Kirito (Sword Art Online)
, born as , is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Sword Art Online series of light novels written by Reki Kawahara. Known by a portmanteau of his name, which is his user name in the Sword Art Online video game which the series are partially set in. Kirito is a teenager who was chosen as one of 1,000 beta testers for a new virtual reality video game: Sword Art Online. After the game is released to the general public, he and the rest of the 10,000 players discover that they are unable to log out and are trapped in the simulation unless they manage to beat the game. In the anime adaptation, Kirito is voiced in Japanese by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka and in English by Bryce Papenbrook. Creation and conception In an interview with Sword Art Online series creator Reki Kawahara, they wrote the series to change popular opinion of online gaming; viewing it not a social ill or just an escape from real life, and thus decided to show games in a more positive light in his light novels. He stated that he does not usually put aspects of himself into his characters, he did note that "neither of us are good at forming parties. We [both] tend to play solo in these games a lot." When asked about Kirito using a sword in a gun-based game during the Gun Gale Online arc, Kawahara responded that the energy sword in Halo can be the most powerful weapon if used properly. In the anime adaptation, Kirito is voiced in Japanese by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka and in English by Bryce Papenbrook. In an interview with Matsuoka on the similarities between him and his character, Matsuoka opinioned that "there's only one chance" for success in both acting and for Kirito in the game universe. They also noted that Kirito eventually had to "pull people along" and "pave the way for others" like themselves. Appearances As the main protagonist of Sword Art Online, Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya, is one of 1,000 testers in the previous closed beta of Sword Art Online (SAO), a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game played with a virtual reality headset, known as the NerveGear. The helmet stimulates the user's five senses via their brain, allowing players to experience and control their in-game characters with their minds. He later joins the official version of the game where he becomes one of the 10,000 players to log into the game on opening. The players only discover that they are unable to log out and leave the game. Kayaba, the games creator, appears and tells the players that they must beat the game to escape. Aincrad, a steel castle which is the setting of SAO, has 100 floors, which need to be climbed and completed to finish the game. Those who suffer in-game deaths or forcibly remove the NerveGear will suffer real-life deaths. With the advantage of previous VR gaming experience and a drive to protect other beta testers from discrimination, he