Kirigaya Kazuto

Kirito (キリト) is the protagonist of the Sword Art Online Light Novel Series. He was chosen as one of the 1000 beta testers for the Closed Beta of « Sword Art Online », the first ever VRMMORPG for the Nerve Gear. His real name is Kirigaya Kazuto (桐ヶ谷和人).

Real Life / Sword Art Online Avatar
During the beginning of the game and during the beta-testing phase, Kirito's avatar had the appearance of a ridiculously handsome protagonist. After Kayaba Akihiko gifted the «hand mirror» to all the participants, his appearance changed to his appearance in real life.

Kirito has slightly long but neat black hair and black eyes. His delicate face has no trace of masculinity, making people mistake him for a girl.

After the initial stages, he became well known in SAO as the «Black Swordsman Kirito» due to his tendency to wear black. He uses two swords after his Unique Skill « Dual Blades » was revealed, the black «Elucidator» and the white «D ark Rep ulser ». He later donned the red and white uniform of the «Knights of Blood» after being defeated by its leader Heathcliff in a public duel.

In actual life he has a tendency to gravitate towards dark colored clothes, and his appearance is the same as in SAO.

ALfheim Online Avatar
Kirito's initial appearance was that of a default «Spriggan», which he chose because of the race's black-themed equipment. Instead of the normal black forelocks hanging from his head, his black hair stood in natural spikes. His large eyes appeared mischievous, and he had dark grey-ish blue wings. He is equipped with a large broadsword intended for larger players like Imps. He has also dual wielded like in Sword Art with Lyfa's katana.

After converting his avatar back from his brief stint in «Gun Gale Online», his previously unkempt hair stayed down, though his michievous black eyes remained the same.

At December 2025 he obtained the «Holy Sword Excaliber» in «ALfheim Online»and uses that to dual wield in dangerous situations.

Gun Gale Online Avatar
Kirito's avatar in GGO is the rare M9000 type that can only be obtained if you have a large playing time recorded. His hair flows smoothly down to his shoulders and retained its original black color. He has pale skin and crimson lips, and his shining black eyes were fringed by long eyelashes. If you didn't know better you'd say he was female.

He is equipped with a 5.7mm FN Five Seven handgun and « Kagemitsu G4 » photon sword. He later leaves those in the care of Sinon upon returning to ALO.

Background
Born October 7, 2008, Kirigaya Kazuto was adopted by his aunt and uncle a year after his birth when his biological parents died in an accident. Raised by his foster parents as a son, he originally trained with his cousin in the neighborhood kendo dojo under their grandfather's tutelage. Due to his aunt's influence as an editor for a computer systems magazine, however, Kazuto fell in love with computers and dropped kendo after two years.

Kazuto has immense skill as a programmer, managing to build a computer from parts during elementary school, finding his erase records in the national registry in at the age of ten, as well as managing to stop the server from deleting Yui by converting her program into an object and storing her into his Nerve Gear as environmental data.

He currently lives with his family, adopted by his aunt and uncle after his parents died. He was raised as their son with his cousin as his sister. He was originally trained in kendo by his grandfather but had little interest in it, and as a result his sister began to cover for him. He is a skilled programmer, as shown when he stopped the SAO server from completely deleting Yui's data.

Chronology
Sword Art Online Beta In the beta Kirito was challenged to a duel and his opponent, lost on purpose. They also were able to clear upto the eight floor before the final version was released.

Sword Art Online
In SAO, he was one of the 1000 people selected to be a beta tester to SAO, recieving six months extra time to learn the game than the remaining 9,000 people who recieved the game on its release. Early in the game, he befriends Klein, who asks for help in learning how to play. They return to the city after training on low level monsters to recieve an announcement from Kayaba Akihiko, that they are trapped and unable to log out and leave the game until either the game is cleared or they die. He suggests that he and Klein go to the next city in order to get a better chance of leveling up. Klein refuses, and a hesitant and shaken Kirito leaves Klein behind to go to the next village.

After the 2 year time skip, Kirito is a clearer and is currently on the frontlines which are now located on the 74th floor. He goes on a mapping run with Asuna, a friend of his and sub-leader of the KoB. Together they find the boss room. On the way back they encounter a unit of the the Army who try to challenge the boss. They chase after them to try and convince them to stop, but the Army ignores their warnings and heed on. Once inside the boss room, a unit from the Army realizes that the room is an "anti-crystal area" so they can neither heal or escape. With the players dying around him Kirito reavels his hidden skill "Dual Blades" and uses it to defeat the boss.

After the boss fight, word about Kirito spreads out throughout Aincrad about his accomplishment. Asuna askes for a temporary leave of absence form the Guild and Heathcliff, the leader of Asuna's guild says that he will only allow permission if Kirito defeats him in a duel. If Kirito loses, he will have to join the guild. Kirito fights and is on the verge of winning but sudenly Heathcliff moves with impossible speed. The duel ends with Kirito's loss forcing him to abide by their deal. A few days after joining the KoB, he is sent on a mandatory training run with some other members. During the training run, he and the others are betrayed by Kuradeel. Kuradeel kills the others and saves Kirito for last but Asuna manages to save Kirito. She lets Kuradeel live, but he atacks them again and Kirito is forced to commit murder.

After this Asuna and Kirito realize there feelings for one another and get married. They go on a honeymoon on the 22nd floor. After 2 weeks they get a call, the boss room of the 75th floor has been found. They return to the frontlines and participate in the battle. During the battle Kirito, Asuna and Heathcliff manage to hold back the boss while the rest of the players attack him. After the battle Kirito has an intuitive realization that Heathcliff is none other than Kayaba Akihiko himself and proves that fact by attacking him revealing his immortal object statis. Kayaba aplaudes Kirito and tells him that he will be waiting on the 100th floor... unless Kirito wishes to have a duel right now. Kirito agrees. After a few minutes of fighting Kirito becomes enraged and uses a sword skill, Kayaba takes advantage of the delay to finish him off but Asuna interceps the blow for him. Kirito fllled with rage defies the system, forcing himself to stay alive, and stabs Kayaba in the neck with Asuna's blade. Kayaba and Kirito both vanish ending up in a area located above Aincrad along with Asuna. Kayaba explains his reasons to why he created SoA and commiting innocent people to such a nightmare realm and vanishes along with his castle. Kirito wakes up in a hospital bed vowing to find Asuna.

The First Day
Kirito spends the first day making his way to the next village. He is decided to complete a quest to obtain a new sword. During this quest he enconters another player, a beta tester named Coper, who proposes they try to complete it together. After a while a trap monster appears and Coper purposely trips it. Now Kirito realizes that Coper was trying to kill him. Kirito manages to escape but Coper dies; this heavily affects Kirito as he realizes he can die in this game.

Aria in the Starless Night
1 month into the game 2000 people have died and the first floor has yet to be cleared. Kirito encounters a player in the first dungeon and realizes that it was a female player. After saving her he carries her out to the village, where she reveals her name, Asuna. The next day, they both go to a meeting organized by a player named Diabel. 44 people go to the meeting and decide to try the boss of the first floor. During the boss fight Kirito is put in the E group with Asuna. They are in charge of clearing the mob monsters that acompany the boss. During the fight Diabel dies, and Kirito recognizes him form the beta test. He gets a last attack and is awarded the Coat of Midnight. After the fight, many grieve the loss of Diabel and say that this is all the beta testers fault, Kirito realizing that normal players must make peace with the beta testers and declares himself as a Beater, thus making it so that all the hate directed at the beta testers is forced on him. Asuna and Agil, two of the clearers understand what he did.

Red Nosed Reindeer
With the approach of Christmas eve all the NPC start talking about a mysterious monster which will appear on Christmas and drop rare items if defeated, the players start looking for clues to find it but nobody finds something reliable. Kirito found Klein and talked to him for a while, they didn't cared until they learned that it'll drop a resurrection item, so Klein started looking for Kirito for help on defeating this boss.

With the news he remembers his time with Sachi and the Black Cats of the Full Moon and remembers how it all began, how he hidded his higher level from them and helped them reach higher levels. One day Sachi ran from the group, Kirito used his Tracking skill to find her and formed some kind of relation with her, he made her forget her fear of dying and she helped him to clear his conciousness from lying to the other members of the Guild. One day the group decide to treasure hunt while their leader, Keita, was off, they didn't heard to Kirito's advices and activated a trap, they became surrounded with monsters, Kirito barely survived, despite his level, the monsters were too much for him. But the others were killed, when he told everything to Keita and commited suicide.

Kirito managed to find the place, but was followed by Klein and his guild, and then by the Divine Dragon Alliance guild, Klein and his guys stopped the other guild while Kirito fought Nicolas the Apostate. At the end of the fight Kirito was barely holding off, he hadn't been so close to dead ever, but he won, he searched for the resurrection item and found it. For his surprise, and frustration, the item only resurrected people 10 seconds after their HP reached 0, so it was useless for him. He gaved the Resurrection stone to Klein and slowly walked back to the town, then Kleins tells him that he shouldn't die, that he most beat the game and save everyone.

The Black Swordsman
Upon encountering Silica in the Forest of Wandering, he saves her from a party of attacking Drunken Apes. He apologizes for being unable to save Pina her dragon, but tells her that it is possible to revive Pina. After explaining the process he gives some equipment to Silica and takes her back to the town. He talks with Silica during dinner and before sleeping, which is when he explains that he's helping so much Silica because she reminds him of his sister.

The next day they depart to the 55th floor, where the aids Silica level up during their way to find the Flower of Pneuma. On their way back, after findind the flower, they're ambushed by the members of the Titan's Hand Guild, who want the flower they just find. They attack Kirito, but are easily overwhelmed by the level difference. Finally Kirito reveals that he was looking for them because of a request from a player from another Guild, which the Titan's Hand killed but the leader was able to scape and asked for help.

Kirito send's the bandits to the Army's prison and Silica and him promise to meet again in the real world.

Fairy Dance
When Kirito fails to rescue Asuna and falls into despair, by chance he encounters a picture of «ALfheim online»'s screenshot of a woman with Asuna's appearance. He then dives in the game to save her. He selects the Spriggan race since the schema matched his tastes, yet instead of spawning at the starting city of the Spriggan, he appears in midair falling to the ground in Sylph territory. He later finds out that Yui can be a part of the ALO system. He ends up right in the middle of a conflict between Lyfa and two salamanders. After which he easily defeats them. He then asks for help from Lyfa after introducing Yui to help him get to Aarun.

Phantom Bullet
When Kikuoka, who is in charge of net crimes division calls him to a pastry shop to chat, he finds out about «Death Gun». Hearing about the potential threat Kirito agrees to investigate, GGO for a fee. Upon converting, he is stunned at his appearance being extremely feminine. He encounters Sinon asking for help. She offers to help him get started. Kirito with minimal funds and against Sinon's advice participates in the bullet dodging game. Kirito using his previous experience successfully wins the game and wins a large amount of funds.

Mother's Rosario
He challenges «Absolute Sword Yuuki » to a duel and loses, though he didn't dual wield. He later appears to fend off a clearing guild and give the Sleeping Knights a chance to challenge a boss, he also brings out the «Holy Sword Excaliber» and dual wields in this battle, he also reveals his outside system skill <>. He along with Cline hold off the guild for three minutes before succumbing to the overwhelming numbers. He again faces Zekken in the ALO sword tournament, where he loses but doesn't dual wield.

Alicization
Recruited by Kikuoka for an experiment with a new form of VR system, Kirito awakens in a fantasy style forest with no memory of how he got there. There, he meets a teenage woodcutter named Eugeo, who seems too life-like to be a NPC...

Relationships
When Kirito starts to love computers, Kirito does not like to interact with other people including his cousin Suguha. But after completing SAO and ALO, he maintain his relationship with his friends and acquaintances from SAO and ALO. He continues to make relationships with other people as the series progresses.

Although Kirito is focused on Asuna, he is unaware that there are other girls has feelings for him.

Sword Art Online (SAO)
Asuna - She is Kirito's partner and main love interest in the series. Among all the people Kirito met, she is the closest and dearest to him. Originally the two of them only think of clearing the game, but their relationship begins when they partied in the 1st floor. During the boss fight in the 1st floor, he called Asuna by her name for the first time (due to noticing her character name below the HP gauge). She is also one of the two people knowing the reason why Kirito became a Beater (the other was Agil). When the two of them partied again in the 74th floor, Asuna normally cooks for Kirito. As the series progresses, the two of them fall in love with each other. After the two of them declared their love for each other, they were so attached to each other and only concern of their safety. Their relationship is very serious to the point that they cannot live on if one of them dies. An example is like when Kirito asks Asuna not to take part in the boss fight in the 75th floor and if he did not return, she will commit suicide. This also led to the two characters getting married in-game where they resided in the 22nd floor for two weeks until being called back to the frontlines. Kirito also does not concern about his safety when it comes to rescuing Asuna like when he tries to fly up the World Tree uncaring whether he falls and his avatar dies or not. After rescuing Asuna in ALO, the two of them finally meet face to face and they officially became a couple in the real world.

Klein - He is Kirito's first friend, before meeting Asuna. He became Kirito's friend after he asked Kirito to teach him to play SAO. Klein was one of the few people that Kirito considered as a "friend". Klein really cares for his friends and keep them all alive, which Kirito greatly respects. He regularly meets with Kirito and his friends and occasionally go with them in quests in ALO, especially after the release of the World Seed.

Agil - An axe wielding merchant who has a good relationship with Kirito. He is one of the two people knowing the reason why Kirito became a Beater (the other was Asuna). Like Klein and Asuna, he also respects Kirito. Outside of SAO he is the owner of the Dicey Cafe where Kirito and his friends often meet up.

Silica - A player that Kirito saved when he was wandering around in the 35th floor. When Silica asked him why is he being kind to her, he gave her a manga-like answer about that she resembles his "sister". After the two of them partied together, Silica develops feelings for Kirito without him noticing. She joins Kirito and his friends in ALO right after they meet in the real world; they often go together in quests. Both Silica and Lisbeth are in agreement to give both Kirito and Asuna space after Kirito rescues her in ALO.

Lisbeth - A close friend of Asuna who recommended her to Kirito. He accompanied her in the quest for the special ore required for the job. During the quest, she also develops feelings for Kirito without him noticing. After the quest, she becomes Kirito's personal blacksmith. She is devastated when she finds out that Kirito is Asuna's crush. But finds solace when Kirito tells her about the "Black Cats" and that for the first time after losing his guild he had felt natural while partying with her. Right after they meet in the real world, she becomes a regular player in ALO and frequently takes on quests with Kirito and his friends and takes up tasks of upgrading their equipment.

Sachi - A member of the guild Black Cats of the Full Moon who Kirito befriended. They became very close to the point of sleeping together in the same room; their relationship described as "two stray cats licking each others' wounds" as they comforted each other. Their relationship was close enough that they had a shared page in each others' inventory (similar, but not quite at the level of married players who had combined inventories). Kirito promised her that she would not die, though unfortunately, he would not be able to keep his word. Even after her last message gave him the strength to live, he never joined another guild until the events of Volume 1.

Yui - Kirito and Asuna's daughter. Like Asuna, Kirito loves Yui like a daughter and she thinks of Kirito and Asuna as her parents despite the fact that Yui is an «AI». Kirito uses his skills and resources in the real world to make a device for Yui to view the real world even whilst she is in virtual reality and gives her the ability to communicate with them. Yui is probably Kirito's second most beloved person while Asuna is the first. In ALO she takes the form of a navigation fairy who is always seen on either Kirito or Asuna's shoulder. She also gets annoyed when any girl other than Asuna or Lyfa interact with her "Papa".

Alfheim Online (ALO)
Lyfa - Kirito's real life stepsister/cousin. she originally joined ALO in an attempt to better understand her brother. She unknowingly met Kazuto under his screenname Kirito while he was trying to save Asuna in the world tree. She eventually developed feelings for him and was distraught when she found out who he was. She has recently come to accept her emotions and accompanies her friends in all their new adventures.

Gun Gale Online (GGO)
Sinon - Kirito's partner in GGO. When they first met, they got along but that all changed when she know Kirito's real gender. The two swore to each other to survive in the game so they can settle the score but they soon worked together after learning Death Gun's existence in the game. When they were hiding from Death Gun, the two of them shared their deep dark secrets which is the same sin they committed and that is they "kill someone" before in their lives (Sinon shot a criminal when she was 11 while Kirito killed three members of Laughing Coffin in SAO). After knowing Death Gun's is actually two people and their next target is Sinon, Kirito comforted Sinon and decided to protect her. She develops feelings for Kirito afterwards. After they defeat Death Gun in the game, the two of them revealed each other their true identities and their addresses. After the Death Gun incident, Sinon joins ALO on Asuna and Lisbeth's recommendation as a Caith Sith archer. After Sinon obtained the Excaliber, she handed it over to Kirito under the condition that he always think about her when he uses the sword.

Other Characters
Nurse Aki - A nurse who Kirito was acquainted with. She took care of Kirito previously during his long rehabilitation. She watched over Kirito when he was going to investigate the Death Gun incident. Outside his friends from SAO, she learned about Kirito's dark secret, "the fact that he killed three players from SAO". After that, she encouraged Kirito that he have the right to redeem himself by thinking of those people Kirito saved.

Chrysheight - An investigator in the «SAO Case Victims Rescue Force» who Kirito was acquainted with.

Sword Art Online (SAO)

 * Level: 96
 * Main Equipment:
 * ​「Elucidator」 (One Handed Straight Sword - monster drop)
 * 「Dark Repulser」 (One Handed Straight Sword - player-made by Lisbeth)
 * 「BlackWyrm Coat」 (Leather Coat, player-made by Ashley) - last black coat
 * 「Coat of Midnight」 (Leather Coat, monster drop from floor 1 boss) - first black coat
 * Skill Slots: 12
 * Equipped Skills:
 * One Handed Sword - 1000 «Mastered»
 * Dual Blades «Unique Skill» - 1000 «Mastered»
 * Blade Throwing - 967
 * Parry - 1000 «Mastered»
 * Battle Healing - 944
 * Searching - 1000 «Mastered»
 * Tracking - 963
 * Hiding - 1000 «Mastered»
 * Night Vision - 908
 * Extended Weight Limit - 949
 * Sprint - 870
 * Fishing - 604

One Handed Sword Skills

 * Horizontal Square
 * Flashing Penetrator
 * Reaver
 * Slant
 * Vertical Square
 * Vorpal Strike
 * Weapon Break
 * Deadly Sins

Unarmed Skills

 * Martial Arts
 * Embracer
 * Meteor Break

Dual Blades Sword Skills

 * Double Circular
 * Starburst Stream
 * The Eclipse

Outside System Skills

 * Arms Blast (from SAO) - destroys a weapon by attacking the weakpoint of one with a powerful blow.
 * Spell Blast (from ALF) - intercepts a spell using a sword skill.
 * Skill Connect (from ALF) - allows Kirito to chain his sword skills.

*Note: Many of his skills have been demonstrated in ALF and GGO, except they mostly function without system assist and depend on Kirito completely.

Notable Achievements

 * cleared the cursed death game, «Sword Art Online»
 * reached the top of the World Tree, «ALfheim Online»
 * 2nd Place in «ALfheim Online» Cross Territory Race
 * 2nd Place in «ALfheim Online» Swordsman Tournament (without Dual wielding)
 * co-winner of the Third «Bullet of Bullets» (alongside Sinon), «Gun Gale Online»