Kazuto Kirigaya

"'It's pointless to ask anyone who they really are. All you can do is believe and accept...because the way you perceive someone is their true identity.' - Kazuto Kirigaya"

Description
Kirito can be best described as one of the more versatile fighters of Platinum Academy's heroes. This is mainly due to his self named Aincrad Sword Style in which he uses dual blades for it's maximum potential. he is also fiercely determined to protect members of the academy, presumably to his survivor's guilt and thus refuses to let anyone die in front of him if he can prevent their deaths.

Origins
Born on October 7, 2008, Narusaka 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, Kazuto was originally forced to train with his cousin in the neighborhood kendo dojo; however due to his aunt's influence as an editor for a computer systems magazine, Kazuto became more interested in computers and dropped kendo after two years. This decision earned him a heavy beating from his grandfather, prompting Suguha to defend him by promising to practice enough for both of them. At the age of ten, Kazuto discovered that he was adopted from erased Juki Net records and since then unintentionally began distancing himself from Suguha. the relationship between the cousins-turned-siblings would however be on the mend after he escaped SAO, wanting to make up for all his years of seclusion.

Personality
Kirito is someone who is not good with words, as stated by Klein, and can be quite direct. This is due to him not having many friends and closing others off because of his love for computers. As such, he can come off as a rude person to others, such as Lisbeth and Sinon. Sometimes, he actually seems to enjoy angering and teasing people as well. Also, from time to time, Kirito can be quite overconfident thinking he can do things others cannot.

He is almost always a calm and collected character, rarely showing any signs of distress. When Kayaba Akihiko appeared in SAO and announced that it had become a Death Game, Kirito showed only a slight reaction and was able to quickly accept the new conditions of the game, while many others panicked. He has shown different moods throughout the series; at times being rather cheerful, while being gloomy at others. When in a battle, he becomes incredibly fierce and aggressive. Sometimes, his fierceness is up to the point where he loses control of himself and is even unable to recall what he had done.

However, Kirito is actually a kind person who is just misunderstood. Despite the general population opinion towards beta testers in SAO, he refused to abandon another player in trouble, especially after the demise of the Moonlit Black Cats. He also comforts others who are scared or down such as Silica after she lost Pina. He claims to help a female player in SAO because she reminds him of his sister, whom he feels to have forced into kendo and feels guilty for that. These kinds of acts have earned him respect and affection from many girls. Kirito, unlike usual male heroes, is not very dense as he was able to tell that Lisbeth was going to confess to him before Asuna interrupted them.

Kirito is also a very emotional person and lets his emotions control him from time to time. The deaths of Sachi and the Moonlit Black Cats had haunted him until his marriage with Asuna in Sword Art Online. Sachi's death, in particular, had a huge effect on his personality and motives, making him very distant from others for a while. This worries his friends and allies as Kirito is someone who would let guilt ruin his life if not comforted. Kirito temporarily loses his will to live when Asuna's character was killed by Heathcliff. He also tries to hide his abilities, not wanting unneeded attention.

Kirito is a person with incredibly strong resolve who will do anything and everything in his power to accomplish something that is important to him without any hesitation. When Asuna was being held in ALfheim, Kirito was bound and determined to set her free and, when Yui confirmed that she detected Asuna being at the top of the World Tree, he immediately tried to fly up to the tree, which had already been found to be an impossible task, and tried to fight his way to the top by himself twice despite being annihilated the first time.

After escaping SAO, Kirito attempts to repair his relationship with Suguha, his cousin. This shows Kirito is now attempting to make up for his past mistake of ignoring her, showing a sense of maturity. Kirito, later in the series, is shown to be a calm and mature player who can be teasing as well.

Appearance (SAO/Real Life/Project Alicization)
Kirito described the appearance of his avatar at the beginning of the game and the beta-testing phase as having the appearance of a ridiculously handsome protagonist from some fantasy animation, looking noticeably older than he actually was. His in-game height was equal to that of his height in the real world to prevent the extra height from hindering his movements.

In the full version of the game, during Kayaba Akihiko's tutorial, all player avatars were changed to reflect their real life appearances. After this change, Kirito's SAO avatar had slightly long but neat black hair and black eyes. His delicate face showed no trace of masculinity, allowing people to easily mistake him for a girl.

Kirito's clothes later in the game consisted of black pants with a black belt that had a large silver buckle, a black V-necked shirt that was worn underneath a black trench-coat with gray lining going down the sleeves, and black boots with silver plates to protect his shins. He had a silver plate worn on the left side of his coat, and a pair of black fingerless gloves. He wore a strap that went over his right shoulder and under it to wrap around his left side. In the last months of the game, he used «Elucidator» and «Dark Repulser» as his main weapons. After being defeated by Heathcliff in a public duel and being forced to join his guild, Kirito donned the red and white uniform of the Knights of the Blood.

At the beginning of Project Alicization, Kirito wore a hand-sewn pale blue short-sleeved shirt with a V-shaped cut on the chest which was tied with a light brown cord along with trousers and hand-sewn leather shoes. Two years later, after he became a valet in the Sword Mastery Academy, he wore the standard gray uniform, like all first years and non-elite swordsmen do. In the second year of the academy, after he became one of the twelve elite swordsmen in the academy and was allowed to choose a color for his uniform, he wore a pitch black uniform.

Abilities
Expert Detection Skill: Kirito has shown an above average sense of awareness in both virtual reality and in real life. in the former this has heightened to the point to where he is able to sense the killing intent of another player or threat in the immediate area and thus allowed him to avoid a possible opening strike before it occurs.

Master Swordsmanship: When he was younger he and his adoptive sister Suguha used to practice Kendo, though he would lose interest in favor of other things such as computers. however this skill would aid him in becoming an extremely skilled practitioner of the Aincrad style; a swordsmanship style unique to Sword Art Online that involves many different types of skills that possess elemental properties. he has currently demonstrated the following techniques, and may possibly know even more. Novice Magic Practitioner: Kirito has displayed limited knowledge in a few spells that further add to his already impressive arsenal, ranging from <>, protective barrier around himself or multiple individuals to projectile-shaped attacks that use fire, and also limited healing ability.
 * Sonic Leap: A charge-type sword skill that dashes toward the enemy to deal a downward strike.
 * Vertical Square: A mid-level sword skill tracing the shape of a square.
 * Sharp Nail: A Sword Skill that consists of an upward right to left diagonal slash, followed by a left to right horizontal slash, ending with a downward right to left diagonal slash. An alternative execution of the skills consists of three vertical slashes.
 * Spinning Shield: A Defensive technique in which a user spins their weapon at such speeds that it seems to become a shield of light. it is capable of repelling a majority of magic based attack, however it is ineffective against lightning and poison strikes.
 * Savage Fulcrum: A sword skill that traces the Arabic number "4" in the air. 50% Physical, 50% Ice.
 * Howling Octave: Five high-speed continuous thrusts then cut downward, upward, before another full force upward cut. 40% Physical, 60% Fire.
 * Vorpal Strike: A heavy one-handed sword skill with a reach that is double the length of the blade and has high attack power. It has a long cool-down. 30% Physical, 30% Fire, 40% Darkness.
 * Starburst Stream: An extremely powerful 17-hit combination that utilizes both of Kirito's Swords--and thus displaying the Aincrad Style at its maximum potential. This technique is his preferred method for a finishing strike on an opponent.
 * Armament Full Control Art: an advanced technique capable of being performed only with Divine class weaponry that has different effects and consists of two release stages: Enhance Armament and Release Collection. the Night Sky Sword can fire off a massive beam of shadow energy that has several thorn shaped protrusions coming from it, while the Blue Rose Sword can sprout flowers of ice in the shape of its name as part of the first phase. its second phase, Release Collection, turns these ice flowers into actual blue roses that slowly drain away the life of the target, gradually weakening them until inevitable death.

Advanced Technical Prowess: In the real world Kirito has shown himself to be exceptionally skilled in the area of Computer science. he built his own custom PC at a young age, and this has allowed him to figure out to a limited extent the internal workings of a virtual reality game's engine; mainly the Cardinal System which is a highly advanced engine featured in the VRMMOs he has played time and time again since escaping SAO.

Arsenal
Blackwyrm Coat (ブラックウィルム・コート, Burakku Uirumu Kōto): a custom-made black leather coat, tailored from black dragon leather, a high grade raw material. The coat provides the user with a high hiding bonus, allowing the user to hide from monsters or players that lack a high Searching skill.

Blue Rose Sword (の剣, Ao-bara no Ken): a Priority Class 45 «Divine Object» class long sword found in the Mountain Range at the Edge. It was the personal weapon of Eugeo, and was highly coveted by the knights in the Underworld. Its appearance is pure white, in contrast with Kirito's «Night Sky Sword», and is inscribed with a blue rose at the center of its guard. Kirito utilizes this weapon in unison with the Night Sky Sword in rememberance of his dearly departed friend who died in battle against Quinella; the former, corrupt Pontifex of the Human Empire who also perished in the same battle.

Night Sky Sword (夜空の剣, Yozora no Ken): often called "The Black One", is a Priority 46 Divine Object-class long sword that is Kirito's personal one-handed sword in Underworld. In terms of Priority Class, it outscales Eugeo's Blue Rose Sword. it was forged from the branch of a legendary tree known as the Gigas Cedar; a task that took several generations of woodcutters to finally chop down.

Enchanted Bracer: A birthday present gifted to him by Wrayth. Once synced up with his night sky sword it now grants Kirito the ability to call the sword back to him in the event of being disarmed via the activation of magical runes built into the bracer.

for an unsuspecting enemy that has him in a choke hold,this could prove to be a costly mistake of underestimating him.