Spoiler Alert: This article or section contains details about plotlines not covered in the anime. Do not proceed unless you wish to be spoiled.
Liten (リーテン,Rīten?) is a supporting character in the Progressive series of the Aincrad Arc. She is one of the 10,000 players who were trapped in «Sword Art Online», where she played as a tank and was recruited to the Aincrad Liberation Squad due to acquiring a set of steel armour early in the game. After joining the guild, she became acquainted with Shivata from the rival Dragon Knights Brigade guild, with whom she formed a close relationship and organised a New Year's party in Karluin in 2022.
Liten has feminine facial features that make her seem similar to a kokeshi doll. She has topaz eyes and bob-cut orange hair, cut neatly above the brows. Her equipment consists of a set of full steel plate armor, usually worn together with a heavy armet helmet that covers her entire head, and a long mace that she carries on her back outside of battle.[2]
Background[]
Like many other players, Liten initially stayed within the safety of the Town of Beginnings following the announcement of the death game. However, due to having prior experience with other online games, Liten decided leave the Town of Beginnings in late November in order to contribute to beating the game herself as well. Being used to playing a defensive role in other games, Liten had acquired the Heavy Metal Armor skill upon starting the game, which did cause her some difficulties in obtaining suitable equipment at first. Upon finally acquiring a store-bought Copper Mail after a considerable amount of time farming boars outside the Town of Beginnings, Liten had high hopes for her future prospects.[2]
Contrary to her expectations, however, Liten was met with distrust from the parties she attempted to join due to widespread preconceptions that a woman could not serve as a tank. Indignant at this mistreatment, the girl instead shifted her focus to reaching the front lines as a solo tank. While grinding near the town of Marome on the 2nd Floor for this goal, Liten discovered a bugged ore vein that generated infinite amounts of iron. Galvinised by the thought of being able to take advantage of this bug to greatly accelerate her plans, the girl managed to mine at least a thousand and five hundred pieces of iron ore before the bug was patched. Assailed by her own doubts about actually making use of the ore due to the possibility of her account being banned for abusing the glitch after finishing her mining, however, Liten decided to consult a female blacksmith friend of hers on her next course of action, who instantly advised her not to hesitate. Following this advice, Liten recruited the blacksmith's help to haul the ore into town to process it into steel ingots, before asking her friend to use the ingots to craft her a set of steel armour.[2]
Now equipped with a highly-rare set of powerful gear, Liten quickly leveled up by fighting treants on the 3rd Floor. On December 22, 2022, the day after the 4th Floor was opened, Liten was invited to join the Aincrad Liberation Squad after being scouted by Okotan for her rare armour, an invitation that she accepted under the advice of her blacksmith friend. Some time later on the 4th Floor, the female tank became acquainted with Shivata from the rival Dragon Knights Brigade guild, with whom she eventually formed a close relationship.[2]
Some time after the opening of the 5th Floor, Liten began organizing a New Year's party for the Clearers with Shivata. However, in the morning of December 31, 2022, Liten learnt that their plans were now in a precarious position, as the core members of the Aincrad Liberation Squad had received intel three days prior that the next Floor Boss dropped a highly-valuable item that could dramatically change the balance between the two top guilds, resulting in the leadership of the guild deciding to use the cover of the party to rush to the boss room and claim the prize for themselves without the Dragon Knights Brigade's notice. Just as Liten's group decided to make an appeal directly to Kibaou to stop this secret plan, Liten herself was summoned by Shivata to an empty dwelling in Mananarena. There, she learnt that Shivata had been approached by Asuna and Kirito, who had discovered the Aincrad Liberation Squad's plot and wished to help stop it. In the end, Liten was invited to join a twelve member raid party created by Kirito to defeat the Floor Boss before the Aincrad Liberation Squad's raid party could reach it. After successfully defeating the boss, Fuscus the Vacant Colossus, Liten and the other members of the party organisation committee were able to hold the New Year's party in Karluin without issue.
