Sword Art Online follows Kirito, a quiet teenage gamer who logs into a new virtual reality game on launch day and finds that no one can log out. To escape, the players must clear all one hundred floors of the floating castle Aincrad, and a death in the game is a death in real life. Along the way Kirito meets Asuna, a top fighter who becomes his partner, plus friends such as Klein, Agil, Silica and Lisbeth. Later arcs move to other virtual worlds: the fairy game ALfheim Online with his sister Leafa, the gun game Gun Gale Online with the sniper Sinon, and finally the strange world of Underworld, where he meets Eugeo and Alice. This page covers 14 characters from the TV anime, with their role, personality and key relationships, described as they first appear and without spoilers. Japanese voice actors are listed for each; Brazilian dub voices are left out because no source checked for this page names the full cast.
Protagonist
Kirito (Kazuto Kirigaya) キリト/桐ヶ谷 和人
Aincrad · Japanese voice: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka
Kirito, whose real name is Kazuto Kirigaya, is the hero of the series. He was a beta tester of Sword Art Online, so he knows the game better than most, and he prefers to fight alone with his trademark black coat and swift sword skills. He is shy and keeps people at a distance at first, but he risks everything for his friends. In later arcs he enters new virtual worlds to help the people he cares about.
Main characters
Asuna (Asuna Yuuki) アスナ/結城 明日奈
Aincrad · Japanese voice: Haruka Tomatsu
Asuna, real name Asuna Yuuki, is one of the strongest players trapped in Aincrad and the sub-leader of a powerful guild. Her fast rapier attacks earn her the nickname 'the Flash'. At first she is strict and focused only on clearing the game, but she slowly opens up and becomes Kirito's partner. She is caring, brave and a skilled cook in the game, and she grows into a leader in later arcs.
Leafa (Suguha Kirigaya) リーファ/桐ヶ谷 直葉
ALfheim Online · Japanese voice: Ayana Taketatsu
Leafa is the avatar of Suguha Kirigaya, Kirito's younger sister, in the fairy game ALfheim Online. In real life she practises kendo and is strong-willed and honest; in the game she plays a sylph who loves the freedom of flying. She meets Kirito in ALO and guides him through the world, and she is the main heroine of the Fairy Dance arc in the first season.
Sinon (Shino Asada) シノン/朝田 詩乃
Gun Gale Online · Japanese voice: Miyuki Sawashiro
Sinon is a sharp-eyed sniper in Gun Gale Online, a survival game full of guns and wastelands. In real life she is Shino Asada, a high-school girl who keeps to herself and hopes that getting stronger in the game will help her overcome a painful past. She is cool and serious on the surface, but she warms up as she teams up with Kirito in the Phantom Bullet arc of the second season.
Eugeo ユージオ
Underworld · Japanese voice: Nobunaga Shimazaki
Eugeo is a gentle young man from a small village in Underworld, a world Kirito wakes up in during the Alicization arc. He has spent years doing the same hard job of cutting down a giant tree, and he dreams of finding his childhood friend Alice. Kind, honest and loyal, he forms a strong friendship with Kirito, and the two set out together on a long journey to the capital.
Alice Zuberg アリス・ツーベルク
Underworld · Japanese voice: Ai Kayano
Alice Zuberg is Eugeo's childhood friend from the village of Rulid in Underworld. She is clever, curious and good at sacred arts, the magic of that world. As a child she was taken away by a knight of the Axiom Church after breaking one of its rules, and finding her again is the goal that drives Eugeo. She becomes a central figure in the Alicization story.
Supporting characters
Yui ユイ
Aincrad · Japanese voice: Kanae Itō
Yui is a mysterious little girl that Kirito and Asuna find wandering alone in a forest in Aincrad. She has no memories and clings to the two of them, who take her in and treat her as their daughter. She is sweet, curious and very bright. Her true nature is revealed in the first season, and afterwards she stays with the group and helps them across several virtual worlds.
Klein クライン
Fūrinkazan · Japanese voice: Hiroaki Hirata
Klein is the first friend Kirito makes in Sword Art Online, a cheerful player with a red bandana whom Kirito teaches the basics on the first day. He leads a small guild called Fūrinkazan, made up of friends from another game. Klein is loud, funny and often unlucky with women, but he is a loyal friend who worries about Kirito and shows up whenever the group needs help.
Agil エギル
Aincrad · Japanese voice: Hiroki Yasumoto
Agil is a tall, bald axe fighter who works as a merchant in Aincrad, buying and selling items at fair prices and quietly using his earnings to support players in the middle floors. Outside the game he runs a small café bar in Tokyo, which later becomes a meeting place for the group. He is calm, kind and dependable, the big brother of Kirito's circle of friends.
Silica シリカ
Aincrad · Japanese voice: Rina Hidaka
Silica is a young girl who became a rare 'beast tamer' in Aincrad, travelling with a small feathery dragon named Pina. She is famous among players for her cute look but is still learning to fight. When Pina is lost during a quest, she meets Kirito, who helps her on a special mission. She is sincere and brave, and later becomes one of his close friends.
Lisbeth リズベット
Aincrad · Japanese voice: Ayahi Takagaki
Lisbeth, nicknamed Liz, is a blacksmith in Aincrad who runs her own weapon shop and is Asuna's best friend. She is lively, outspoken and proud of her craft. She meets Kirito when he comes asking for a sword strong enough to keep up with his fighting style, and the two set out on a quest for a rare metal. She stays part of the friend group in every later arc.
Yuuki ユウキ
Sleeping Knights · Japanese voice: Aoi Yūki
Yuuki is a player in ALfheim Online known as the 'Absolute Sword', a duelist so fast that she defeats every challenger, including Kirito. She leads a small guild called the Sleeping Knights. She is cheerful, playful and full of energy, and she wants to clear a floor boss with only her guild's small team. Asuna meets her in the Mother's Rosario arc, and the two become close.
Seijirō Kikuoka 菊岡 誠二郎
Ministry of Internal Affairs · Japanese voice: Toshiyuki Morikawa
Seijirō Kikuoka is a government official from Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs who handles cases linked to virtual reality. He is polite and friendly on the surface, but he always seems to know more than he says. He often contacts Kirito to ask for help with strange incidents, such as the rumours behind the Phantom Bullet arc, and he plays a large part in Alicization.
Antagonists
Akihiko Kayaba 茅場 晶彦
Argus · Japanese voice: Kōichi Yamadera
Akihiko Kayaba is the genius designer of the NerveGear headset and of the game Sword Art Online. On launch day he appears before all players and tells them they cannot log out until the game is cleared, turning the game into a deadly prison. He is calm, distant and hard to read. His ideas about virtual worlds shape the whole series, even after the first arc ends.