- “I've watched way too many people get killed, and there's no way I can just sit back and take it anymore! As long as I can fight, I'm not gonna let another innocent person die! I won't let that happen EVER again! I'll protect everyone even if it costs me my own life!”
- ―Kirito to Rosy, vowing to protect as many innocent lives as possible.
- “I won't let anyone else die! Not ever again! This time...I'LL SAVE THEM!!!!”
- ―Kirito
Kazuto Kirigaya, better known by his virtual handle/nickname Kirito, is the main protagonist of the popular Japanese light novel/manga/anime series Sword Art Online. He's a swordsman of godlike power.
Kirito is one of the 1,000 original testers for the Sword Art Online beta, one of the 10,000 people who were trapped in SAO, and one of the 6,000 survivors of the game. He has since been recognized as one of the greatest swordsmen in the virtual world.
He is voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka in Japanese, and Bryce Papenbrook in English.
Personality[]
Kirito is someone who is not good with words, as said by Klein, and can be quite direct. This is due to him not having many friends and closing others off during his life time, due to 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 to some degree. Also, from time to time, Kirito can be quite overconfident thinking he can do things others can't.
However, Kirito is truly a very kind and caring person who is simply misunderstood. Despite the general population opinion towards Beta Testers in SAO, he refused to abandon another player in trouble even willing to risk his own life in doing so. This is only strengthened after the Black Cats of the Full Moon's demise which he blamed himself for. He also comforts others who are scared or down such as Silica after she lost Pina. He claims to help some female players in SAO because they remind him of his sister, who he feels to have forced into kendo and feels guilty for that. These kind of acts have earned him respect and affection from many girls. Kirito, unlike usual shonen male heroes, is not very dense as he was able to tell that Lisbeth was going to confess to him, before Asuna interrupted.
A person with incredibly strong resolve, Kirito will do anything and everything in his power to accomplish something that's 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 Yggdrasil, 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.
He is almost always a calm and collected character, rarely showing any signs of distress. When Akihiko Kayaba appeared in SAO and announced that it has become a Death Game, Kirito showed only a slight reaction and was able to quickly accept the new conditions of the game, while most of the others panicked. He has shown different moods throughout the series; at times being rather cheerful, while being gloomy at other times. When in a battle, he becomes incredibly fierce and aggressive. His fierceness can go to the point where he loses control of himself and is even unable to recall what he had just done. He is also greatly enraged when he sees someone innocent being harmed.