has Standards: She effectively prides herself on her unconventional methods, which is why she decided to teach Kirito due to his unconventional Aincrad-style, but there are times when even she's baffled by his antics, such as when he tells her about his Dragoncraft idea when trying to get ideas from the materials for the exhaust pipe. Doesn't stop her from helping and even asking for ride when it's complete though.
Flower Motif: Sortiliena herself has a fondness for a Underworld flower known as zephyria flower. Along with noting that it has the same color as her eyes, she feels a certain kinship with it due its nature as a foreign flower that is considered impossible to cultivate in the Norlangarth North Empire and have no real use outside of its seeds being used in baking or any reason to grow, unlike the four great flowers that provide plenty of spacial resources to use in Sacred Arts. She finds this similar to how she felt growing up due to how her family was treated for not being able to use a traditional sword style, being effectively an outcast and having no real reason to grow as a swordswoman since others would just call her a cheat due to her sword style being different from theirs. This motivates her to not let what others think of her style affect her, instead opting to grow as a swordswoman for herself like how the zephyria seems to just grow just because it can. Her mentioning her love and feeling of kinship with the flower to Kirito is what prompts him to grow some for her as a graduation gift.
Four-Star Badass: After the war, she gets promoted to a General in the Human Army.
Honor Before Reason: Not her, but her father and possibly his predecessors. After their ancestors' actions lost them the right to use the High-Norkia Style, they developed the Sortiliena Style to use as a means of eventually winning the Four Empires Unity tournament and requesting the right to use the style once more. Unlike with Sortiliena, who takes pride in her family's unique Sword-style, it doesn't seem to occur to him if they did fulfil this goal, which would likely require them to best people who use the High-Norkia style themselves, it would prove that they have a Sword Style that surpasses the High-Norkia one and therefore wouldn't really have much use for it.
Impoverished Patrician: Played With. The Serlut family doesn't appear to be any less wealthy than any other 3rd Class Noble families but an incident at some point before Sortiliena's birth lost her family the right to use the traditional High-Norkia Style, forcing them to create the Serlut Style. This has caused Sortiliena no end of grief growing up due to other Noble Children calling her a cheater and her sword style illegal because they could never beat her with the traditional sword arts they grew up learning. It was only upon being inspired by the zephyria flower that she learns to not let this bother her and instead strives to prove her style's worth for herself rather than to please others.
Lady of War: Both Kirito and Eugeo admit that she's quite beautiful, but during a sparring session Kirito notes that she has all the fierceness of a warrior. She also participates in the war against the Dark Territory, where her graceful fighting style sees much use.
Making a Splash: In Rising Steel as [Noble Aspiration] and [Young Serlut Style], she is a Water-Element Unit. This is likely to correlate with the name her style's Signature Move, Whirling Current.
Master Swordsman: After defeating Volo, she graduates as the Academy's first seat.
No-Respect Guy: In part due to her family's history, she can be prone to receiving this treatment, such as when she was younger and everyone she bested with the Serlut Style called her a cheater for not using a traditional style, ignoring the fact that she legally can't. Another such example is her underclassman Raios and Humbert, the latter being a rank lower than her, mocking her choice to have Kirito as her page, though not to her face. When she taunts a Noble over his self-entitlement in regards to their privileges being removed, he's quick to talk back but falters when Volo backs her up, the latter even Lampshading this.
Only Known by Their Nickname: Prefers to be referred to as Liena.
Reasonable Authority Figure: As General of the Human Forces, she states that Sylvie's temporary defection merits some manner of punishment. However, she also recognises the bravery with which she turned against and helped Kirito defeat Tolgash, and so lets her off the hook.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: When one Noble expresses outrage at the Human Unification Council removing the Noble's privileges, citing that they're expected to lead the commoners and lower-ranked and citing war as an example of its important, she's quick to call him, and might as well every other Noble, out on the fact that they never took part in the war they literally just had.
Oh, interesting. Now let me ask you this: Where were you during the war we just had? I don't recall seeing your face in our platoons.
Red Baron: The "Walking Tactics Manual".
Smashing Watermelons: Her Incarnate Attack as [In the Midst of Sunlight] Sortiliena is this. After stretching and blindfolding herself, she uses her equipped weapon to swing down at the melon... only to miss. Embarrassed, she tries against using the Serlut Style's Whirling Current, not only cleanly cutting the watermelon in two, but also hitting all the enemy targets.
So Proud of You: Praises Kirito for his improved swordsmanship, not knowing that he's the famed "Black Swordsman" of Aincrad.
Statuesque Stunner: Stands at 173 cm, making her even taller than Kirito.
Tomboyish Ponytail: When in uniform or in combat, she'll wear her hair in this style with a white ribbon so it won't hinder her in combat. An encounter with Kirito and Eugeo in town suggests she lets it down on more casual occasions.
Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She's a dedicated warrior and swordswoman who's described to speak in a boyish tone, though she's also a skilled baker, something taught by her mother, and what she wears when Kirito and Eugeo bump into her on a day of rest suggest she has a good sense of fashion.
Weak, but Skilled: Compared to Volo, she is this. While he relies on and has all but mastered a traditional, One-Hit Kill swordsmanship style and his Incarnation, which generates from his family's oath and the weight on those who came before him, gives him a great deal of strength, Sortiliena's style marks her as more of a Combat Pragmatist and uses more unique and varied moves, such as the Whirling Current^note The Sword Skill, Cyclone, which can be activated in succession as a counter move against the High-Norkia style's Signature Move, the Mountain Splitting Wave^note The Sword Skill, Avalanche. While her lack of confidence that her Serlut Style could surpass the High-Norkia affected her Incarnation and weakened her against Volo, seeing Kirito, her pupil who also used an unorthodox style, be able to reflect and score a tie against Volo, gave her more confidence in her own style, allowing her to shift to Strong and Skilled and best Volo in their final duel.
Weapon Specialization: Her Serlut Style means she specializes in Dual Wielding weapons in conjunction with a sword, and her favorite seems to be sword + whip.
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: While she won't force him to visit Kirito when he hints they were previously enemies, Sortiliena tells Eiji that she's certain Kirito wouldn't hold anything against him and would welcome him with open arms.
Your Tradition Is Not Mine: She admits to Kirito that she somewhat broke tradition when she chose him as her page; as a 2nd Class Noble, she was expected to choose another Noble of a lower rank than her, but instead chose Kirito, a commoner. This apparently led to a bunch of her fellow Nobles coming to her room to complain.

Rulid Village

In General

The Village where Eugeo, Alice and Kirito, when he was logged in, grew up in as children.

Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Downplayed. Despite everyone, except Jink, showing themselves to be rather peaceful and friendly village who are welcoming to the seemingly amnesic Kirito, there are hints that they aren't as nice as they let on, with Selka revealing that Eugeo ended up getting shunned by almost the entire village just because he was friends with Alice and it's later revealed that Eugeo's parents, particularly his father, were probably the closest you could be to abusive without defying the Taboo Index. Come War of Underworld, and they show themselves at their worst with their exploitation of Alice's physical capabilities despite not allowing her into the village and their cruel and mocking treatment of Kirito, who at the time is in an Angst Coma and is therefore forced to be pushed around in a wheelchair.
Bullying the Disabled: They clearly have No Sympathy to the disabled, as shown when a group of farm hands accidentally knock Kirito out of his wheelchair when taking the Blue Rose Sword out of curiosity and make no attempts to help him up, instead choosing to mock his speech impediment by saying he gave them permission to a royally pissed off Alice.
First Town: The first part of the Underworld we're introduced to and where Kirito and Eugeo begin their journey.
Hypocrite: Selka accuses them, or at least the farmers Barbossa and Ridack, of being this, since they're turning to Alice to do difficult manual labor for them yet they're also among those who argue against letting her live in the village.
Jerkass Ball: While Kirito's initial visit to the village shows them at their best, welcoming Kirito and allowing him to stay at the village's church after learning he's a Lost Child of Vecta^note and throwing a celebration for Eugeo after he cuts down the Gigas Cedar and cheer for him choosing a swordsman as his new Calling, they show themselves at their absolute worst in the prolouge to War of Underworld. Not only do they deny Alice entrance into the village after her miraculous return instead of welcoming her with open arms^note, but the village's farm owners proceed to exploit her for cheap labor despite this and, during one such job, a group of farm hands proceed to knock Kirito out of his wheelchair and take the Blue Rose Sword, mocking his inability to speak by claiming he gave them permission to take it when Alice confronts them. This treatment is so bad that Alice, an All-Loving Heroine and Integrity Knight dedicated to defending the Human Empire, wonders what point there is to having saved them from becoming Sword Golems!
Lawful Stupid: Like most Underworld denizens, they are completely and fanatically loyal to the Church and its Taboo Index, which can lead to them making some really dumb decisions. A stand out example is when goblins invade and Jink makes an asinine plan to have all the non-combatants fall back to the village square while all the inexperienced guards deal with the attack instead of, you know, ordering everyone to evacuate. Basically everyone, save for one greedy farmer more concerned with his profits, can see how much of a stupid decision this is but are forced to go along with it since the laws dictates that in such situations, all power goes to the Head Guard and not even the village elder can override their authority. It takes Alice revealing that she's an Integrity Knight, a figure with even higher authority, and outright ordering them to evacuate for them to actually do it.

Selka Zuberg

Voiced by: Kaori Maeda (Japanese), Jackie Lastra (English), Nycolle González (Latin American Spanish)

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

^{Click here to see Selka two years later}

Alice's younger sister.

Adaptational Badass: Downplayed, but in Lycoris she's a playable character with no weapon and instead must relay on her Sacred Arts ability instead, with her ability focusing more on giving support than fighting directly. Eventually played straight in the DLC, where it's announced that every arc hero of each DLC would gain their own Divine Object in the form of a weapon and a gear that outclass other Divine Object. Meaning Selka would eventually able to fight at the same degree as the other party member.
Adorably Precocious Child: Despite being of similar age to the orphans who live at the church, she works as one of their caretakers and is generally more mature and less excitable in comparison to most kids her age.
Always Second Best: She has accepted that she'll always be overshadowed by her sister Alice and will never have the same mastery of the Sacred Arts.
Arc Hero: Alicization Lycoris places her as the lead in The Bruised King DLC Chapter alongside Alice, where they, along with Kirito, search for a way to dispel a curse plaguing Alice's body.
Big Sister Worship:
- It's apparent she looked up to Alice and misses her sister when she got taken. Upon hearing where Alice had gone all those years ago, she attempts to follow Alice's footsteps so she could be a little more closer to her.
- Then once Alice finally returns to Rulid Village, Selka is the only one who still accept her and helps her, despite everyone ese in the village shunning her including their own father.
Broken Pedestal: Averted. Unlike literally everyone else in the village save for Eugeo, she never tried blocking off or discrediting Alice’s memory, looking up to her long after her arrest.
Cool Big Sis: Helps look after the orphans in the church.
Damsel in Distress: Eugeo and Kirito find her in the End Mountains captured by Goblins.
Do Not Call Me Sir: When Airy greets Selka after she's awoken from Deep Freeze, she remarks how she told her not to refer to her as "Lady Selka."
Fatal Flaw: Her issues over being second best to her sister and wanting to be closer to her is what led to her being captured by Goblins. She thankfully grows out of this.
He Is Not My Boyfriend: She gets all flustered when Kirito asks if she had feelings for Eugeo.
Human Popsicle: Kirito mentioned in the epilogue of Alicization that Selka went into suspended animation at the Central Cathedral in hopes of reuniting with Alice in the future. She's later released at the end of Volume 26.
Innocent Blue Eyes: Like Alice, she has a pair of blue eyes.
The Medic: She knows Healing Spell Sacred Arts much like Alice. To save the life of Eugeo, she uses a dangerous high-level Sacred Art that transfers life force from Kirito and herself to heal Eugeo's wound.
Military Mage: After the war during Moon Cradle, she joined the Sacred Artificers Brigade that was formed from the dismantled priesthood.
Nice Girl: She looks after Kirito during his stay in the church, even waking him up on the first day.
Older Than They Look: By the time she and Alice met again in Unital Ring, she still looks no older than a woman in her mid-twenties despite spending more than a century being a Human Popsicle.
Onee-sama: Selka addresses Alice as "Nee-sama", a more respectful than average way of speaking to an older sister (Compare Yuuki calling Aiko "Nee-chan.")
Parental Neglect: Ever since beginning her studies at the local church she’s never gone back to her parent’s house, and there’s no indication that they visit her or interact with her.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Downplayed. When Alice returns to Rulid Village, her father turns her away due to her status as a criminal who broke the Taboo Index and forbids Selka from interacting with her. While not as serious as breaking the Taboo Index, she disregards her father’s orders and spends time with Alice anyway, helping her build the shack she and Kirito reside in and bringing them food due to Alice’s… less than perfect cooking skills.
She Is All Grown Up: After the Time Skip she looks much older.
Strong Family Resemblance: Looks very much like her sister Alice, though with a slightly deeper hair color.
Team Mom: To the orphans living at the Church, being shown as the most mature and acting as a caretaker despite being of similar age.
They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: Inverted and Invoked. After joining the Sacred Artificers Brigade and meeting Kirito again, she insists on calling him "Sir Swordsman Delegate" since while she realizes that Kirito wouldn't mind being referred to by name, her role as a artificer-in-training might upset others if she tries being friendly with him. He allows it, but insists she just use his name when it's just them.
Took a Level in Badass: Selka's post-war accomplishments include becoming the second leader of the Sacred Artificers Brigade, and taking part in the first expedition to Admina.
Undying Loyalty: To Alice, to the point of freezing herself just to see her again even after more than 200 years.
You Remind Me of X: In the anime, a drowsy Kirito mistakes her for Suguha when she wakes him up in the morning.

Gasfut Zuberg

Voiced by: Kanehira Yamamoto (Japanese), Jalen K. Cassell (English), Mario Castañeda (Latin American Spanish)

Alice and Selka's father, and mayor of the village.

Disinherited Child: He is all but stated to have disowned Alice after she was declared a criminal. Upon Alice’s return, he asks if she has been pardoned and upon finding she hasn’t, refuses to let her live in the village. Even after Alice reveals that she is in fact an Integrity Knight, while Gasfut immediately treats her with the proper respect of such a rank, he only ever addresses her as an Integrity Knight and not as his daughter.
Lawful Stupid: Like the rest of the village, he's unquestioningly loyal to the Taboo Index, even to the point of coming off as rather cold to his daughters.
Parents as People: Downplayed. He is hinted to care for his daughters and is secretly proud of Alice. However, as the Village Chief, and more than likely due to the Seal of the Right Eye, he's forced to go along with the Taboo Index even if it requires him to be cold to them, such as handing over Alice to Deusolbert to brought to the Cathedral for her crime and denying her entry back into the village due to there being no certainty that she has been exonerated by the Church.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Zig-zagged. On the one hand, he lets Deusolbert arrest Alice, no questions asked, and later bars Alice from returning to the village. On the other hand, when the goblins attack and Alice reveals herself as an Integrity Knight, he immediately recognizes that she's the most competent person around and puts her in charge of the village's defense.

Jink

Voiced by: Haruki Ishiya (Japanese), Ted Sroka (English), Ricardo Bautista (Latin American Spanish)

Captain of the village guards and son of the former captain, as well as a childhood bully of Eugeo.

Adapted Out: His duel with Eugeo to force him to stay in the village doesn't occur in the anime.
Boisterous Weakling: Jink talks a big game about his abilities as a guard, but he's easily beaten by Eugeo, is dumbstruck by Kirito cutting a training dummy in half in the anime, and his strategy against a goblin invasion was more likely to get the whole village slaughtered than anything.
The Bully: He's frequently stated to have bullied Eugeo when they were younger. He often did this by hiding his shoes from him, slipping bugs into his food, and taunting him as he hung out with Alice.
Green-Eyed Monster: His bullying of Eugeo when they were children partially stemmed from the fact that Alice spent more time with him.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Zink and his family aren't exactly the most popular in Rulid, in large part due to their Jerkass behavior and arrogance.
It's All About Me: When Eugeo chooses a Swordsman as his next Calling so he can go to Zakkaria and become a guard there, Jink demands that he duels him for the right since he believes that he should to be the first person in the village to do so.
Jerkass: Even as a grown man he likes being an ass to Eugeo, usually with little provocation.
Spell My Name With An S: His name is spelled either Jink or Zink depending on the media.
Starter Villain: For Eugeo, Jink is the first real obstacle to his journey to become an Integrity Knight and save Alice due to wanting to prevent him from leaving the village. But Eugeo's practice with the Aincrad Style manages to secure him an easy victory over the comparatively inexperienced Jink.
Too Dumb to Live: Alice notes that the strategy he used against the invading goblins, having everyone else fall back to the village square while he and the other guards hold them off, was bound to end with the whole village getting wiped out if Alice didn't step in.

Garitta

Voiced by: Takehiro Hasu (Japanese)

The previous Gigas Cedar Cutter.

Cool Old Guy: He was one of the few people who didn't take part in the mass shunning of Eugeo after Alice's arrest, and when Alice returns but is denied entry into the village he's more than happy to help her build a hut for her and Kirito to stay in.
In-Series Nickname: Old Man Garitta.
Intergenerational Friendship: Despite his greater age, he got along with Eugeo, Alice and Kirito.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: An unintended, self-inflicted example. After his wife's death, he was so overcome with grief that he ended up losing half of his memories of her.
The Lost Lenore: He lost his to a drowning incident years prior, which affected him so much that he ended up losing about half of the memories he had of her.
Nice Guy: One of people in Rulid who isn't a Jerkass or a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing.

Nigel Balbossa

The owner of the biggest farm in Rulid Village.

Bad Boss: Towards Alice when he requests her services. He expects her to cut down heavy trees that his full-time workers have trouble with, yet he pays her in peanuts, doesn't do anything to stop his worker's harassment of her and Kirito, and is among those arguing against her being allowed to live in the village. It's evident that he doesn't treat his normal workers much better, seeing them as idiots.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Whenever Alice does work for him, he attempts to act almost grandfatherly towards her, mentioning times from her childhood and has apparently tried hugging her in the past. His actions however speak louder than his words, with him paying her next to nothing for her help and being capable of violating their agreement, that she'd only help her and Ridack's farm once a month, because he sees her as beneath due to her status as a former criminal compared to his status as a wealthy farm owner. He more blatantly shows his true colours when Rulid gets attacked, being so concerned over his wealth that he tries to discredit Alice and paint her as a witch when she tries convincing everyone to evacuate.
Fat Bastard: A large, greedy Jerkass who exploits Alice for labour despite being among those keeping her barred from the village. It's to the point Alice can't help but be reminded of Chudelkin by him.
Hypocrite: Selka accuses him, as well as his rival farmer Ridack, of being this, since they turn to Alice to do difficult manual labour for them yet they're also among those who argue against letting her live in the village.
Skewed Priorities: When a joint force of Goblins and Orcs lead an attack on Rulid, he's the staunchest defender of Jink's asinine orders to stay in the village square because he doesn't want to abandon his manor and riches, even trying to accuse Alice of being a witch sent by the Dark Territory to cause their downfall and Selka of being an accomplice to prevent them from swaying the other villagers. Alice even Lampshades this.
Alice: What's more important to you? Your riches, or you're life?!
Ungrateful Bastard: Despite Alice doing his difficult tasks for low pay and never complaining, he refuses to vouch for her being allowed to live in Rulid, even continuing to argue against her being given passage. Gets worse when Rulid gets attacked by the Dark Territory and Alice tries convincing everyone to evacuate, to which he, in a desire to protect his wealth, attempts to accuse her of being a witch who brought the invasion in the first place in an attempt to discredit her.

Zakkaria

Egome Zakkarite

A fifth class noble and blood relative of the leader of Zakkaria.

Adapted Out: He, along with a Zakkaria Tournament, is skipped in the anime.
Cheaters Never Prosper: He makes two attempts to cheat at the tournament. The first involves releasing a Giant Horsefly to scare a horse in an indirect attempt to harm anyone potentially entering the tournament, and the second involves bribing the guard in charge of the swords to give himself one of better quality than the rest. Both attempts fail due to Eugeo and Kirito working together to calm down the horse and Kirito using the Snake Bite Sword Skill to break his sword.
Establishing Character Moment: Egome serves to give a general idea of what many nobles in the Underworld are like, being an Upper-Class Twit who will search for and find loopholes in the Taboo Index for his own selfish ends without a care about who it can affect.
Jerkass: Along with being an Upper-Class Twit, he also has no regards for who his attempts at cheating can harm.
Loophole Abuse: Despite the fact that one of his attempts at cheating is technically against the Taboo Index, he gets away with it because he didn't directly commit it, as he released a Giant Horsefly to scare a horse into harming people instead of actually harming anyone himself.
Upper-Class Twit: He looks down on Kirito and Eugeo for being commoners without Callings, believing they don't deserve to be Zakkarian Guards because of this.

Swordcraft Academy

Golgorosso Balto

Voiced by: Ryocirc Sugisaki (Japanese), Mick Lauer (English), Víctor Covarrubias (Latin American Spanish)

Eugeo's senior during his time at the Imperial Sword Academy.

Affectionate Nickname: Platonic example with Sortiliena, who refers to him as Rosso.
The Alcoholic: If him holding an entire bottle at Sortiliena's small celebration for Kirito and Eugeo's graduation gift to him is any indication, Golgorosso loves his wine.
Ascended Extra: In the anime, he never gets a speaking role in the first half, only appearing in a few scenes and is mentioned very little afterwards. Come War of the Underworld, he becomes a Composite Character with a random soldier who orders everyone to defend Deusolbert as he snipes the Goblin forces.
Combat Pragmatist: Like the Serlut Style, the Balto style's techniques are geared toward realistic combat scenarios such as fighting indoors, fitting as Golgorosso was a guard prior to entering the academy.
Composite Character: As mentioned above, in the anime he takes the place of an unnamed soldier who rallies everyone else to protect Deusolbert against the goblins.
Counter-Attack: His Balto-Style "Storm Wave", actually the Two-Handed Sword Skill Back Rush, that is for countering attacks from behind. He taught it to Eugeo in case he ever ended up in a scenario where he'd need to beat Kirito.
Demoted to Extra: In the first half of Alicization he's reduced to a non-speaking background character, to the point where he might as well have been Adapted Out. This gets rectified in War of the Underworld where he is put in scenes he did not previously belong in, such as the ordering of the soldiers to protect Deusolbert.
Muscles Are Meaningful: Golgorosso is a vehement believer of this, being a large and well-built man and his Incarnation deriving its strength from his body muscles and all the training it took to make them that way. The reason he picked Eugeo as his page is due to him eyeing the muscles he picked up from years of swinging an axe. It's also the reason why his training of Eugeo consisted of frequently checking on his muscle growth. Though of course strength isn't everything and he is fully aware that Sortiliena and Volo would still kick his ass.
Named by the Adaptation: Zig-zagged. He was already an established character, but the anime gives him the role of an otherwise nameless man-at-arms who takes lead of the other soldiers and orders them to defend Deusolbert as he fires his arrows.
Only One Name: Averted. Despite being a commoner Golgorosso has a last name, a right usually reserved for nobles and the families of village leaders. This implies that Golgorosso descends from the latter.
Shameless Fanservice Guy: Implied. Based on one of Eugeo's Social Mode Events, where he sees no issue with having Eugeo strip in the middle of a restaurant he frequents to check his muscle growth and saying that he also checks his muscles there often, he's probably this.
Stout Strength: He's a very stocky and burly man. In terms of raw strength, very few rival him.
Younger Than He Looks: Based on his large size and physique, you wouldn't think that he's actually twenty years old.

Volo Levantein

Voiced by: Taishi Murata (Japanese), Chris Niosi (English)

The First Class Elite Disciple during Kirito and Eugeo's time as pages and The Rival to Sortiliena.

Accidental Truth: His family motto, "Wet thy sword in the blood of the mighty to gain their power", is actually an accurate representation on how you can become stronger in the Underworld, with Kirito and Eugeo only being able to wield the Blue Rose Sword after fighting and killing Goblins and raising their Object Control Authority and Quinella having raised her System Control Authority by killing animals outside her village using Sacred Arts.
Adapted Out: Zig-Zagged. In Alicization: Lycoris, beating him is still Sortiliena’s main objective and Kirito does still promise to show Sortiliena a technique with his newly forged Night Sky Sword to motivate her. However, instead of getting coerced into a duel by Volo, Kirito instead accomplished this by beating some nobles who tried to harass Sortiliena during a hunting mission by claiming by claiming they were hunting the monster they killed and demand she bow in recompense, which Kirito wasn’t going to take lying down.
Ascended Extra: After his first appearance, he only gets a passing mention of his loss to Eldrie later on and nothing more. Rising Steel expands on his character in the "Gathering of Swordsman" by showing him joining Sortiliena and Golgorosso in the war against the Dark Territory, and in the "Birth of the Human Unification Council" Event, showing him help in enforcing the Nobility reforms in Norlangarth in exchange for a duel against Kirito, declaring himself The Rival to him after his loss.
Blood Knight: His "punishment" for Kirito staining his uniform was for them to duel with real blades, so he could harm him and empower his High-Norkia Style as a result.
Cool Sword: Like most Nobles, his sword is very distinct from normal ones, having a rectangular gold cross-guard and pommel, and the blade possessing a short ricasso and a deep fuller going up to near the point. Unlike those of other Nobles though, such as Raios and Humbert's BFS, it possesses a sleeker and less showy design that appears more practical, reflecting his greater concern with his growth as a swordsman than his status.
Disproportionate Retribution: Subverted. While his challenging Kirito to a duel over Kirito getting mud on his uniform seems like a textbook case of this, he's merely using it as a pretext to get a duel. After Azurica stops the duel, Volo lets Kirito off with a warning.
Graceful Loser: To his credit, he takes his tie with Kirito and the loss of his final duel against Sortiliena rather well.
Hidden Depths: Aside from extorting a duel out of Kirito, he's shown to be not so bad of a person. He has his own sense of honor, believing power has to be earned. Post-war, he also assists Kirito in convincing other nobles about the reform using his own second-class noble rank.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While subdued, he does manipulate Kirito into fighting him with real blades for the sake of of empowering his own sword-style and he's hinted to largely be concerned with his own growth as a swordsman. Though aside from this he's not too bad of a person, willingly joining the other nobles in fighting against the Dark Territory.
Know When to Fold 'Em: Despite not having fulfilled his goal, he shows no resistance in Azurica declaring his and Kirito's duel a tie due to her authority.
Laser-Guided Karma: He stated to have lost to Eldrie in the Empire Swordsmanship Tournament and got a shattered shoulderblade as a result, which is rather fitting considering his attempt to legally assault Kirito.
Light Is Not Good: Downplayed. He wears a bright white uniform, and isn't exactly a friendly person who is willing to resort to sneaky tactics. Though he isn't really evil by any means and later on displays his own form of honor.
Loophole Abuse: He admits to using the Noble-born gift of finding these in the rules to find ways to practice on days of rest, which is part of the reason why he doesn't object to Kirito practicing on his day off.
Master Swordsman: As the Academy's initial First Seat, he's a highly skilled swordsman who has essentially mastered the traditional High-Norkia style, and unlike other Nobles like Raios and Humbert he doesn't appear to let his status, which at 2nd Class is a full rank above them, act as an excuse to cut back on his training and seeks strong opponents to spar with to keep his skills sharp.
Meaningful Name: His last name sounds a lot like "Lævateinn", a weapon in Norse mythology commonly depicted as a sword, fitting with him being a skilled swordsman and being from a family of sword instructors.
Misery Builds Character: Outright misery might be a stretch, but Rising Steel shows that he has no care for his Noble privileges or status and is more focused on honing his skills. He outright threatened to leave his family if his father didn't allow him to take part in the war against the Dark Territory and when another Noble tries appealing for his support when the Human Unification Council is removing the Ranks system, he's quick to retort that any born into nobility and have done nothing to earn their rank don't deserve it, stating that true power must be earned through hard work.
Muscles Are Meaningful: While they're not as blatant as Golgorosso's, he has some visible muscles peeking through his uniform.
One-Hit Kill: Like most Nobles, Volo utilizes a traditional Underworld swordsmanship style, which revolves around settling fights in a single, powerful strike.
The Rival: To Sortilliena, being who she wishes to beat to prove the worth of her family's sword style. After she bests him in their final academy duel, the two seem to have struck up a Friendly Rivalry by the time they join the Human Army and he looks forward to dueling her in the future.
- Also becomes one to Kirito after he becomes Swordsman Delegate, challenging him to a duel in exchange for helping enforce the reformation of the Nobility System and, after losing, vowing to challenge him again.
Upper-Class Twit: Surprisingly Averted. Unlike Raios and Humbert, who see both Kirito and Eugeo as weaklings due to the fact they're commoners while they're Rank 3 Nobles, Volo is a Rank 2 Noble who is fully aware that Kirito is a skilled swordsman and that is the reason he challenged him to begin with, believing that besting him would empower his sword style as per his family's motto.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Like any self-respecting noble, Volo will take advantage of rules to get his way. He manages to force Kirito into a duel with him under the pretense of "punishment" for staining his uniform, when in reality he purposely stepped close enough for some dirt Kirito uprooted to hit his uniform, giving him free reign to attack and harm Kirito.
Serial Killer: Zig-zagged. Before Kirito's duel with him, Sortiliena reveals that the source of his power is from him following his family's motto of "Wet thy sword in the blood of the mighty to gain their power" by entering seemingly nothing but duels with strong opponents using real blades prior to entering the academy. However, it's never revealed if he killed anyone in these bouts^note, merely cut them, or both.
Signature Move: His High-Norkia's style's "Mountain Splitting Wave", which in reality is the Two-Handed Sword Skill Avalanche.
Small Role, Big Impact: In "Gathering of Swordsman", he claims that he didn't bring as much troops as Sortiliena, but she asserts that many decided to join the Human Army upon hearing that he'd be joining.
Worthy Opponent: View both Kirito and Sortiliena as this.
- During the "Birth of the Human Unification Council", he helps in enforcing the removal of the Nobility Ranking System, not in exchange for money or favors, but in exchange for a rematch against Kirito to make up for Azurica interrupting them.

Azurica

Voiced by: Akiko Hiramatsu (Japanese), Julia McIlvaine (English), Analíz Sánchez (Latin American Spanish)

The Supervisor of the Novice Trainee Dorm that Kirito and Eugeo stay at during their year as trainees.

Awesomeness by Analysis: In the Gathering of Swordsman Event in Rising Steel, she was able to quickly figure out that Quinella was dead from the fact that Bercouli was trying to recruit students from the Swordcraft Academy for a human army, somehow knowing that Quinella would never risk an army she can't control being formed.
Badass Teacher: She was a previous champion of the Four Empires Unity tournament and, while her current combat capabilities are unknown, she's a capable instructor and her influence allowed her to draw multiple people to joining the Human Army.
Cool Teacher: While she's a stickler for the rules, she's also a Reasonable Authority Figure who cares for her students more than she lets on.
Dark and Troubled Past: Implied. Before turning them over to the Integrity Knights for attacking Raios and Humbert and apparently killing the former, she commends Eugeo for doing what she wasn't able to and break the Seal of the Right Eye, implying that she herself was in a scenario where she wished to bypass it to help someone but couldn't.
Magic Knight: Along with having had the position of First Seat 7 years before Kirito and Eugeo's enrollment she's also a skilled Sacred Arts user, being able to restore Eugeo's eye and being said to having the fastest chanting speed in the whole academy.
Mysterious Past: Downplayed. It's known that she previously attended the academy and fought in the Four Empires Unity tournament as the First Seat, but the fact that she's aware of the Seal of the Right Eye and that she's implied to know of Quinella's true nature as a Control Freak in an event in Rising Steel raises a few questions about her.
Only One Name: Despite being nobility, we never hear her full name. This brings forth the implication that Azurica is her only name and that she was originally a commoner.
Rags to Riches: That fact that she only has one name implies that she was originally a commoner before entering the Swordcraft Academy, becoming First Seat and eventually earning her position as an instructor there.
Reasonable Authority Figure: She declares Kirito and Volo's duel a tie before either can suffer serious injury and after Kirito and Eugeo defy the Taboo Index she commends them for being able to do so to save Ronye and Tiese, even though she has no choice but to turn them in.
- Rising Steel also reveals that she encountered Ronye and Tiese going to bring Kirito and Eugeo their swords after their arrest and allows them to do so despite it being a breach of academy rules, noting that a sword is important to a Swordsman. She also vouches for them when the other instructors express a desire to expel them for their involvement in Raios' death, stating that they did not break the Taboo Index themselves.
Retired Badass: She was the First Seat representative in the Four Empire Unity Tournament 7 years before Kirito and Eugeo started at the academy, and is currently an instructor at the Swordcraft Academy.

Frenica Szeki

Voiced by: Miku Itō (Japanese), Skyler Davenport (English), Itzel Mendoza (Latin American Spanish)

Tiese and Ronye's dormmate and friend, as well as the page of Humbert Zizek.

Ascended Extra: While she doesn't get as much prominence as other characters, being a mere 2-Star Unit with no signs of her getting a 4-Star in the future, Rising Steel gives her more scenes than she did in the source material, mostly of her hanging out with Ronye and Tiese.
Adaptation Expansion: While her friendship with Ronye and Tiese only got a passing mention in the Light Novel and Anime, Rising Steel gives players scenes of the three of them hanging out together to give a better idea of the nature of their friendship.
Break the Cutie: The humiliating orders Humbert forces on her makes her want to quit the Swordcraft Academy, prompting Ronye and Tiese to step in.
Combat Medic: She's a skilled enough swordswoman to earn the right to be mentored by an Elite Disciple, and during the War of the Underworld she takes part as a nun-in-training, healing allied soldiers.
Magic Knight: Ronye acknowledges that Frenica was always better than her and Tiese when it came to Sacred Arts. She seems to drop the Knight part entirely upon joining the Sacred Artificers Brigade.
Military Mage: After the war and during Moon Cradle, she joined the Sacred Artificers Brigade that was formed from the dismantled priesthood.
Nice Girl: Tiese describes her as a nice and humble girl.
Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Played for Drama. The humiliating demands Humbert makes of her, which includes washing him in the bath and stripping to her underwear so "her uniform doesn't get wet" is one big Break the Cutie moment for her and makes her want to quit the Swordcraft Academy despite her potential. Turns out this was Invoked by Raios and Humbert so they could get at Ronye and Tiese.
Royal Rapier: She's implied to be of nobility, albeit of a lower class than Humbert, and Rising Steel presents her as a rapier user.
Shrinking Violet: She's noted to be quite timid, which likely isn't helped by Humbert's humiliating orders for her.
True Companions: While not featured as prominently as their bond with each other, Freninca is shown to be very close friends with Ronye and Tiese, the two of them wanting to help her when Humbert started sexually harassing her, Freninca rushing to Eugeo for help when Raios and Humbert decide to "punish" them and Freninca using her skills in Sacred Arts to join the Human Army as a healer so she can go with them when they join.

Raios Antonious and Humbert Zizek

Raios is voiced by: Shuuhei Iwase (Japanese), Steve Staley (English), Luis Fernando Orozco (Latin American Spanish)
Humbert is voiced by: Ryuichi Kijima (Japanese), Chris Hackney (English), Alan Bravo (Latin American Spanish)

The two top disciples in Kirito and Eugeo's year, and their primary rivals to graduating at the top of the class.

Accomplice by Inaction: Ronye and Tiese accuse Raios of being just as responsible for Humbert's mistreatment of Frenica as Humbert himself is, since it happened in the room the two shared. Since Raios' ultimate goal was to provoke Eugeo and Kirito into breaking the Taboo Index, his involvement most likely went beyond merely turning a blind eye to Humbert's behavior.
Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Along with being the academy's First and Second Seat respectively, they are both incredibly arrogant and sure of themselves due to their statuses as Rank 3 and 4 Nobles respectively. That being said it is because of their arrogance that they're such powerful swordsman, as one's strength in the Underworld runs on imagination and self-image. In their case, the belief that they're better than everyone else due to their status, a belief that has been nurtured since childhood, lends itself to their sword strikes and skills.
Alas, Poor Villain: When Eugeo meet Humbert again in Lycoris DLC The Knight Of Contradictions, he feels nothing but pity for him and it's become clear while Eugeo can't forgive him at all for what he did, he realized had Humbert actually tried to live as a kind man, he would likely never become what he is now. Instead, he lost everything because of his own greed and pride. A complete contrast to Kirito, who feels nothing but seething hatred for him.
An Arm and a Leg: Humbert loses most of his arm to Eugeo, while Kirito cuts off both of Raios' hands.
BFS: Raios' personal sword, aptly titled the "Villainous Sword" in Rising Steel, possesses a large, wide blade, likely a reflection of his own sense of self-importance and how he's better than others. A look at the stand where Raios grabs it from so he can kill Eugeo reveals a similarly designed sword that's implied to belong to Humbert.
Blue Blood: They're Rank 3 and 4 Nobles respectively, and very proud of it.
Break the Haughty: Attempting to rape Ronye and Tiese gets them into a whole lot of trouble. After Kirito and Eugeo finally put a dent into them, they're horrified, begging the other to save them.
Bright Is Not Good: The two of them wear almost inverted colors to that of Kirito and Eugeo, with Raios wearing red and Humbert wearing yellow. Despite these bright colors, both of them are rotten to the core.
The Bully: They spend their year tormenting Kirito and Eugeo over not being noble upbringing.
Deliberate Under-Performance: To avoid having to take orders from others, the two of them held back in the entrance exams to avoid placing in the top tens, which would have led to them becoming the Pages of an Elite Disciple.
The Bus Came Back: Humbert return in Lycoris after story DLC chapter The Knight Of Contradictions, where he manage to get his own left arm got fully healed, heavily implied by a special healer just like how Eugeo regain his destroyed right eye back. Though Humbert is revealed to have already gone mad due to the entire incident, to the point his own father lock him up out of shame for what he did which doesn't sit well with him at all. Out of hatred and lust for revenge he's implied to have already broke the Seal Of The Right Eye and by the chapter beginning, he turned into a Sociopathic Serial Killer with his own father as one of the victim.
Dirty Coward: For all their arrogance, they're hesitant to overtly do anything to Eugeo and Kirito, and fall to pieces when they're actually injured.
Disproportionate Retribution: While it was likely influenced by their already established disdain for him and Kirito, their response to Eugeo tying with Humbert in a duel was still overblown. The Evil Plan they hatched was to abuse Freninca in order to prompt Ronye and Tiese to confront them, use their noble privileges to "punish" them for "showing disrespect" by forcing themselves on them, and making sure Eugeo arrives before they start so they can force him to watch.
The Dividual: The two of them are very alike in their cruelty and arrogance, which is likely why they get along. The only real way to tell their personalities apart is that Raios is more calm and calculating while Humbert is more aggressive and easily aggravated.
Evil Duo: They are always seen together and both of them are vile and corrupted, bullying Kirito and Eugeo, using Loophole Abuse to commit atrocities without getting in trouble, and performing Attempted Rape.
Evil Is Petty: Literally their only beef with Kirito and Eugeo is that fact that they're commoners attending the same academy as them, something they view as an insult.
Fatal Flaw: Their inability to stop dog kicking out loud gets them into trouble. Rather than subtly sabotage Kirito and Eugeo, they make it outright clear. They end up paying dearly when they try to rape Ronye and Tiese.
Faux Affably Evil: They use mockingly polite words when they bully Kirito and Eugeo.
For Want Of A Nail: The What-If Story "If You Were Here" reveals that if they never attended the academy or otherwise dropped out at some point, Kirito and Eugeo would have accomplished their initial plan of becoming Integrity Knights together and would attempt to resolve the Alicization Arc in a comparatively peaceful manner.
Hate Sink: They're presented as downright unlikable and only seeking to make the lives of Kirito and Eugeo miserable. They only get worse when they attempt to rape Tiese and Ronye in front of Eugeo's eyes, while he helplessly watches.
Hypocrite: Raios shows Humbert little sympathy when Humbert loses an arm to Eugeo, but when Raios loses both his hands, he demands that Humbert tie his arms with the rope that's tying Humbert's own arm and preventing him from bleeding to death. Granted, Raios does realize that he'd be asking Humbert to give his life for him, which is why he shuts down.
Jerkass: The two view most others with contempt, and while they appear to be friends, Raios doesn't seem to care much for Humbert after the latter loses an arm.
Karmic Death: Raios and Humbert abuse loopholes in the Taboo Index to get away with misdeeds while making it illegal for others to stop them. Their attempt to use the law to rape two girls ends with Raios's hands being cut off, and the only way for him to save himself is to order Humbert to untie the rope on his severed arm stump, which would kill the latter and violate the Taboo Index. Raios ends up trapped in a Morton's Fork by the laws he always used to justify his evil, causing his Fluctlight to collapse.
Kick the Dog: They have many such moments, particularly Raios destroying Kirito's flowers and Humbert taking out his anger on Frenica. Their biggest however would be tricking Ronye and Tiese into "insulting them" so that they can abuse their noble privileges to rape them, all just to get at Eugeo for tying with Humbert in a duel.
Laser-Guided Karma: While Humbert does escape his and Raios' Attempted Rape on Ronye and Tiese with his life, he also lost most of his left arm in process, which will either severely hinder or stop him from wielding a sword again, one of the things that contributed to his ego and where said ego, namely in the form of his Incarnation, actually benefited him. And while Alicization Lycoris Implies that there are means for him to regain his arm, it also hints that he was likely driven mad by the experience.
Logic Bomb: Since he has to choose between preserving his own life and not harming Humbert, Raios' Fluctlight collapses and he dies, in spite of having some life left.
Loophole Abuse: The two are quite skilled at managing to cause harm to others while not violating the Taboo Index. While most people realize that Raios cutting off the buds of the flowers Kirito planted would be an attack against him, because Kirito doesn't own the plants while they're in the soil (although the soil does belong to the academy), Raios is able to get away with it.
Manipulative Bastard: It turns out that Humbert's sexual harassment of his page was part of one big ploy to torment Eugeo and Kirito, taking advantage of Ronye and Tiese's friendship with her so that they would confront them in her defense, so they can paint the whole thing as them, a pair of Rank 6 Nobles, badmouthing and threatening to spread rumors of them, two higher ranking Nobles, giving them free reign to punish them however they see fit.
Moral Myopia: While it doesn't just apply to them necessarily, they both serve as excellent examples of how most Underworld Nobles treat the rights given to them; Since the Taboo Index was made by the Axiom Church's highest authority and is preached as the authority of the Goddesses themselves, they believe that if they are capable of something, whether it be because it's a privilege given to them by the laws or because they can use Loophole Abuse to not directly break said laws, it is their god-given right and therefore their actions are not evil, whereas anyone who gets in their way is evil because defying them means defying the Taboo Index. Namely, after Raios' death, Humbert has the nerve to call Kirito and Eugeo monsters as he runs away in fear, seemingly ignoring his and Raios' horrendous actions and that Kirito and Eugeo only attacked them because they tried to rape their pages and murder the latter when he stopped them.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Their interference prevents Eugeo and Kirito from graduating from the academy, thus derailing their original plan to find Alice, only for them to find Alice anyway when she (as an Integrity Knight) comes to take them from the academy. It also prevents Eugeo and Kirito from being mind-wiped into Integrity Knights, something they only realize after all is said and done. They also should've taken care of the pair first before attempting to rape the girls.
Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Some of Raios' insults toward Kirito are disguised as backhanded compliments, and Raios once gives Kirito a "gift" of a bud from his destroyed garden.
Pride: Due to their upbringing as 3rd Class Nobles, the two of them have a great deal of pride in themselves and their status, to the point where they intentionally avoided scoring among the top ten in the entrance exams, something that would gained them the guidance of an Elite Disciple, since they didn't want to stoop to taking orders from someone else. Their pride and arrogance is actually what powers their Incarnation and is what allows them to become the academy's First and Second seats.
Professional Butt-Kisser: Humbert shows shades of this towards Raios, often praising his “kind advice” to Kirito and Eugeo and often getting angry on his behalf, such as him not being referred to with his title of First Seat. Additionally, whenever Humbert does get angry, he's quick to calm down or at least withhold his anger when Raios tells him to. This likely ties into how Raios' family is a whole rank above his.
Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Their Attempted Rape of Ronie and Tiese is what sends Eugeo over the breaking point and causes him to break the Taboo Index by attacking Humbert.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The hot-tempered and emotional Humbert is the red to the relatively collected Raios' blue.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: All Humbert can do after he witnesses Raios shutting down completely is freak out and flee from Kirito and Eugeo.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: They use their status as nobles to not only freely have their way with Tiese and Ronye, but also coax Eugeo into deciding whether or not he'll violate the Taboo Index just to attack a noble.
Small Role, Big Impact:
- It is their constant bullying of Kirito and Eugeo, eventually escalating in the Attempted Rape of their valets, Ronye and Tiese, that led to Kirito and Eugeo to be branded criminals and hence made the rest of Alicization possible at all.
- In a What If story written by Kawahara where Raios and Humbert are absent for a year due to being poisoned by crabs, Kirito and Eugeo are able to graduate the academy and tie for first in the tournament so that both of them get selected as Integrity Knights.
Smug Snake: They're exceedingly arrogant and not nearly as talented as swordsmen as Sortiliena or Golgorosso. Their confidence also extends to intentionally not placing in the top tens in the entrance exams to avoid becoming pages, likely believing that they didn't need guidance on their sword technique.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Their behavior and roles are very reminiscent of Sugou. All of them being born from nobility and grew to be Smug Snakes who believe everything exists to please them. They also end up going through with Attempted Rape of girls who are close to Kirito and are subsequently dismembered. The both of them of them even bear physical resemblances to Sugou, with the both of them having a penchant for creepy facial expressions and even sharing the hairstyles of both his real and in-game self, Humbert sharing Sugou's slicked back hair while Raios has Oberon's long, blonde locks.
Unskilled, but Strong: Downplayed. The two of them are trained swordsman and are skilled in the High-Norkia style, but since they opted to avoid becoming pages out of pride, they end up being comparatively less skilled than Kirito and Eugeo, who were able to learn new sword techniques from their mentors. As a result, their rank of first and second seat is largely the result of their powerful Incarnation. This is shown when Kirito and Raios fight, with Kirito managing to win by using the Serlut Style's Whirling Current^note to counter Raios' Mountains Splitting Wave^note Avalanche and cut his arms off.
Upper-Class Twit: They have very high status and are full of themselves, constantly looking down on and viewing everyone below them in the Underworld's Fantastic Caste System, especially Kirito and Eugeo, as weaklings simply because of their lower social status, in spite of any achievements to the contrary, such as Kirito tying with Volo and and the both of them ranking amongst the academy's Elite Disciples.
Very Punchable Man: They are a pair of snobbish nobles who treat Kirito and Eugeo with contempt for being common citizens, and the two would eventually have parts of their body severed off by their victims in retaliation for an attempt to violate both Ronye and Tiese. Given their treatment towards their victims, it's hard to feel sorry for them.
Villainous Friendship: Played with. They seem to enjoy each other's company and have a good partnership, but when Humbert loses his arm, Raios more or less tells him to suck it up... before losing both his hands and demanding that Humbert endanger his own life to help Raios.
You Monster!: Humbert calls Kirito and Eugeo this. Though he has no right to claim this after what he did.

Centoria

Sadore

Voiced by: Hisao Egawa (Japanese), Jorge Roig Jr. (Latin American Spanish)

A dedicated craftsman who wished to create a sword surpassing any that were forged, eventually getting his wish when Kirito brings a branch of the Gigas Cedar. After the war, Kirito makes him the arsenal master for his assistance in dealing with the rebellion of the Four Empires.

Disproportionate Retribution: Jokingly threatens to ban Kirito from his shop if he doesn't give the Elevator Operator a name.
Ignored Expert: He constantly warns Kirito about the risks of his Mechanical Dragon experiments, but Kirito usually does the tests anyway, much to his chagrin.
Insult of Endearment: The moment he met Kirito, was given the branch of the Gigas Cedar, and ruined six black-brick grindstones turning it into a sword, he vowed to refer to him as "boy" from then on, and keeps it up even after he becomes the Swordsman Delegate.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's rather gruff and he really lays into Kirito after making his sword destroyed a month's supply of grindstones, but he allows Kirito to take it for free after he's able to swing and he lets him off the hook after he accidentally cuts one of his shields in two with it^note. He's also rather polite to Airy upon meeting her, asking for her help with making the Automated Wind lift, and being insistent on Kirito naming her when he learns of her circumstances.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He realizes that Kirito might not have the money to pay for his sword, and offers to give it to him for free should be able to swing it, which Kirito is able to do. He even lets him off when he accidentally slashes one of his shields in half in the process, recognizing it was an accident^note.
Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: He's much older and typically acts gruff with Kirito and Eugeo, even after the former becomes the head of the Human Unification Council.
Ultimate Blacksmith: More of a craftsman really, but he does sell weapons he apparently made himself and he was able to use the Gigas Cedar branch Kirito gave him to create the Night Sky Sword, making him the only known human besides Quinella to create a Divine Object. He was also Kirito's first choice for help when it came to automating the Cathedral's lifts and creating his mechanical dragon.

Tiese's Father

Tiese's father, a 6th Rank Noble who believes that as a Noble, he and his family have a duty to protect the commonfolk.

Almighty Janitor: Implied. Eugeo speculates that he must be very skilled in swordsmanship to have taught Tiese the basics so well, yet he's only a 6th Rank Noble who works as a Clerk for other, higher ranking Nobles.
Ascended Extra: He's a nameless character who only gets a passing mention as the one who Tiese inherited her beliefs of "Noblesse Oblige" from. In Rising Steel, while still nameless, he appears as a major character in the "Continuing My Journey with You" Event, even getting his own character model.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: He believes that every Noble should know how to fight so that they can be ready to protect commoners.
Honor Before Reason: He takes his ideals of Noblesse Oblige very seriously, believing that even his young daughter should be ready to fight any time in defense of the commonfolk and even insisting that the commoners should be treated before him despite his wounds being much more severe.
No Name Given: Even after he appears in person in Rising Steel, we never learn his name.
Papa Wolf: While his views of putting the commoners before yourself is something he tries to impart on Tiese, he's shown to be very protective of her, wanting her to tell him if the son of his business partner tries to do anything to her and even taking an attack meant for her when they were fighting some wolves.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: A fervent believer in this, believing that a Noble should be grateful for the privileges given to them over the commoners and be willing to defend commoners and fight in their defense, even to the point where he refuses to be treated first after a monster attack despite suffering heavier injuries.
Taking the Bullet: During a monster attack, he takes a blow meant for Tiese when one of them gets the jump on her. Thankfully, he survives in spite of his insistence that the commoners be treated before him despite the severity of his wounds.
Token Good Teammate: He's one of the few decent Nobles there is, taking his duties seriously while others, especially those of higher rank, tend to let their privileges go to their head and become cruel hedonists.
Too Dumb to Live: While it was certainly noble of him to do so, having himself be treated after all the injured commonfolk despite his more grievous wounds is certainly reckless and could have endangered his life if he hadn't been so lucky.

Ronye's family

Ronye's 6th ranked noble family, that's related to a 4th rank family on the father's side.

Annoying Younger Sibling: Ronye describes her younger brother as a "scamp". When she visited after becoming a apprentice Integrity Knight, he tried to swing her sword (wouldn't budge from its scabbard) and then challenged her to an arm wrestle (couldn't even move her wrist half a cen). That being said, Ronye loves him all the same.
Badass Family: Along with Ronye, who was taught the Aincrad Style by Kirito and goes on to become an Integrity Knight, Ronye's father makes a living as a platoon leader in the Imperial Guard and Ronye's brother's follows in her sister's footstops and joined the North Centoria Imperial Swordcraft Academy.
Big Sister Worship: Ronye's little brother is stated to look up to her a good deal, even attending the North Imperial Swordcraft Academy like she did.
Evil Uncle/Aunt: Downplayed. Ronye's 4th ranked relatives aren't exactly evil, but they're elitist assholes who look down on Ronye's family for their lower-ranked status. Then when the nobility rank system is abolished, they're quick to try and regain their former status by marrying off Ronye, who's an Integrity Knight to be, since they assumed it would give them the privileges they once had. And when Ronye tries explaining how being related to Knight won't necessarily return their privileges, they're quick to grow petulant and accuse her of just hogging the luxuries that come with being a knight.
Good Parents: Ronye describes her father as stern but gentle and her mother as bright and fastidious. When she recounts a recent visit she made in Moon Cradle, she states that she had a great time talking with her father and eating her mother's cooking. And while it was marred by her Jerkass aunt and uncle having her meet various suitors despite the noble rank system being abolished, therefore making Arranged Marriages pointless, her father quickly got fed up when they made it clear they were only after her Integrity Knight status and kicked them out. He then assured Ronye that she was free to marry whoever she wished, even if she recognized that they did want her to marry at some point.
I Want Grandkids: Ronye suspects that despite saying she's free to marry whoever she wants, they do want her to wed at some point as they want to hold their grandchildren in their arms. This causes Ronye some guilt since she doesn't feel that she'll ever marry due to her unrequited feelings for Kirito.
Laser-Guided Karma: Like most seen lower-class Nobles, the Arabels are effectively Token Good Teammates compared to higher class nobles like the father's relatives, being loving parents to both Ronye and her brother and raising the former up into the Nice Girl she is. After Kirito takes over as Swordsman Delegate and abolishes the nobility ranking system, the Arabel's go from what's effectively lower-class to technically having the most authority among the nobility alongside the Schtrinens, due to Ronye being an Apprentice Integrity Knight.
Papa Wolf: After Ronye's aunt and uncle reach a Rage Breaking Point with Ronye's refusal to marry and her attempts to convince them that marrying her off won't necessary get them back their prestige and accuse her of hogging the luxuries of being an Integrity Knight to herself, her father gets fed up with them and drives them out of the house.
Politically Incorrect Villain: Hard to call Ronye's aunt and uncle villains, just classist Jerkasses, but when the both of them show up during Ronye's visit in Moon Cradle with list of suitors so they can marry Ronye off for her Integrity Knight status, her aunt states the following when Ronye expresses no desire for marriage due to her training;
Ronye's aunt: Don't forget that you're a lady, first and foremost! A lady's most noble Calling is to bear children and raise them into adulthood.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Ronye's aunt and uncle tried to pull this, wanting to marry Ronye off for for her Integrity Knight status in hopes that it would get them some the wealth they previously enjoyed. Fortunately, Ronye denies all the proposals and her father eventually kicks them out in frustration with their behaviour.

Axiom Church

In General

The Ruling Entity of the Underworld with power over the Four Empires.

Accidental Truth: Played With. The religion's deities, Stacia, Solus and Terraria, were all made up by Quinella to exert her control. But the scientists at Rath, who are in charge of the Underworld, caught wind of this and decided to make them into Super-Admin accounts in case they themselves ever needed to log in. So technically speaking, the Church's deities are real.
Corrupt Church: The entire religion and Church was set up so that Quinella could exert her control over the Underworld. The Church also has no problem brainwashing people into becoming loyal slaves, gives easily abusable privelages to Nobles, and its leader also sees nothing wrong with turning half the population in Sword Golems for the sake of winning a war.
- Moon Cradle delves on this further, revealing that not only did most of the higher ranking priests and priestesses refused to take part in the war against the Dark Territory, but that the four Bishops in charge of the priesthood were hoarding riches, prompting the Human Unification Council to dismantle and reform the priesthood into a new organization; the Sacred Artificers Brigade.
Disproportionate Retribution: The Taboo Index is a system that borders on Black-and-White Insanity, with murder even in self-defence or to save another and even accidentally entering a forbidden area, being punishable by arrest, transport to the Church while hanging off a dragon, interrogation and then execution or, if you happen to have a valuable skillset, being brainwashed into either a loyal Integrity Knight or a Senator, limbless beings who eat out of a tube and endlessly recite Sacred Arts. Becomes worse when you realize that this is less punishment for any morally wrong actions, and more of one for defying Quinella's control.
Evil Versus Evil: The Church takes numerous measures to protect the Human Empire from the Dark Territory, a realm comprised largely of monsters, such as forming the Integrity Knights and opening multiple Swordsmanship Academies. However, it'd be difficult to call them the heroes in the conflict.
The Theocracy: The Axiom Church has authority over all four Empires in the Underworld.

Leadership

Quinella

See this page

Prime Senator Chudelkin

See this page

Integrity Knights

See this page

Others

Senators

The enforcers of the Axiom Church who monitor anyone who has broken the Taboo Index.

Bald of Evil: They're not really evil per say, but they are opposed to the heroes and they are all bald.
Loss of Identity: While the Integrity Knights are akin to puppets, these guys are machines, without even a trace of personality remaining.
Machine Monotone: They robotically drone “System Call” continuously.
Thinking Up Portals: They appear via a portal whenever a Taboo Index is violated and followed by an Integrity Knight being sent to apprehend the criminal.
Was Once a Man: They were once humans but they are more akin to machines now, prone to mindlessly reciting Sacred Arts to enforce the law.

Elevator Operator / Airy

Elevator Operator

Voiced by: Mao Ichimichi (Japanese), Jennie Kwan (as Minx Le) (English)

A girl who is assigned to operating a floating platform for transportation in the Central Cathedral.

A Day in the Limelight: The "Girl Amongst Windy Skies" Event in Rising Steel details her being relieved from duty as an Elevator Operator and eventually finding work working for Sadore, which leads to her involvement in Kirito's mechanical dragon project.
Because You Were Nice to Me: It's Implied at the end of "Girl Amongst Windy Skies" that Airy falls for Kirito for naming her and helping fulfil her dream of flying her lift outside as she pleases, stating that part of the reason she wants to work for Sadore is because she knows he'll visit.
Blow You Away: She controls her floating platform using aerial Sacred Arts to levitate it.
Emotionless Girl: She's lost so much of her humanity she's stoic and robotlike, having no life outside operating the elevator.
Humble Goal: When Kirito and Eugeo question if she has any dreams, she states that the only one she can think of is to fly the lift she operates freely outside. in "Girl Amongst Windy Skies", Kirito helps her fulfil this wish, removing her old lift still intact and making it so it can float properly despite the system restrictions it should have otherwise.
Loss of Identity: Even more so than the Integrity Knights, who at least retain personalities. She has lost all traces of her past self to the point where she knows nothing outside operating the floating platform.
Meaningful Name: The name Kirito gives her, "Airy", is this on two fronts. The obvious one is that it basically just Air with a Y at the end. The second is that it has A and R in it, which under the Underworld naming convention represents sincerity and beauty, in reference to her hard-working nature and good looks. She immediately jumped onto it upon hearing it, which Kirito speculates is because it's close to her original name.
Name Amnesia: She has long since forgotten her true name after eons of serving as the elevator operator. However the name Kirito gives her, Airy, is speculated to be close to what her real name is.
Not So Stoic:
- In "The Knight's Recollection", she actually appears to look concerned at Scheta's depressed attitude after she gives her a ride to Floor 75 after a meeting where another Knight was a Jerkass to her.
- In "How the Dragoncraft Was Made", she expresses something resembling an Oh, Crap! when Asuna shows up, her eyes widening more than usual and letting out an "Oh!".
Only Known by Their Nickname: Due to the above-mentioned Name Amnesia, she doesn't go by anything other than "Operator" or "Airy".
Really 700 Years Old: She's been working as the Operator for 107 years, meaning she's likely older than that based on her physical age. In Moon Cradle, Tiese states that she might be as old as Duesolbert.
Shrinking Violet: As Sadore points out, she's rather reserved around pretty much everyone with the exception of Kirito, which is why he thinks he should be the one to name her.
When She Smiles: After getting her new name of "Airy", she smiles and thanks Kirito for it, and once again when Kirito helps her fulfil her Humble Goal of freely flying her lift outside.
Wrench Wench: After being relieved from her Calling as Elevator Operator, she chooses to work for Sadore as her new Calling due to him finding her skill in Wind Arts helpful in making the automated lift, and as a result helps Sadore in Kirito's more ambitious projects, such as the mechanical dragon.

Sword Golem

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_3477.jpg

Quinella's ultimate creation, a soulless monster of pure destruction.

Hopeless Boss Fight: Kirito, Eugeo, and Alice stood no chance against it with each of them falling with one hit.
Humanoid Abomination: The shocking truth behind its creation is revealed that each of the swords that it is created from was actually a human forcibly transformed, and actually the loved ones of the Integrity Knights that their memory fragment holds most dear.
The Juggernaut: It is a nigh unstoppable killing machine that will slaughter everything in its path. The only thing capable of destroying it is something created in the same fashion as itself, which turns out to be Eugeo fusing himself into his sword.
One-Man Army: Technically it is an army, given it's made of three hundred people transformed into swords.
Power of Love: Runs on a rather twisted variant. It's powered by the love of the humans it's made from towards certain individuals, meaning that it'll keep fighting in hopes of reuniting and being close with them.
Spikes of Villainy: Well, it is made of swords...

Hana SPOILERS

Quinella's personal chef.

Birds of a Feather: She quickly strikes up a friendship with Asuna over their shared love of cooking, with the both of them often experimenting with the Underworld's cooking system and Asuna sharing ideas based on IRL experience.
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Her time as Quinella's personal chef was effectively this. Despite being a gifted cook, which helps her and Asuna become fast friends, Quinella had little interest in food and was content with high quality wines, giving Hana little to actually do in the way to do in regards to cooking, especially since the nature of Callings meant it was literally illegal for her to cook for anyone else, other than possibly herself.
Supreme Chef: Naturally, being the personal chef of the High Pontifex. Not that she was able to do much in the position...

The Resistance

Cardinal

Voiced by: Sakura Tange (Japanese), Lizzie Freeman (English), Leyla Rangel (Latin American Spanish)

A mysterious girl who resides in the Great Library Room, who is revealed to be the physical embodiment of the Cardinal System sub-processor residing in a host.

The Ageless: Much like Quinella, Cardinal does not age and is effectively immortal, having retained the same youthful appearance for centuries.
The Anti-God: Given that Quinella became the Physical God of the Underworld upon burning the Cardinal system into her Fluctlight, Cardinal became her antithesis. Quinella houses the Cardinal system's main program, which is designed to maintain the world's balance. But the Cardinal sub-processor went into the little girl formerly known as Lyserith, whose purpose is to error check the Main. Hence as Cardinal, her sole reason for existing is to put an end to Quinella as the Administrator. It also became her wish to desire to end the Underworld and return it and all of its inhabitants to nothing, so as to let it not be mistreated by Rath.
Always with You: In the anime, after Cardinal is killed, her spirit appears to Kirito to urge him to fight against Gabriel.
An Arm and a Leg: One of her feet gets severed during her final confrontation with Quinella.
Arch-Enemy: To Quinella. Cardinal, being Quinella's Enemy Without, was created for the sole purpose of destroying her. The two have been at war for centuries and wish for nothing more than each other's deaths.
Badass Adorable: While physically appearing as a child, she was able to put up a fight against Quinella and managing to escape when she realizes she couldn't defeat her.
Big Damn Heroes: She arrives in the brink of time to lay waste to the Sword Golem and to heal Alice and Kirito after they had been fatally wounded.
Big Good: Cardinal is the pivotal force for good in the fight against Quinella, spending centuries observing for those with potential that she could recruit into her crusade.
Broken Bird: Taking refuge in the Grand Library for centuries, Cardinal could not understand how Rath could allow a tyrant to rule the Underworld for so long. She reasons that Rath didn't care about the well-being of the people and would have subjected them to a trial by way of an invasion from Dark Territory. This led her to become a Death Seeker and intended to put an end to the Underworld's existence, herself included.
The Chooser of the One: This time she is the one who chose Kirito and Eugeo, as the ones who would help her to resist Quinella. She had been observing Kirito and Eugeo ever since they left Rulid village and had been guiding them on their journey since.
Cruel and Unusual Death: Quinella doesn't take any chances and just repeatedly blasts Cardinal, charring her body and turning her into a gory mess. The anime gives us the grisly visage of the aftermath. All of this when Cardinal couldn't even fight back due to considering Quinella's Sword Golem as human.
Deadpan Snarker: Once she survived her ordeal in Lycoris, Cardinal began to develop this trait once she Took a Level in Cheerfulness, with her sense of humor shows she loves to troll someone like Kirito due to his situation with the girls on his member and his personality as well.
Death of Personality: Not Cardinal herself, rather the little girl named Lyserith, whose body that Cardinal took over when Quinella tried to dump her excess memories into her. Cardinal still retains much of Lyserith's memories, but for all intents and purposes Lyserith is gone and Cardinal is a new entity inhabiting her former body.
Death Seeker: Cardinal would rather put an end to herself and the Underworld's existence instead of letting it get misused by Rath by way of an Invasion from Dark Territory.
Declaration of Protection: To snap Eydis out of her Berserker state in "Memories of the Abyss - Part 2", she vows to her through a Familiar to watch over Mary in her stead. This is able to calm Eydis down and, despite not remembering what happened, she feels more at peace upon waking up.
Didn't See That Coming: In Lycoris, Cardinal find out in a pleasent way that creating Divine Objects from Divine Beasts isn't limited to the weapon itself, but also a special gear that represents the beast and the wearer will synchronizing with each other, resulting in a even stronger Divine Objects than normal one due to its unique nature. Nevertheless to say, Cardinal decided to have Kirito slay more Divine Beasts to collect their parts and turn it into a Divine Object in order to strengthen the Human Empire power.
Do Not Call Me "Paul": The girl who Cardinal took over was named Lyserith, and Cardinal hates being referred to by that name.
Enemy Without: To Quinella, being the sub-process of Cardinal that tried to make her kill herself during times of emotional distress.
God in Human Form: Given that the Cardinal System is the closest thing the Underworld has to a GOD, this means Cardinal inhabiting a human vessel also makes it this trope. Though granted, God's Hands Are Tied since Quinella possesses most of the power.
Grand Theft Me: Cardinal's body is actually that of a nun that possessed an abnormally high level of System Authority, and Quinella intended to use her to store all her excess and unimportant memories. However, the sub-process of Cardinal was transferred over when her Fluctlight was being rewritten, giving it full control.
Heroic Sacrifice: She allows Quinella to kill her in order to secure Eugeo, Kirito and Alice's safety, and helps Eugeo fuse with his sword.
In-Series Nickname: Quinella derogatorily refers to her as chibi-san^notetranslated as "pipsqueak" or "brat".
It's All My Fault: In Lycoris, she blame herself for not only cause Charlotte death, but also for endangering Kirito, Eugeo and Alice life with her plan, which she admit she would likely get herself and the others killed hadn't she choose to forsaken herself to Quinella before Kirito decided to intervene with her plan instead.
Little Miss Badass:
- She is the Cardinal System of UW split off from Quinella, and has all the power to go along with it.
- She also became the new Administrator of Underworld after Quinella's death in Lycoris.
Loop Hole Abuse: As Quinella's other half Cardinal is also bound by Quinella's parents instructions of never taking a human life. But Cardinal no longer sees Quinella as a human, which is what allows her to attack Quinella.
Mercy Kill: What she sees completely destroying the Underworld as, viewing it as a better alternative to it being pawns for Quinella or Rath.
Mentor Archetype: It is she who teaches Kirito and Eugeo how to activate Armament Full Control Art of their Divine Object weapons.
Ms. Exposition: She is the one who told Kirito everything she knew about the Underworld and Quinella.
My Greatest Failure: "Memories of the Abyss - Part 2" Implies that she regrets considering Eydis as an ally in her fight against Quinella since was able to get to her first and Synthesize her, especially after she loses control of her Dark Slash Sword and turns into a Berserker killing everything in her path to find and protect Mary, promising to protect her in her stead.
Older Than They Look: Cardinal may look like a kid, but she's over 200 years old.
Power Floats: Much like Quinella, she uses Sacred Arts to hover around.
Really 700 Years Old: Ever since Cardinal took possession of this body, she has been fighting against Quinella for 200 years.
Rebel Leader: The sole member of La Résistance until recruiting Kirito and Eugeo.
Restored My Faith in Humanity: In the Gameverse, Cardinal began to develop a more idealistic view of humanity in both Underworld and real world due to her interacting with the Integrity Knights and Kirito friends from the real world, realizing despite the fact many of the people in both world are quiet corrupted there are also kind people as well. Add up to the fact, she learned about Yui, a very advanced Top-Down AI, from Kirito and Asuna whom they adopted as their own children, which genuinely suprise her. This what ultimately droves her to put her plan to destroy Underworld to halt and decided to give them a chance to change with Kirito helping her to discuss with Rath to stop their plan on waging war in Underworld.
Summon Bigger Fish: None of the heroes stood a chance against the Sword Golem and were almost killed, before Cardinal shows up, blasts it away with ease, then heals Alice and Kirito's would-be fatal wounds.
This Is Unforgivable!: What finally pushes Cardinal to this point is when she realizes the Sword Golems are created from humans subjected to matter conversion, specifically the humans that were present in the memory modules stolen from the Integrity Knights during Synthesis. In other words, the loved ones that were stolen from an Integrity Knight's memories were physically used to create the Sword Golems, in order for the memory module to effectively communicate with the Sword Golem.
Thou Shalt Not Kill: She's forbidden from killing "humans" in the Underworld. While Quinella is inhuman enough for Cardinal to be able to kill her, the same does not go for Quinella's Sword Golem, which is made out of people, so Cardinal is helpless.
Verbal Tic: The anime has her saying "umu" a lot.
Weak, but Skilled: Cardinal being a copy of Quinella's fluctlight has the exact same level of command authority to her and proficiency in Sacred Arts, but due to inhabiting the body of a little girl she is at a disadvantage when it comes to physical combat, due to her small body having a lower durability and can't take as much damage. It is for this reason she needed allies to assist her in assaulting the Cathedral.
What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: She observes the world in her library for hundreds of years alone. So when she's done explaining the situation to Kirito, she requests a hug from him so that she can finally experience what it is like to be human.
Wise Beyond Her Years: She even talks like an old lady despite her youthful voice.

Charlotte

Voiced by: Yoko Honna (Japanese), Julia McIlvaine (English), Itzel Mendoza (Latin American Spanish)

A spider working for Cardinal and one of her closest friends.

A Form You Are Comfortable With: It's revealed in the Cake Timeline that she's capable of taking a human form resembling a voluptuous tanned woman with short hair wearing a jet-black, yukata-like dress.
Big Damn Heroes: She pulls one in the fight against the Sword Golem after all the heroes had fallen. Enlarging herself she distracts the Golem in-time for Eugeo to summon Cardinal.
Familiar: One of Cardinal's familiars she sent out to allow her to observe the world from the safety of the library.
Grow Beyond Their Programming: Kirito is shocked that Charlotte did not have a FluctLight and was the equivalent of an NPC made up of nothing but accumulated input and output data, yet she still grew attached to Cardinal and later Kirito, which ended with her performing a Heroic Sacrifice to save him.
Heroic Sacrifice: Sacrifices herself to buy time, allowing Cardinal to arrive and save Alice and Kirito who had been wounded by the Sword Golem.
Long-Lived: Like Cardinal herself, Charlotte had her aging halted and had been serving Cardinal for 200 years.
Loyal Animal Companion: To Cardinal and her allies, such as Kirito.
Make My Monster Grow: Can grow to a much larger size.
Silent Snarker: Throughout her time monitoring Kirito and Eugeo, she often finds herself exasperated at their, mainly Kirito's, antics. When they more formally meet in the Cake Timeline, she becomes more of a Deadpan Snarker.
Suddenly Voiced: It originally seemed like Cardinal had been speaking through Charlotte, but later we know the voice in Kirito's head was Charlotte herself.

Dark Territory

See this page

Past Characters

Renly's Friend

Renly's Best Friend from before his Synthesis, who he accidentally killed in the Four Empires Unity Tournament, leading to his current fear of fighting and killing.

Big Eater: In "The Knight's Longing" while out on the town, he suggests to Renly that they check out another restaurant upon smelling their food despite the fact that they just ate, with him shrugging off his previous meal as a snack.
Didn't Think This Through: As Renly points out, it's unlikely that a regular weapons shop would be carrying anything on par with a Divine Object.
Dumb Muscle: Implied. Like Kirito to Eugeo, he was the Red Oni to Renly's Blue Oni, but plays it more straight, seemingly lacking Kirito's penchant for guile and combat experience and not taking his Sacred Arts lessons seriously, whereas Kirito became an adept Magic Knight over time.
Hot-Blooded: Compared to Renly, who was generally calmer than him, the guy was practically a Keet who frequently doesn't think ahead, while Renly had to be the voice of reason.
Foil: Obviously, to Kirito. Both of the Red Oni Best Friends of a much calmer Blue Oni. The difference is that whereas Eugeo died while Kirito lived, the opposite happened with him and Renly. Also, whereas Kirito is the more seasoned warrior and does have moments of responsibility, Renly's friend isn't shown as anything but Hot-Blooded, Renly even claiming he never takes responsibility, and it's Implied that Renly was generally the better swordsman between the two of them.
Identical Stranger: He bears a striking resemblance to Kirito, sharing his hair colour, skin tone, is a more playful foil to his Best Friend like Kirito is to Eugoe. The main discernable differences that could be seen is that his compared to Kirito, his hair is messier, he has a bluish tint to his eyes, and his face looks rounder.
No Name Given: Despite his integral role in Renly's past, we never actually learn his name.
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: He tries being this when Renly talks about how they were able to get so far because they had each other, with him getting red and huffy, claiming that guys don't talk about their feelings, which has apparently happened before. Though he does agree with him under his breath.
Tsundere: A (possibly) platonic example towards to Renly, responding to his attempts at talking about how far they came together by blushing and griping about how "men don't talk about their feelings", only to reluctantly agree under his breath.
Unskilled, but Strong: Implied. In "The Knights' Longing" after losing a duel to him, he remarks that he can't really compare to Renly, stating that he has a hard time reading him. Renly responds by saying that even so, his strikes are very powerful and that he honestly has some trouble blocking them.

Post-War (Major spoilers)

Swordsman Delegate SPOILERS

The Star King

Kirito during his time acting as the effective ruler of the Underworld after defeating Gabriel. While they're both essentially same person, The Star King ends up being a separate entity when Kirito has his memories of acting as him removed after logging out of the Underworld and the memory data is secretly kept by Higa.

Ambiguously Evil: When Higa speaks to the copy he made of the Star King, which he was supposed to delete at Kirito's request, he speaks in a manner very dissociative of the real world, stating that he would fight to protect the Underworld from Real World forces such as the government and expressing a desire to team up with Akihiko Kayaba, the first Big Bad whose actions killed thousands of people, to this end. At the very least, this implies that he may become a Well-Intentioned Extremist in his desire to protect the Underworld and ultimately, introducing the denizens of Underworld to Real World and convince the Real World to treat them equally.
- Moon Cradle also shows signs of this. While he asked that casualties be minimised, he did lead a counter-offensive against the Rebellion of the Four Empires that resulted in the death of the Emperors and their most loyal servants, and expressing annoyance that Quinella's Senator System, which trapped skilled Sacred Arts users as mindless husks who would constantly monitor for people who broke the Taboo Index, was out of commission since it would have made solving Oroi's alleged murder a lot easier.
An Ice Person: Before bequeathing it to Tiese, he retained ownership of the Blue Rose Sword and it appears it was returned to him at some point. He also used a frost element to freeze a Minion so Iskahn and Scheta could attack it without getting poisoned by its blood.
Badass Longcoat: Already a trademark with Kirito, but this one is notable for its regal appearance and the designs on the flap resembling stars and the moon.
Barrier Warrior: To give Iskahn and Scheta an opening to attack the kidnapper, he uses what Incarnation he has left after opening the door to Vecta's throne room to form a barrier around Leazetta so the kidnapper can't harm her while they attack.
Big Good: Becomes this in the Moon Cradle Arc, as the one heading the investigation into Oroi's murder of an inn caretaker and the possible plot to reignite war between the Human Realm and the Dark Territory.
Blasting It Out of Their Hands: When a Guard Captain threatens to cut Oroi's arms off when interrogating of his apparent murder, Kirito uses his Incarnation to knock the blade from his hands.
Bridal Carry: Does this to Asuna and carries her to bed in one chapter of Moon Cradle.
Brilliant, but Lazy: He often skips out on things like paperwork in favour of doing more hands actions.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: In the epilogue of Volume 18, the narration mentions many of his great feats, including defeating Vecta, discovering new continents beyond the End Wall for demi-humans to live, and even discovering space travel. When we see him in the Moon Cradle Arc though, it's clear that many of the Underworld Residents saw him as rather odd, due to essentially being a Mad Scientist trying to create mechanical dragons, a tendency to talk about IRL things that would confuse other Underworlders, and introducing a bunch of IRL customs that at first bewildered everyone before they grew to accept them, such as converting the Great Bath into a segregated one.
- Nergius snarks that he often comes up with frivolous ideas, to the point that when he actually has a decent idea, such as making the lifts automated so Airy could be free to pursue other things, the rest of the council are left in a Stunned Silence.
Butt-Monkey: Despite being a Physical God and effective ruler of the world, Kirito still can't escape his status as this.
- In "Eydis and the Orphanage" when Eydis and Shirley run into him while investigating a monster attacking the Orphanage, Eydis introduces him as some kind of womanizer and the both proceed to poke fun at him by comparing him to Shasta. Then later in "Seal of the Right Eye" when he visit Shirley's orphanage with Asuna and Ronye, Shirley is quick to recall Eydis' ladykiller claims, getting him trouble with the two of them.
- During Iskahn and Scheta's honeymoon in the Human Empire in "Journey to the Future", Fanatio continues to call him "boy" in front of Iskahn, who's quick to poke fun at him for, loses a swim race to Iskahn despite him being a complete amateur, and he's easily intimidated into hurrying back out of fear of Hana not making dinner, which Iskahn dryly Lampshades.
Chekhov's Skill: His past as a computer nerd has its perks, as he uses the idea of a CPU's cooling system for his Dragoncraft to keep the heat elements from blowing it up.
Dark Is Not Evil: Zig-Zagged. He certainly starts out as this, donning Kirito's normal colors while actively advocating for peace between the Human Empire and Dark Territory upon becoming head of the Human Unification Council and going out of his way to make the lives of both citizens of both the Human Empire and Dark Territory better. And while there are hints at the end of Alicization that he may end up being a future Big Bad, the context behind the scene hints that he'll become a Well-Intentioned Extremist at the very least.
Didn't Think This Through:
- He apparently wants to sell the unused weapons laying in the armoury to help in repair efforts and the funding of other facilities, though a lot of the Knights, including Ronye are opposed to the idea because of the possibility of needing them for future wars, a possibility he raised.
- Granted, it's not a life-threatening example like he's used to, but when he, Asuna, Ronye and Tiese decide to visit the inn Yazen was murdered in to use a Past scrying Sacred Art, he has them fly up in the air on an invisible platform to avoid a commotion from going personally. However, he doesn't actually know where the inn is, and was banking on seeing a sign somewhere, which Tiese quickly points out would be difficult due to the large amount of buildings in the area. Fortunately, Asuna thought to bring a map.
Don't Call Me "Sir":
- In "How the Dragoncraft was Made", he briefly considers banning the use of "sir" altogether while talking to Airy.
Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: When Asuna shows after an explosion caused by his and Sadore's not-so-secret Dragoncraft experiment, he's too busy trying to figure alternative solutions to register her prescense, and almost explains what the problem is before realizing who he's talking to.
Asuna: Ki. Ri. To.
Kirito: Oh. Sorry, Asuna. I just had something on my mind.
Asuna: Oh? It must be pretty important.
Kirito: It is. You seee, it's like this... A-Asuna?! What're you doing here?
Friend to All Children: In "Budding Friendship", he notes to Lilpilin that the sight of children always make him happy, even if they're demi-human children like Orcs.
God-Emperor: He's a Physical God and one of the heads of the Human Unification Council, and soon the whole Underworld when the other members pass away.
Good is Not Nice: When the Emperors of the Four Empires staged a coup in order to take power from the Human Unification Council, the Star King had no issue with fighting them back with lethal force, something that would have given pre-Underworld Kirito pause.
- When discussing the difficulties of investigating the murder Oroi apparently committed, Kirito briefly expresses annoyance with the fact that the Senator System, which trapped skilled Sacred Arts users as mindless husks who could monitor the Underworld non-stop for law breakers, is now out of commission since it would have made finding the culprit much easier. Asuna is quick to admonish him for suggesting such a thing.
Guilt Complex: Wouldn't be Kirito without it. When Leazetta is kindapped by a mage leading minions, Kirito's quick to apologize and blame himself after they find a note ordering Iskahn to execute Kirito or else they'll kill Leazetta. Iskahn is quick to try and dissuade him from blaming himself.
Harem Seeker: Averted. Under Imperial Laws, Kirito could marry multiple women without issue but chooses to stay only with Asuna, with Ronye acknowledging that he would never take advantage of such a law.
Honor Before Reason:
- When Asuna points out that they could have easily repaired the Central Cathedral with Sacred Arts and his Incarnation after the Uprising of the Four Empires, he states that allowing repairman enter the Cathedral to help is a sign of change.
- Of a sort in the climax of the "Dark Emperor Saga" in Unleash Blading. During his fight with Sylvie and her resurrected parents, her father picks up on him holding back to avoid seriously harming them and calls him out on how his actions insults their pride as warriors. Due to his own warrior's pride, this hits Kirito to his core and leaves him unprepared for when a Minion appears out of nowhere to grapple him, leaving him open. If it wasn't for the father's words also prompting Sylvie to have a Heel Realization, Tolgash could have killed him and very likely would have won.
It Has Been an Honor: In "Peace Treaty", after finally achieiving peace between the human realm and Dark Territory, he speaks with Eugeo through the Blue Rose Sword and thanks him for his help and make a toast with him.
Last-Second Word Swap: Has has this to say after witnessing Fanatio's parenting style.
Kirito: Between Scheta's baby and him, the future's going to be a real disa- Um, a real delight.
Loophole Abuse: The reason for his dragoncraft experiments; in order to find fertile land for people living in the Dark Territory, he wants to go over the over the wall stationed at the End of the World. Problem is, the wall is apparently designed so that anyone who tries scaling it will be subjected to increased gravity. So he figures that while living beings can't get over, maybe something considered an object as opposed to a living being, like a plane, may be able to get over.
The Lost Lenore: To him Asuna, or more accurately the memories Asuna had ruling the Underworld alongside him, is this due to the fact that Higa was only able to save his memory from being deleted while her's were, effectively killing the woman who ruled alongside him.
Mad Scientist: Seeing as he was trying to create an artificial, mechanical dragon powered by elements in a manner that many saw as suicidal, he certainly qualifies.
Might Makes Right: He was largely chosen as the Human Unification Council's leader, as well their representative in the peace talks with the Dark Territory, due to him being the one to kill Vecta.
No Badass to His Valet: While revered in the Human Empire and even the Dark Territory for his power and having put an end to the war, he's a practically a No-Respect Guy among the Human Unification Council and others close to him or of similar status, with Fanatio and Sadore often calling him "Boy", which Iskahn mocks him for in "Journey to the Future"
Not Afraid to Die: Since dying in the Underworld won't kill him IRL, he often displays a lack of concern for his own life throughout Moon Cradle. After he offers to let himself be executed if it'll save Leazetta, Ronye calls him out on this since him dying will also mean he can't ever visit the Underworld again, which would mean she and the others won't get to see him again, in which case he might as well be dead.
Pet the Dog: Whereas Iskahn was happy to simply sign a Non-Aggression Pact and re-build the Great Gate, Kirito instead opted to leave the Great Gate as is and sign a proper Peace Treaty with the Dark Territory, including opening trade and travel between, believing that returning things to as they were before would only lead to another war down the line.
Physical God: His One-Hit Kill on the remaining 30,000 foreign players, and subsequent smackdown of both PoH and Gabriel after recovering from his Game-Breaking Injury makes him this, leading to him becoming the Star King and ruling the Underworld.
Power Gives You Wings: His preferred mode of transport is to turn the flaps of his Badass Longcoat into a pair of large, bat-like wings.
Reasonable Authority Figure: In "Seal of the Right Eye" when Eydis explains Shirley's status as the eldest of the orphans, hence her reluctance to act as a exchange student in the Human Empire for a month, he decides to have Entokia act as a temporary caretaker since he's in the Dark Territory for a trade mission, with Asuna suggesting that they make the base of operations for the mission a nearby village for ease of travel.
Reluctant Warrior: When the Four Empires ended up rebelling, he was reluctant to agree with a strategy that would invoke enemy casualties, instead opting to send Knights to confront the Emperors and either convince them to surrender or kill them, minimalizing casualties to just their their most loyal servants.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Despite effectively being the King of the Underworld, he will still perform tasks that would usually be expected of someone under his command, like when he personally took charge of the investigation into Yazan's death, or in "Budding Friendship" when, while visiting, he assisted the Orcs in fighting off some monsters.
- "Eydis and the Orphanage Part 1.5" shows that when he was visiting the Mountain Goblins, he assisted in dealing with their monster infestation.
Shared Family Quirks: Lilpilin notes multiple times how similar Kirito and Leafa are in regards to their treatment of Demi-Humans such as Orcs, such as their lack of repulsion of their appearance and their outraged reaction to learning that Vecta sacrificed 3,000 of their people.
Small Role, Big Impact: A lot of his actions have led to some advancements or customs in Underworld culture, both in the Human Empire and Dark Territory.
- His casual mentioning that Leafa might come back and visit the Orcs one day in "Budding Friendship" leads to the Orc Prophecy of the Return of the Green Swordswoman starting.
Spotting the Thread: When explaining to Asuna that Ronye and Tiese took their dragons to Lake Obsidia to fish, he realizes its closeness to Cruiga's former villa and realizes that maybe the kidnapped goblins was taken there.
Stepford Smiler: Even now, Eugeo's death still haunts Kirito, but he keeps up a happy front so he won't be seen as weak as the new leader of the Human Empire. In the "Peace Treaty" event, Tiese discovers him privately mourning and convinces him that he doesn't have to act strong all the time, joining him in crying over Eugeo's death.
Telepathy: One way he can use his Incarnation. When he and Ronye head over to Obsidia to meet with Iskahn and Scheta using the Dragoncraft, he initially uses his Incarnation to lift it to avoid waking people up.
Universally Beloved Leader: Due to both his defeat of Vecta, ending the war, and the reforms and changes he's made to the Human Empire, many of which better the lives of commoners and lower-rank Nobles, Kirito is extremely popular among the populace, especially in the capital. However, he fears that this reputation would go away quickly if the truth about him killing Quinella got out, since almost everyone else is in the dark about her true nature.
Unskilled, but Strong: His status as a Physical God has made him this with Sacred Arts. He's more or less forgotten everything about incantations he learned at the Swordcraft Academy, but seeing as his Incarnation is strong enough for him to just summon the elements and shape them however he wants with just his imagination, it's not exactly a big loss. He's still very much Strong and Skilled in swordsmanship though.
You Remind Me of X: In "Uprising in the Four Empires - Part 2", he briefly gets reminded of Eugeo when seeing Renly interact with the citizens helping repair the Cathedral.
You Shall Not Pass!: During the Uprising of the Four Empires, he and Asuna held the Royal Guards at bay while the other soldiers retreated into the Cathedral.

Swordswoman Subdelegate SPOILERS

Asuna

Asuna during her time in the Underworld.

Big Damn Heroes: When Ronye and Tiese are about to be hit by a revived, giant Cruiga, Asuna shows up and cuts Cruiga's arm off before the blow can land, before helping the girls fight the giant.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Asuna seems to get Rivals wherever she goes...
- She gets a bit miffed about Kirito's Senpai-Kohai relationship with Sortiliena, which Eydis quickly teases her about.
- Upon learning that Kirito bumped into Eydis when suddenly disappearing to visit the Mountain Goblins, Asuna questions if he snuck off to meet up with her in secret with her intimidating smile.
Cruel to Be Kind: Downplayed. Due to her guilt over how her friends put their own feelings for Kirito to the side for her sake, but don't appear completely give up on him due to Kirito not properly spelling out that he's not interested, she wants to be blunt and fair towards Ronye in regards to her feelings for Kirito, in hopes that the younger girl can move on and find happiness with someone else.
Don't Call Me "Sir": While more formal than her husband, she doesn't like people, such as Ronye, calling her "Lady Asuna".
- She also takes issue with Sadore doing so, especially due to the contrast of how he refers to Kirito as "boy".
Fridge Logic: In-Universe. Due to how the Underworld currently lacks things that the real world does have, either because they haven't introduced it yet or because it's something that can't exist period, Asuna is honestly baffled by how some words or phrases can exist despite their origin not. For example, since Underworld denizens don't produce bodily waste and therefore don't need toilets, she's curious what the origin of the word "shit" was.
Heroic Sacrifice: Attempts one, intending on using all her power to kill Cruiga and Addares' fused minion form at the cost of her life in the Underworld, in order to protect Ronye and Tiese' lives. Fortunately, Kirito shows up to finish it off just in time.
Light Is Good: In contrast to her husband, and especially standing out from her previous outfits, Asuna dons completely white clothes as the Sub-Delegate.
The Lost Lenore: Is this to the Star King due to the fact that Higa was only able to save his memory from being deleted while her's were, effectively killing the woman who ruled the Underworld alongside him.
Magic Knight: Along with retaining Stacia's ability to alter the terrain to her whims, Asuna's also taking Sacred Arts lessons with Ronye and Tiese, with her Goddess account giving her a helpful boost. She's also able to learn a Sacred Art that was used by the Senators that allowed to scry into the past, which she uses in Oroi's room to investigate who actually killed Yazan.
Mass "Oh, Crap!": Causes one for Kirito(after he realizes she's there), Entokia, Sadore and Airy when she shows after overhearing the explosion from their initial Dragoncraft Experiments.
Nice Girl: Another facet to her personality that remains unchanged. This is especially notable with Ronye, who she recognises has feelings for Kirito that she knows can't be reciprocated, and wants to help her through them and tries to be friendly and supportive towards her.
Not So Above It All: Kirito evidently wasn't the only to have introduced modern concepts to the Underworld; Unital Ring reveals that she introduced the idea of floor heating.
Number Two: Taking into account Kirito's lack of administrative skills, Asuna was appointed to her position of Subdelegate at Renly's suggestion and the other Knight's agreement, citing her charisma, amplified by the wide belief that she's really the Goddess Stacia in human form, her own skills as a swordswoman, and the leadership abilities she displayed during the War of Underworld.
Physical God: Still using the Stacia Account, Asuna is probably the most powerful being in the Underworld other than Kirito himself.
Reasonable Authority Figure:
- While not exactly happy with the lack of proper safety precautions they took, she allows Kirito, along with Sadore, Airy and Entokia, to continue their Dragoncraft experiments experiments provided they're more careful and stop doing it in secrecy.
Royal Rapier: She still uses the Stacia account's rapier.
Supreme Chef: This much remains unchanged, with her quickly adapting to the minor differences to cooking in the Underworld. In fact, she's arguably world's best chef by the Underworld's standards due to being able to introduce IRL cooking techniques that haven't been tried, which leads to her striking up a friendship with Hana, Quinella's former personal Supreme Chef who's also dedicated to her craft.
- In "Seal of the Right Eye", she helps Shirley in preparing dinner since she wants to learn some Dark Territory recipes.
What the Hell, Hero?: When Kirito expresses annoyance with the fact that the Senators are out of commission, as it would have made proving Oroi's innocence easier, Asuna is quick to call him out on it due to the exact nature of it.
What You Are in the Dark: Narration reveals that a part of Asuna is glad to be stuck in the Underworld, since it means she's able to get away from the growing guilt she feels from seeing her friends hold back their feelings for Kirito for her sake. She also sees Ronye's unrequited feelings for Kirito and hesitance to admit them as a chance to help her through them, which she felt she couldn't do for the other girls.
You Shall Not Pass!: She assists Kirito in holding back Cruiga's Royal Guard during the Uprising of the Four Empires.

Cruiga Norlangarth VI spoilers

The tyrannical Emperor of North Centoria who revolts against the new government created by Kirito to take the place of Quinella's Axiom Church..

Ambiguous Situation: We never really get a clear cut answer as to who or what brought him back to life and why. All we do know as that whoever did it was capable of creating advanced Minions, and that his revival necessitated a mysterious red stone, which ends up flying away somewhere after his second death, and a ring being placed in his new body. It gets further speculated that fellow Emperor Wesdarath, the only Emperor who wasn't confirmed dead, may have played a part, but nothing is confirmed among them. Unleash Blading has an original plot that suggests that he was brought back by a mysterious Minion maker called Carver, who seemingly brought him and the other Emperors back as some form of attack against the Human Unification Council.
Back from the Dead: Despite having been killed by the joint efforts of Ronye, Tiese and Deusolbert, he's somehow brought back as some kind of advanced Minion that retains his memories from when he was alive.
Bad Boss: Ronye is especially appalled when he badmouths the honorable captain of the guard who fought to protect him, deriding him for losing to a pair of young students. He also doesn't bat an eye to the death of Zeppos despite his Undying Loyalty to him.
Better to Die than Be Killed: Instead of surrendering, he instead opts to kill himself off for good by passing through the bars of the Luminous Element cage Kirito created to trap him in place, destroying his Minion body.
Big Bad: A case could be made for him as this for all of Moon Cradle. He is the main villain of the "Uprising in the Four Empires" sub arc, being the most focused on Emperor and the only one of the Emperors who refuses to surrender. He later returns as the main villain of the Leazette kidnapping arc, being the boss of the mysterious Man in Black Robes.
Blue Blood: One of the four emperors of the Human Empire, putting him above even a first-class Noble.
Bullying the Dragon: When both Kirito and Deusolbert visit to explain the changes to Nobility's position, he acts like an arrogant Smug Snake and demeans them despite them being an Integrity Knight and the man who killed Vecta.
The Caligula: Behind all his posturing about the importance of Nobles, it's clear that Cruiga is simply a vain and selfish tyrant who's only out for himself. He views every commoner and lower-ranking Noble as cannon fodder expected to die for the lives and prosperity of higher-ranking Nobles like himself, and he makes the lives of his people needlessly difficult by using a field rich with the blessings of Terraria and Solus that could be used to grow enough wheat to last a whole year, for a vineyard that makes a wine that only someone as wealthy as himself can afford. And that's before we learn that he doubles as a Mad Scientist who performs horrific and torturous experiments on commoners he arrests under Judicial Authority to achieve eternal life, and outright admits to enjoying it.
Came Back Strong: In Unleash Blading, Cruiga is revived a third time by Emperor Wesdareth as a giant monster with a powerful Healing Factor that closes any wounds or other grievous injuries he may suffer. However, this regeneration had its limits, and he was eventually overwhelmed by the combined efforts of Ronye, Tiese and Asuna.
Cool Sword: Fitting his high-born status, the Imperial Sword of his family has a rather grand appearance, being a long, slender blade with a gold cross-guard resembling outstretched wings, and a small, red gem embedded in the pommel.
Decapitated Army: To put an end to the uprising, the Human Unification Council had to resort to killing Cruiga and his fellow Emperors to force their Royal Guards to surrender.
Disproportionate Retribution:
- While his intention was always to re-instigate war with the Dark Territory, based on Zeppos's words, he seemed to specifically chose Yazen to be killed simply for finding a new job after his death.
- One law he passed in his corrupt reign was making it so anyone who fished a golden trout out of Lake Norkia, which was part of his private lands before his death, would be subject to judical authority, using it as a pretext to experiment on, torture, and kill them for his amusement.
- Even without the experiment on innocents angle, this just seems to be In the Blood for his family. While visiting the kitchen and being explained that strict principles of cooking, Ronye and Tiese hear from Hana about how in the past, a famous chef was asked to prepare a meal for a past Emperor of Norlangarth, and while the starter and sides were perfect, the main dish was slightly overcooked, leading to the Emperor getting sick. The chef was then punished by having both of his arms chopped off.
Evil Is Petty: When Ronye and Tiese confront him, Ronye notes that the wine he's drinking is made and grown in a part of Norlangarth rich with the blessings of Solus and Terraria, and is extremely expensive for lower class Nobles such as herself. She then points out that the vineyard it's grown on could be put to better use as a wheat field that could keep his people fed for a year, which she takes as a sign of his blatant corruption. There's also him subjecting commoners to torture and inhumane experiments in the event that they fish a golden trout from the Lake Norkia near his private estate.
Evil Laugh: His reaction to his Hybrid Minion's quick defeat of Ronye and Tiese, seeing it as a sign of their great power.
Evil Old Folks: He's quite elderly, yet is a The Caligula and a Bad Boss.
Evil Plan: Ronye speculates that he's merging Goblins with Minions to have them attack the Human Empire, inciting the humans to retaliate and declare war on the Dark Territory.
Evil Power Vacuum: He has plans to seize control of the Empire after Quinella's departure, opposing the Unification Council's attempt to reform the Human Empire.
Fusion Dance: After his initial revived form is defeated by Ronye, Tiese and Asuna, his mud merges with Wesdareth's to turn into a more grotesque form.
Hate Sink: Like many nobles in the Human Empire, he is corrupt and selfish, abusing his status and oppressed the lower class citizens to a life of hardship and labor. He has no care towards the lives of the guards who serve him, showing no sympathy when they die. And then, it's revealed he's a Mad Scientist conducting experiments into immortality, not so differently from Quinella herself.
Heroic Willpower: Villainous Inversion. While he's a thoroughly corrupt man, Kirito speculates that he and his fellow Emperors' absolute belief in the authority of Nobles such as himself allowed him to defy the first law of the Taboo Index, "Loyalty to the Church", without having to bypass the Seal of the Right or suffering a Logic Bomb when the Human Unification Council started reforming the Nobility system to remove the rankings, something that would put his own power in jeopardy.
Kick the Dog:
- He makes fun of his guard captain for losing to Ronie and Tiese, despite the two girls being Integrity Knights in training.
- He makes catching the rare golden trout in his ponds illegal. Since the chance of catching the fish is low and the commoners are short on food, many of them fish in his ponds and risk accidentally breaking the law. He makes it clear that he set up this rule so he can punish people For the Evulz.
Knee Capping: During Ronye and Tiese's fight with him, Deousolbert entered and fired an arrow into his leg, giving the Trainee Knights an opening to stab him in the chest and kill him. Or so it seemed.
Loophole Abuse: As a Noble, he makes frequent use of this and even boasts that finding loopholes in the Taboo Index is the pursuit of all the imperial families and High Nobles. A notable example would be him declaring by Imperial Law that anyone who fishes a golden trout from Lake Norkia is to be punished under his Judicial Authority, allowing him a bunch of unwitting test subjects for his immortality experiments.
Loves the Sound of Screaming: He proudly admits to enjoying the screams of victims in his torture chamber to a glass of fine wine.
Mad Scientist: It's revealed that he and his fellow emperors, along with their predecessors, have dedicated themselves to researching a way to attain eternal life, even using commoners they arrest under Judicial Authority as test subjects.
Magic Knight: As Ronye and Tiese can attest to, being the ones who fought and killed him, Cruiga is a powerful fighter who, thanks to his status granting access to the best instructors possible, is a Master Swordsman with the High-Norkia style. His Minion counterpart also displays him as being powerful with Sacred Arts, being capable creating Minions and fusing them with Mountain Goblins to create a new hybrid Minion.
Not Quite Dead: In Unleash Blading's version of the Dark Emperor Saga, it's revealed that the ring that was found when Cruiga killed himself after his second defeat is a catalyst that carries his consciousness to help in reviving him. In the climax of the saga, Emperor Wesdareth invades the Central Cathedral to find the ring and perform a dark ritual to revive him.
A Man of Wealth and Taste: The dude likes his wine, even dedicating an entire field rich with Solus and Terraria's blessings, which Ronye points out he could just as easily used for a wheat field to keep his people fed for a year, just to make a wine of high quality for himself to drink.
No-Nonsense Nemesis: Proves to be surprisingly careful in spite of his Pride. After imprisoning Ronye and Tiese and taking Shimosaki hostage, he speculates that Ronye's dragon, Tsukikage, could have squeezed through the cell bars to evade notice and even checked all the cells, only missing him because the Mountain Goblins he kidnapped hid her with their bodies.
Oh, Crap!: Effectively his reaction when Kirito and Asuna show up, destroying both his estate and his hybrid Minions before trapping him.
Immortality Seeker: His family, along with all other Imperial Families, have spent centuries researching Sacred Arts and medicine so that they can grant themselves eternal life.
Pride: As with any Noble, he is a prideful man obsessed with his status and power. It is in fact this pride, along with that of his fellow Emperors, that allowed them to rebel against the Taboo Index without having to bypass the Seal of the Right Eye or suffer a Logic Bomb, because they believe they were more in the right than the Church, which was being run by the Human Unification Council. This extends to when he reveals himself to be Back from the Dead and his accomplice holds Shimasaki, Tiese's dragon, hostage, with him ordering the girls to give up their weapons and imprison themselves.
Religion of Evil: Implied He has keen knowledge on how to create Minions, something the Dark Territory's dark mages specialize in, and when Ronye and Tiese, the ones who killed him, discover him alive, he remarks that it must be "the guidance of Vecta".
Sadist: Apparently something that's inborn, as he and his predecessors had a secret dungeon where they would throw commoners and torture them to death under the excuse of Judicial Authority. He even imposed a rule on fishermen who would fish in his lake, saying that catching a golden trout would be punishable by imprisonment and torture, effectively forcing anyone who fished there into a game of Russian Roullette, and that he enjoyed hearing their screams while enjoying a glass of wine.
Serial Killer: When Ronye and Tiese discover that he's Back from the Dead, he cruelly boasts about how he and his predecessors used the Northern Imperial Estate's secret dungeon to torture and murder numerous commoners throughout ages under their "Judicial Authority".
Underestimating Badassery: When Ronye and Tiese confront him, he dismisses them as lower-ranking noble students and even insults the guard captain who fought to protect him for losing to them. He does acknowledge their skill after they kill Zeppos however.
Upper-Class Twit: When Ronye and Tiese call him out on not taking part in the War with the Dark Territory while commoners and lower-class nobles did, he shrugs it off as their duty, saying its their job to die so the lives of he and other high-class nobles can be prolonged.
Villain Has a Point: He's an evil, power-hungry bastard to be sure, but he's not wrong when he claims that Kirito doesn't know a thing about ruling, which is a concern Kirito himself had when he was appointed and is the reason why he's assisted by the Human Unification Council and Asuna.

Berche

The son of Bercouli and Fanatio, who the latter was carrying during the war.

Call of the Wild Blue Yonder: Implied. Fanatio's go-to way of cheering him up is tossing him up into the air high enough for his head to nearly touch the ceiling and then catching him. Asuna suspects that Fanatio does this in case he decides to become an Integrity Knight, in which he'll have to learn how to fly a dragon.
Harmful to Minors: Fanatio's methods of cheering him up usually include tossing him high for his head to nearly hit the ceiling then catching him, much to the concern of others. That being said, it usually works and he seems to enjoy it.
Super-Strength: Implied. Apparently when Fanatio leaves him to his own devices, he always winds up destroying something.

Leazetta

The daughter of Iskahn and Scheta.

The Cutie: You know you're this when your dad, who by the way is the Dark Territory's strongest warrior, the Supreme Commander of the Dark Territory as a whole, and once admitted to not caring whether or not his opponent was a child so long as they are capable of fighting, uses Baby Talk when interacting with you.
Fearless Infant: She hardly responds when her father and Kirito have a brief clash in her room, even laughing about it in the light novel. After her kidnapping and rescue, she ends up crying while being held by Ronye, suggesting she recognized the danger she was in.
Harmful to Minors: Ends up kidnapped by a mysterious figure and is being threatened with death during the Moon Cradle Arc.
Living MacGuffin: Being the child of a former Integrity Knight and the Supreme Commander of the Dark Territory, she is of great importance as a sign of the two realm's ability to make peace. Her kidnapping and subsequent use in blackmailing Iskahn to execute Kirito creates something of a Morton's Fork; either Kirito dies and war breaks out between the Human and Dark Territories once more, or she dies and relations sour to the point that it becomes an inevitability.
Meaningful Name: Doubles as Named After Somebody Famous. Scheta told Iskahn that she was carrying her while the two were on their way back from the Human Empire in "Journey to the Future", where they happened upon the patch of land where she fought against the American Players, which was covered in grass and flowers due to her powers.
Named After Somebody Famous: She was named using the first three letters in Leafa's name, who in the Underworld became famed as "The Green Swordswoman" due to single-handedly holding off an entire group of American players to protect the severely injured and outmatched Pugilists.
Nerves of Steel: Her response to Kirito and Iskahn entering a small, which creates a loud shockwave, is to giggle happily.
Tyke Bomb: Downplayed. She's not quite there yet, being a baby, but she's shown to be a Fearless Infant and instead of Scheta nursing her personally, she's being fed a special Pugilist formula that's supposedly supposed to prevent her from getting sick and give her strong bones.

Oroi

A Goblin tourist who's accused of murdering an Inn caretaker, putting relations between the Human Realm and Dark Territory at risk.

Frame-Up: He's been framed for killing an Inn employee in order to spark another war.
Police Brutality: He's a victim of this after his arrest, the human guards who arrested him calling him names and threatening to cut his arm off.
Signature Headgear: Wears a decorative headband with yellow and blue feathers, which denotes as a member of the Ubori Clan of Saw Hill, which Kirito recognises.

Yazen

The victim of the murder Oroi's accused, the elderly caretaker for the inn he and his friends were staying at.

Asshole Victim: Averted, which makes things worse for Oroi. He was stated to be kind to both humans and demi-humans, and the worse that could be said about him was that he was a former servant of Cruiga Norlangarth.
Cool Old Guy: Was said to be kind to both denizens of the Human Realm and the Dark Territory.
Posthumous Character: His murder kicks off the plot.
Punch-Clock Villain: Downplayed. Before being an inn caretaker, he was a former servent of Emperor Cruiga.

Man in the Black Robe SPOILERS

Man in the Black Robe/ Zeppos.

The true killer of Yazen, revealed to be Emperor Cruiga's grand chamberlain, who was also killed during the Rebellion of the Four Empires and was brought Back from the Dead as a Minion.

Batman Gambit: He intentionally made it so that Ronye and Tiese could get through the passageway leading the dungeon, planning on them being "training partners" for the monstrously transformed Mountain Goblins.
Blatant Lies: When he grabs the three Mountain Goblins for Cruiga's experiment, he lies to them and says he's letting them go to get them to comply, which Ronye is able to figure from the three second pause he had before answering.
Devious Daggers: After he's revived alongside his liege as a Minion, he serves as Cruiga's personal assassin, killing and kidnapping anyone he's ordered to. Fittingly, he wields two knives; a smaller one made of Ruberyl Steel he uses to threaten Shimosaki and later stab Ronye's foot to poison her, and another, larger one that he used to kill Yazen. He wields both against Ronye and Tiese.
Dirty Coward: Despite his Undying Loyalty to his master, he evidently wasn't too keen on the idea of being the sparring partner for the Goblin Minion Hybrids like Cruiga was planning, intentionally leaving the door to the cells unlocked so Ronye and Tiese could bust in and unwittingly take the role from him. Ironically, they end up fighting them after killing him, making this entirely pointless on his part.
Creepy High-Pitched Voice: Is a cloaked, deathly thin figure with rotten looking skin who speaks in a high-pitched voice.
Green-Eyed Monster: Ronye speculates that Zeppos is jealous of the Integrity Knight's immortality and eternal youth, which explains his spite toward Ronye and Tiese for being apprentice Knights.
Half the Man He Used to Be: After being blinded by Tiese' Luminious Elements, Ronye cleaves him in two with the Moonbeam Sword
The Heavy: He's the one inciting most of the conflict in Mood Cradle, being the one who murdered Yazen the innkeeper and framed Oroi for the deed.
Lean and Mean: He's deathly thin, and his Undying Loyalty to Cruiga is his only redeeming quality, being a Sadistic Upper-Class Twit like his master.
Rasputinian Death: When he's finally killed, it takes him getting a Torso with a View, hit in the stomach with a metal pike, getting hit by a light Sacred Arts (which naturally damage Minions), getting cut in half by Ronye, getting his arm cut off when he tries poisoning Ronye, and then Tiese finishing the job by cutting his head in half.
Undying Loyalty: If there's one good thing that can be said about him, it's his unwavering loyalty to Cruiga, something he even boasts about. He not only goes along with his master's plan, but he's more than willing to protect him, even when he's literally in pieces on the floor. Unfortunately, Cruiga isn't too appreciative of this and more or less shrugs off his death.

The Kidnapper SPOILERS

The Kidnapper / Emperor Hozaika Eastaverieth

A mysterious cloaked figure who kidnapped Leazetta, using her as a bargaining chip to force Iskahn, her father, to execute Kirito and send his head back to the Human Empire in hopes of re-instigating war between to two realms. Later revealed to be Emperor Hozaika Eastaverieth, who was killed by Nergius and Entokia but somehow brought back as a Minion.

An Arm and a Leg: Loses both his when he's discovered, first to Scheta to disarm him of his knife, and then to Ronye when she saves Leazetta.
Back from the Dead: Like Cruiga, he was somehow brought back to life as a Minion.
Driven to Suicide: After his failure and losing both his arms, he hurls himself out of the window of Vecta's throne room to his death.
Never Found the Body: After jumping out the window when Ronye retrieves Leazetta from him, his body is never found. This is because, being a minion made of clay, he dissolved the moment his life hit zero.
Poisonous Person: He threatens Leazetta with a poison dagger, and when Scheta disarms him and tries to finish off to save Leazetta, he throws a poison dart at her which stuns her in place.
Starter Villain: He was the one who kidnapped Leazetta and used her as a bargaining chip to force Iskahn to kill Kirito.
Taking You with Me: Considering his lack of an arm and the height he was jumping from, this was likely his goal when trying to make his escape in regards to Leazetta.
Troll: When finally confronted by Iskahn, he says a multitude of misleading things about his true identity to screw with him, including claims that he's a male Dark Mage or that he's a former Pugilist Iskahn exiled.
Would Hurt a Child: Kidnapped Leazetta with the full intention of killing her if Iskahn didn't execute Kirito and send his head back to the Human Empire.

Cardina

Integrity Pilots

General

The Underworld's current military and the successors of the Integrity Knights. While still composed of trained swordsmen, they are also known for flying dragon-shaped jets.

Ace Pilot: Replacing the dragons of the time of the Integrity Knights, they instead pilot the dragon-jets that Kirito invented in Moon Cradle.
Master Swordsman: Not unlike the Integrity Knights, their personnel are expected to be skilled sword wielders. This prompts Phercy's desire to be a scholar instead of one due to his apparent condition.

Eolyne Herlentz

The masked Commander of the Integrity Pilots, and adoptive son of the Herlentz family. Bears an uncanny resemblance to Eugeo for unknown reasons.

Cool Mask: Wears a white leather mask with what appears to be green eye-lenses. He claims that he wears it because his eyes are sensitive to the light of Solus.
Crazy-Prepared: After Kirito is forcibly logged out from the Underworld while in his car, he has traffic police block off the bit of road the car was when he vanished for when he logged in again to prevent potential traffic accidents.
Glass Cannon: As the head of the modern Underworld's most prestigious military division, Eolyne is the strongest swordsman of his time, with both his Object Control Authority and System Control Authority being only half of Kirito's Physical God Avatar. However, Istar's comments combined with the reasons he gives for wearing his mask suggests that he suffers from a weak constitution, which Kirito notes contrasts with Eugeo's surprising sturdiness.
Happily Adopted: Downplayed. He states to Kirito that he highly respects and loves his adoptive father, and believes that the feeling is very much mutual. However, he is resented by his adoptive older brother on account of his high military position, which causes some tension between him and both Eolyne and their father.
Heroic Lineage: Vague relation to Eugeo aside, Eolyne is the adopted son of the Herlentz family, who is directly descended from Bercouli and Fanatio through their son, Berche. And like them, Eolyne is currently the Commander of the Underworld's main military force.
Invisibility Cloak: He's able to perform Hollow Incarnation, which removes the existence of him and anything he's touching from the eyes of others. However, it's a very taxing technique, with him passing out after using it twice when he and Kirito infiltrate Admina's secret military research facility.
Magic Knight: Both his Object Control and System Control Authorities are just half of Kirito's, who's numbers managed to go up to the unprecendeted amount of 129 and 107.
Not So Above It All:
- He gives off the impression of being more Stoic and serious than Eugeo, but during the drive back to base after they get Kirito out of trouble with the Imperial Guard, he asks Laurannei and Stica if they can grab pies from the Jumping Deer, and appears annoyed when they say that it'd be impossible.
- Played seriously when he and Kirito break into one of Admina's secret research facilities by freeing a baby black worm that was forcibly birthed from a Divine Beast and used to make a heat-seeking anti-Incarnate missile and following it back to the base. Upon discovering the Black Worm Divine Beat and witnessing two scientists attempt to euthanize the baby worm due to being unable to turn it back into a missile, Eolyne ends up using his Incarnation to destroy the syringes needle at the same time Kirito uses his to destroy the barrel, much to the latter's surprise.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Upon hearing of Kirito's reason for returning to the Underworld, he agrees to help with his investigation on the condition that he helps him investigate the possibility of Admina planning to declare war on Cardina.
Sweet Tooth: Another way he reminds Kirito of Eugeo is how he enjoys the Jumping Deers pies, even keeping some in a fridge at the Integrity Pilots base that he can heat up, though he prefers buying them fresh.
Worf Had the Flu: When Agumar launches an attack on Centoria, attempting to destroy the statis-frozen Integrity Knights on the 95th floor and sending a horde of minions to attack the Integrity Pilot base, Eolyne ends up killing several who come after him. Unfortunately this, combined with only having recently returned from his and Kirito's mission to Admina, leaves him winded and unprepared when Tohkouga enters the office for a rematch, quickly losing an Incarnate battle between the two. Fortunately, Kirito arrives in time to help him.
Young and in Charge: He's the Commander of the Integrity Pilots, and in turn quite possibly the highest ranking military official in Cardina, at the age of 20.
You Remind Me of X: A lot of facets of Eolyne reminds Kirito of Eugeo; to his distinctive shade of blond hair, to his lean yet muscular build, to the sound of his voice, to even his apparent love of pies. One difference Kirito notes is his smile, which as opposed to Eugeo's warm and gentle grin, comes off as more sly and sarcastic while appearing closed off from everything else. This also ends up applying to Selka, Ronye and Tiese when they're awakened from Deep Freeze.

Laurannei Arabel and Stica Schriten

A pair of high-ranking Integrity Pilots and the descendants of Ronye and Tiese. The first people Kirito, Asuna and Alice meet in the new Underworld after they save them from the Abyssal Horror.

Affectionate Nickname: Call each other "Laura" and "Sti".
Ascended Fangirl: The both of them were raised on stories on how their ancestors, Ronye and Tiese and their successors, served the Star King and Queen during their 200 year reign, and longed for the day when they'd return. The both of them end up being the first to greet them after being rescued from the Abyssal Horror. And if that wasn't enough, they eventually get to personally meet their famed ancestors and, during an Admina attack on Centoria, a chance to fight alongside them and witness their combat prowess.
Badass in Distress: When the Integrity Pilot base suffers a sudden attack by Admina, the two of them find themselves struggling against the Minion soldiers due to a lack of familiarity with them and their weaknesses, and barely manage to subdue one before being set upon by more. Fortunately, Ronye and Tiese arrive to help turn the tide.
Color Motif: Laurannei's flight suit is predominately green. Stica's meanwhile is red, giving her the same motif as her ancestor Tiese.
Companion Cube: After her dragoncraft is damaged in the fight with the Abyssal Horror, Laurannei refuses to escape via the ejection seat, due to how Integrity Knights don't see their dragoncrafts as just vehicles, but as partners. Stica agrees with this sentiment.
Heroic Lineage: In the current time, the Arabels and the Schtrinens are widely known for members of the family serving as Integrity Pilots, originally Knights, for all 200 years of the Star King's reign and thereafter.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: Stica appears to be prone to this in regards to her superiors, though it's hard to say if its due to a genuine lack of faith in her abilities or just being too respectful. When Laurannei states it'd probably take them another ten years to become strong enough to beat Eolyne, Stica is quick to snap at her that they'll never beat him.
Not So Above It All: Stica seems to try being the voice of reason to Laurannei to the point of Self-Deprecation, but she also has a bit of a rebellious nature, being a self-admitted Speed Demon like Laura and not being above going against the orders of of superiors.
Oh, Crap!: When their Dragonjets alert them about the appearance of the Abyssal 'Horror.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Downplayed. Laurannei is much like Kirito in the sense that she's very brash and confident in her abilities as a swordswoman, and she's a Speed Demon in regards to her Dragon Jet. In contrast, Stica is a lot like Eugeo, in that she's a lot more respectful and rational, often trying trying to rein Laurannei in. However, the former does have her limits, stating that it'd take her and Stica ten years to become strong enough properly challenge Eolyne, while Stica is Not So Above It All in enjoying fast flights in her jet or disregarding Eolyne's orders.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Stica's almost immediate reaction the Abyssal Horror's unexpected appearance, which Laurennai is quick to agree with.
Speed Demon: As a pilot, Luarannei has something of a speed addiction and enjoys flying without having to worry about her superiors scolding her. Even Stica, a self-admitted one herself, can't help but Lampshade this.
Stronger Than They Look: To Kirito's surprise, Laurannei and Stica have high enough Object Control Authority to lift up a bag carrying four high priority weapons, three of which are Divine Objects, together despite their young age.
Uncanny Family Resemblance: The both of them bear an uncanny resemblance to their ancestors.
Vitriolic Best Buds: In contrast to their ancestors, who while not above teasing each other were generally as close as sisters, Laurannei and Stica are more prone to arguing with one another, even nicknaming each other "Dummy Laura" and "Crybaby Sti", which they use in such instances.
Young and in Charge: Downplayed. While not as highly positioned as Eolyne, Laurannei and Stica are both high ranking Integrity Pilots at the age of fifteen, which Kirito remembers being a the minimum age to enter the Swordcraft Academy.

Lagi Quint

A Second Class Operator of the Integrity Pilothood, descended from Azurica Quint of the Swordcraft Academy.

And Now for Someone Completely Different: After the whole of volume 27 split the narrator role between Kirito and Alice (albeit the latter in a third-person), the Volume ends with us following Lagi's perspective as he witnesses the assault of Eolyne's office, including Tohkouga's appearance and Kirito's Big Damn Heroes.
Heroic Lineage: He's the descendent of Azurica, Kirito and Eugeo's sword instructor from their time in the Swordcraft Academy who would go on to become its headmistress, with her son and grandson going on to join the pilothood.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: After he gets poisoned by the Minion Blood entering a wound he recieved, he's beating himself up over his inability to protect Eolyne.

Other

Phercy Arabel

Laurannei Arabel's younger brother, who greets Kirito, Asuna and Alice when they return to the Underworld in Unital Ring.

Muggle Born of Mages: For some unknown reason, Phercy is incapable of activating Sword Skills even when he mimics the needed stances perfectly. And due to the Underworld's still-prevalent dedication to swordsmanship, this makes him feel rather insecure and leads to him not attending school.
Shrinking Violet: Downplayed. When he first meets Kirito, Asuna, and Alice, he's quite clearly nervous. Justified due to his insecurities of being a Muggle Born of Mages and the fact that three people suddenly appeared in his living room. He does get a bit more social the more they get to know him, however.
Weak, but Skilled: As Kirito notes, his stance for Sword Skills is otherwise perfect, showing that he does have potential. However, his mysterious handicap hinders him greatly and fuels his insecurities, the only comfort he takes being that he thinks that the Gods simply don't favour as opposed to any fault in him, not knowing that the Underworld's deities are made up.

Admina

General

Bad People Abuse Animals: In a move that's not only cruel but highly blasphemous, Admina's military somehow managed to capture a giant black worm Divine Beast, keep it in a catatonic state in one of their secret research facilities, and force it to give birth to multiple smaller worm creatures that that they then forcibly turn into organic, heat-seeking, anti-Incarnate missiles. Upon discovering this, both Kirito and Eolyne are rightfully disgusted to the point that they nearly blow their cover saving the baby worm they freed, and followed to the facility from a lethal injection by destroying the syringe with their incarnation.

Istar Tohkouga

A high ranking member of Admina's military, notable for his otherworldly, androgynous beauty. Knows Eolyne for when they were bested by him in a tournament in the past.

Ambiguous Gender: Istar has long black hair that matches with an beautiful face that makes it hard hard to tell his gender, with not even the pitch of his voice giving a definite answer. Even by the end of the encounter, Istar's exact gender is never specified. He's only confirmed as a he in the next volume by Lagi Quint.
Anti-Magic: His handgun's Enhance Armament nullifies all Incarnation based abilities in a given radius, even powerful ones like that of Kirito's. Istar isn't immune to it, but he appears to have trained with this in mind, as shown when he loses his power to fly after using it and breaks his fall using wind elements.
Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Eolyne describes him as such, and it's easy to see why. He's a strong swordsman with an Anti-Magic gun and powerful enough Incarnation to achieve Flight, and in contrast to Eolyne's claims of being a Dirty Coward, is bold enough to challenge Kirito and Eolyne himself while his subordinates escape with absolute confidence that he wasn't in any real danger.
Dirty Coward: If what Eolyne says is anything to go buy, Istar is not someone to risk their own life voluntarily. In a weird way, he confirms this when confronting Kirito and Eolyne so their subordinates can escape, all but saying that that much hasn't changed and that he's only doing so out of absolutely confidence that he's not in any danger.
Improbable Aiming Skills: Kirito speculates that Istar must have these when he uses a prototype handgun, which Kirito compares to IRL handguns with their max range of fifty yards in GGO, to shoot him in the back.

Agumar Wesdarath VI

A man claiming to be the descendent of the past Emperor of Wesdareth, and in turn the rightful of the Human Empire.

Ambiguous Situation: While he's certainly arrogant enough to be a scion of the former nobility, it's not outright confirmed whether or not Agumur is actually descended from one of the Four Emperors, with Alice even raising the possibility of him being an imposter trying at a grab for power.
Blatant Lies: When Alice appears and announces herself as the legendary Integrity Knight and wielder of the Osmanthus Blade, he suffers an Oh, Crap! before trying to re-rally his troops by claiming that she must be some kind of imposter, claiming that the Integrity Knighthood died out ages ago. However, the fact that he was having his dragoncrafts specifically target the 95th Floor of the Cathedral where the remaining Integrity Knights are in stasis suggests that he realizes that he's full of crap.
Oh, Crap!: Suffers one when Alice shows up on Airy's floating platform, and announces who she is. Airy deduces that his soldiers also suffered one, hence him trying to accuse her of being an imposter by claiming the Integrity Knighthood died out years ago, despite clearly targeting where the remnants are in deep sleep.

Characters / Sword Art Online - Underworld

Edit Locked

Friends and Allies

Ronye Arabel

Voiced by: Reina Kondo (Japanese), Deneen Melody (English), Regina Carrillo (Latin American Spanish)

Tiese Schtrinen

Voiced by: Kaori Ishihara (Japanese), Kimberly Woods (English), Regina Tiscareño (Latin American Spanish)

Sortiliena Serlut

Voiced by: Megumi Han (Japanese), Jeannie Tirado (English)

Rulid Village

Selka Zuberg

Voiced by: Kaori Maeda (Japanese), Jackie Lastra (English), Nycolle González (Latin American Spanish)

Gasfut Zuberg

Voiced by: Kanehira Yamamoto (Japanese), Jalen K. Cassell (English), Mario Castañeda (Latin American Spanish)

Jink

Voiced by: Haruki Ishiya (Japanese), Ted Sroka (English), Ricardo Bautista (Latin American Spanish)

Garitta

Voiced by: Takehiro Hasu (Japanese)

Nigel Balbossa

Zakkaria

Egome Zakkarite

Swordcraft Academy

Golgorosso Balto

Voiced by: Ryocirc Sugisaki (Japanese), Mick Lauer (English), Víctor Covarrubias (Latin American Spanish)

Volo Levantein

Voiced by: Taishi Murata (Japanese), Chris Niosi (English)

Azurica

Voiced by: Akiko Hiramatsu (Japanese), Julia McIlvaine (English), Analíz Sánchez (Latin American Spanish)

Frenica Szeki

Voiced by: Miku Itō (Japanese), Skyler Davenport (English), Itzel Mendoza (Latin American Spanish)

Raios Antonious and Humbert Zizek

Raios is voiced by: Shuuhei Iwase (Japanese), Steve Staley (English), Luis Fernando Orozco (Latin American Spanish)Humbert is voiced by: Ryuichi Kijima (Japanese), Chris Hackney (English), Alan Bravo (Latin American Spanish)

Centoria

Sadore

Voiced by: Hisao Egawa (Japanese), Jorge Roig Jr. (Latin American Spanish)

Axiom Church

Leadership

Integrity Knights

Others

Elevator Operator

Voiced by: Mao Ichimichi (Japanese), Jennie Kwan (as Minx Le) (English)

The Resistance

Cardinal

Voiced by: Sakura Tange (Japanese), Lizzie Freeman (English), Leyla Rangel (Latin American Spanish)

Charlotte

Voiced by: Yoko Honna (Japanese), Julia McIlvaine (English), Itzel Mendoza (Latin American Spanish)

Dark Territory

Past Characters

Post-War (Major spoilers)

The Star King

Asuna

Berche

Leazetta

Oroi

Yazen

Man in the Black Robe/ Zeppos.

The Kidnapper / Emperor Hozaika Eastaverieth

Cardina

Integrity Pilots

Eolyne Herlentz

Laurannei Arabel and Stica Schriten

Lagi Quint

Other

Phercy Arabel

Admina

Istar Tohkouga

Agumar Wesdarath VI

Alternative Title(s): Sword Art Online Cardina

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Raios is voiced by: Shuuhei Iwase (Japanese), Steve Staley (English), Luis Fernando Orozco (Latin American Spanish)
Humbert is voiced by: Ryuichi Kijima (Japanese), Chris Hackney (English), Alan Bravo (Latin American Spanish)