Display Name: Suto

Real Name: Hiro Miyamoto

Age: 17

Appearance:


Background: Hiro Miyamoto is a native of Ichigawa, having lived in the snowy vale all of his life. Born into a middle-class family as an only child he had plenty of attention growing up. Despite doing average in school his parents were happy with him, content on letting him do for the most part as he pleased as well, anything to keep their lone child happy. Outside of class he spent a great deal of time outdoors, taking up various different activities, with snowboarding sticking after many years. Being out and about and having fun is his main priority in life; always has been and always will be.
Having met his best friend Alexander Watanabe at an early age the two had been great friends ever since meeting. While Hiro loved the outdoors Alex played games, and eventually the two crossed over slightly, with Hiro in particular taking a bit more of a liking to video games. He played sparingly, really only when he and his friends spent time together. Upon the announcement of Sword Art Online though his interest peaked, and with little urgency from anyone else he went and picked up the game with Alex and their mutual friend Mizuki. Had he any idea what he was getting into he’d probably have stayed in bed that day.

SAO Player Build: DPS; Dagger and Martial Arts.

Status: Alive

Display Name: Yari
Real Name: Mizuki Yukimura
Age: 17

Appearance:



Background: Mizuki grew up in Ichigawa with Alex and Hiro, a small town in the snowy mountains of Japan. She had great grades, participated in several extracurricular activities, and still made time for her two best friends. She had an air about her that just screamed “leader.” Despite her time being stretched so thin, Mizuki managed to keep up interests with them, from gaming to just generally spending time together. She was smart, got good grades, and was definitely on her way to getting into a new school until she and her two friends stepped foot into Aincrad for the very first time and were left with no way out. She was, perhaps, one of the most composed of them and quickly regained her bearings, thus snapping Alexander back to reality and helping him to be able to process the situation.

SAO Build: Spear-user and medium-weight armorer.

Status: Dead

Display Name: Fitch
Real Name: Alexander Watanabe
Age: 17

Appearance:



Background: Alexander’s mother was German and she met his father on a business trip to Japan. She was an interpretor for her company – a job which she left after finding out she was pregnant. He grew up with a very strict father who was often working, but his mother was more of a “free spirit” so he was able to live life far more loosely than his father would have liked. His grades were fair, but he didn’t want to stand out academically. Thanks to Mizuki, he actually stayed in good shape, because of her limited time, their small group would often be practicing sports or something of the like together, though he was never in pristine condition like she was. He liked technology and, while his father disapproved of it, gaming. He was one of the first to acquire a Nerve Gear and beta tested almost every game that became available to him – including Sword Art Online. Hiro was his best friend and the two were like brothers, despite their rather different personalities, and if it weren’t for him and Mizuki – as well as the other friends that they had from past games – he likely would not have been able to cope with the incident. However, he will reveal himself to be one of the strongest survivors eventually, but only due to the help of his friends with the initial shock of their situation.

SAO Build: Sword & Shield user with medium-light armor.

Status: Alive

Display name: Luna
Real name: Lynn Carter
Age: 17

Appearance:


Background:
Lynn Carter was born to two business crazy parents who were constantly trying to reach new heights and grab every opportunity before them. This wouldn’t have been a problem, if not for them constantly leaving the child to her own devices and placing crazy expectations on her shoulders.
“If it’s not the best…it’s not good enough.”
The sentence was drilled into her head ever since she was a child and Lynn learned to detest failure. The girl would do whatever she could to make her parents happy and it showed in her no-nonsense attitude and study habits. When Lynn went for something she gave it her all.
Life in Florida was good to her until her parents were assigned to Japan. It was like a promotion of sorts since it opened new opportunities and offered better pay. They grabbed at the chance and eight-year-old Lynn bid the home she knew goodbye.
Japan was new and it took some time to adjust, but her parents were happy…
The girl tried extra hard to learn the language, make friends and she did succeed eventually but it was hard and getting used to the strange place wasn’t easy. Still, Lynn continued with her life, eventually turning to video games when things were dull or uneventful. It became like a drug, something that added an extra kick to her everyday activities, so when homework was over she’d always come back to the worlds that awaited her on the other side of the screen.
When she heard of SAO, she rushed to one of the stores to get a copy.

SAO Build: Daggers and thrown weapons.

Status: Alive

Display Name: Kenshin
Real Name: Kenshin Takami
Age: 17
Appearance:



Background: Kenshin was born in the coastal city of Niigata and is about as nerdy as you can get. His parents have always stressed the importance of following one’s own interests. The problem is, Kenshin doesn’t like social activities. Kenshin often overworks himself in school and is quite hard on himself when it comes to failure. He is pretty solitary in nature and enjoys reading or playing video games over all else. He mostly plays video games offline and by himself, though recently has been playing more online. He met Hiro, Alexander, and Mizuki separately in different video games and, despite never having met them in person, considers them to be among his few friends. When he heard of the Nerve Gear, Kenshin consulted with the trio and was persuaded to purchase it himself along with SAO. Kenshin planned on meeting up with Hiro, Alexander, and Mizuki in Aincrad and perhaps joining a guild with them if they’d have him. He thought it would help him get over his aversion to social interaction. When the game started however, Kenshin found himself trapped in an eternal hell surrounded with people and no way to get out.

SAO Player Build: Two-handed katana user with light to medium armor. Also carries several throwing picks for medium range.

Status: Dead

Display Name: Alphard Shurai
Real Name: Ayano Nobunaga
Age: 18

Appearance:


Background: Ayano grew up in Niigata, a coastal town, and has been Kenshin’s neighbor for many years. The two often played together as children and to this day, still spend a significant amount of time together. In other words, it’s been just about enough time for Ayano to fall deeply in love with Kenshin. Nervous about what she’s feeling, Ayano never came out and told Kenshin her feelings, but has dropped plenty of hints. Upon hearing that Kenshin would be purchasing the Nerve Gear and Sword Art Online, she formulated a plan: to meet up with Kenshin in Aincrad anonymously and gauge his feelings for her “good friend”. Unbeknownst to her, Kenshin has also had feelings for her this whole time. He was simply unsure on how to express his feelings due to his general awkwardness.

Ayano, while being a generally nice person, has some deep seated emotional problems. Her parents had died when she was quite young, leaving her to be cared for by her aunt, who in turn left as soon as Ayano was old enough to live alone. This has led to some powerful anger issues and an abandonment complex. Indeed, one of the reasons that she loves Kenshin so much is that he is one of the only people that looks past her issues and accepts her as a person.

In the end, Ayano did end up purchasing the Nerve Gear, but was severely ill on the opening day. Instead, Asano was confined to her bed and, therefore, missed all the news regarding the trapped players. Sometime during the night, Ayano’s fever broke, and she decided to spend the next day relaxing and playing video games in bed. Unfortunately, the game she decided to play was Sword Art Online. Upon entering, Ayano was bombarded with questions from fellow gamers about her reactions to being stuck in the game, which only confused her. Finally, she hunted down an information broker and forced them to explain what had happened. The news was devastating for her. The deep-seated anger issues Ayano had worked her whole life to contain simply exploded, leaving her in a perpetual rage. It became her life’s goal to find Kenshin and, with him, utterly destroy the crowbegotten man who had trapped her in this hell.

SAO build: one-handed scythe user with a tower shield. Carries javelins for medium-range. Heavy armor.

Status: Alive

Display Name: Doku
Real Name: ???
Age: ???

Appearance:


Background: To be revealed.

Status: Alive

Display Name: Kimigami

Real Name: Kimiko Yagami

Age: 14

Appearance:


Background: Kimiko grew up in a rather low-end neighborhood of Tokyo. She had two little brothers, identical twins, who were quite a handful. Their father died when all of them were relatively young, thus causing their mother to enter a deep depression. Kimiko still doesn’t quite understand how they still have a home, but the cooking, cleaning, and care of her brothers fell on her shoulders. Nobody outside of her close family knew the kind of neglect they all faced… whenever they visited their relatives, Kimiko would even be sure that her mother was presentable and got to the train station on time. When one of her few friends from school invited her over to try out a new game on the first virtual reality system, she was very excited. She made her own character, and felt a guilty pleasure in escaping her real family for a while… That is, until it came time for her to leave and the logout button was gone.

SAO Build: Rapier and leather armor.

Status: Alive

Display Name: Kazaro
Real Name: Undisclosed
Age: 25

Appearance:
(Click for better resolution)

Who He is: Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood, directly beneath Heathcliffe. He’s a strong leader and a forgiving soul. In fact, he’s quite kind, it’s what garners him so much respect. However, he’s also prideful, so if you’ve offended him with purpose, he will hold onto it until a proper, sincere apology has been issued.

SAO Build: One of few Katana users in the world, medium-weight metal armour. DPS.

Status: Alive

Display Name: Icefang336
Real Name: Jason Ritchie

Age: 19

Appearance:


Background:
Jason is one of the few Americans who was able to join Sword Art Online. He was raised in Pike’s Peak, Colorado after his parents’ untimely deaths. They had died in a car crash while on vacation in New York City. Jason was very young at the time. Worried about his emotional welfare, the Ritchie elders gave Jason everything that he asked for in life. Jason didn’t take advantage of their hospitality, though, and did his fair share of housework. Jason had always excelled greatly in school, mostly regarding problem solving and real-world application of his skills. It was no great leap in logic for Jason to apply these skills to gaming. Jason likes to grind the video games he plays into the dust by breaking the logic of the games. Take SAO, for example. Jason uses light armor and has put all his available ranks into increasing his speed. Following the game’s logic would give him a speed based weapon, like a knife or short sword. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Jason specializes in using heavy, high-damage weapons. This allows him to get up close to enemies, behind their defenses, and deal crippling blows. The only strength boosts Jason utilizes are those needed to wield his weapons.

His bizarre display name was a mistake Jason made while signing in. Jason thought that the display name was like a username in the U.S., not an actual name for his avatar. That said, he urges his friends to use his real name. Jason has an easygoing, jocular attitude. He constantly shoots off jokes and plays pranks to keep people’s spirits up. This outward manner is just a front, though. It hides an inner strength and resolve to protect those he loves.

SAO player build: Two-handed heavy weapons (Hammer/mace), light armor, and several speed stat booster items (circlet, bracelet, rings, amulet, and the armor's weight class). Carries an excess of health potions for himself and is more than willing to share.

Status: Alive

Display Name: Nero
Real Name: Unshared

Age: 16

Appearance:


History: Nero is known Aincrad-wide as the most wealthy player in SAO. He amassed his fortune by material hunting, giving him a hefty safety margin while simultaneously giving him the biggest bank of any other player. He is a member of the KoB, directly beneath Vice Commander Kazaro and his speed is rather remarkable. He has shared none of his life outside of the game and still few know much of who he really is. Currently, he has been able to sit on his metaphorical dragon's horde of cash by maintaining a level of strength above most other players. However, with the KoB behind him now, his personal coffers face even less danger.

SAO Build: Curved blade, light armor, speed, material hunter.

Status: Alive

Display Name: Kimigami

Real Name: Kimiko Yagami

Age: 14

Appearance:
(Click for higher resolution)

Background: Kimiko grew up in a rather low-end neighborhood of Tokyo. She had two little brothers, identical twins, who were quite a handful. Their father died when all of them were relatively young, thus causing their mother to enter a deep depression. Kimiko still doesn’t quite understand how they still have a home, but the cooking, cleaning, and care of her brothers fell on her shoulders. Nobody outside of her close family knew the kind of neglect they all faced… whenever they visited their relatives, Kimiko would even be sure that her mother was presentable and got to the train station on time. When one of her few friends from school invited her over to try out a new game on the first virtual reality system, she was very excited. She made her own character, and felt a guilty pleasure in escaping her real family for a while… That is, until it came time for her to leave and the logout button was gone.

Display Name: Icefang336
Real Name: Jason Ritchie
Age: 19
Appearance:

Click Me
Background:

Jason is one of the few Americans who was able to join Sword Art Online. He was raised in Pike’s Peak, Colorado after his parents’ untimely deaths. They had died in a car crash while on vacation in New York City. Jason was very young at the time. Worried about his emotional welfare, the Ritchie elders gave Jason everything that he asked for in life. Jason didn’t take advantage of their hospitality, though, and did his fair share of housework. Jason had always excelled greatly in school, mostly regarding problem solving and real-world application of his skills. It was no great leap in logic for Jason to apply these skills to gaming. Jason likes to grind the video games he plays into the dust by breaking the logic of the games. Take SAO, for example. Jason uses light armor and has put all his available ranks into increasing his speed. Following the game’s logic would give him a speed based weapon, like a knife or short sword. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Jason specializes in using heavy, high-damage weapons. This allows him to get up close to enemies, behind their defenses, and deal crippling blows. The only strength boosts Jason utilizes are those needed to wield his weapons.

His bizarre display name was a mistake Jason made while signing in. Jason thought that the display name was like a username in the U.S., not an actual name for his avatar. That said, he urges his friends to use his real name. Jason has an easygoing, jocular attitude. He constantly shoots off jokes and plays pranks to keep people’s spirits up. This outward manner is just a front, though. It hides an inner strength and resolve to protect those he loves.

SAO player build: Two-handed heavy weapons (Hammer/mace), light armor, and several speed stat booster items (circlet, bracelet, rings, amulet, and the armor's weight class). Carries an excess of health potions for himself and is more than willing to share.