Wake Application

[worldbeater]

Character Information
Character Name: Kazuto “Kirito” Kirigaya
Fandom: Sword Art Online

Character History: Please summarize your character's involvement in the series. This does not have to be every little event so much as an overview.

When he was only a year old, Kazuto's birth parents were killed in a horrific traffic accident. His aunt and uncle took in the boy and, for reasons he has never completely understood, chose to instead raise him as their own son and never told him about his birth parents. Kazuto's earliest memories were of the local kendo dojo, where he and his sister were pushed into the sport by their overbearing grandfather. Between his abusive guidance and an increasing interest in computers thanks to his adopted mother's job as editor for a computer magazine, he gravitated towards technology, eventually dropping judo in favor of it.

Kazuto became a prodigy, from building a computer system to learning to hack online databases at a young age. He was only ten when he discovered his own records, the full details of which had been mysteriously deleted. It was there that he learned of his real parents, and that his family were really his aunt, uncle and cousin. He withdrew from his family and became more obsessed with online gaming and game designers, particularly the work of Akihiko Kayaba. He knew about the work on Sword Art Online before many other people and jumped at the chance to be one of the game's beta testers.

Kirito made it a point to sign in the second the final version went live, as one of the game's first ten thousand players. On that first day he met a new player who went by the name of Klein and showed him around the game's controls. As Klein tried to sign out, however, he discovered the game had no log out button. Shortly thereafter, the two of them, along with the other players, were gathered in the town square for a “tutorial”, at which point Kayaba appeared and explained the new rules of the game: The only way to log out was to clear Aincrad's 100 floors, all revival items had been removed, and death in the game would mean death in real life. Though he could not convince Klein to come with him, Kirito set out to quickly work through the areas of the game he already knew, leveling up to assure his survival.

During that first month, Kirito continued to play solo and defeated many of the quests on the first floor thanks to his knowledge as a beta tester, and while he avoided Klein, he befriended another beta tester, Argo, who served as an information broker. During the same time, 2,000 players died on the first floor. However, the remaining players grew in skill, and eventually had an opportunity to face the first floor boss, in a group led by a player named Diabel.

Kirito begrudgingly attended the meeting, during which another of the high level players, Kibaou, accused the beta testers of being responsible for the deaths in the game. While others spoke in defense of the beta testers, Kibaou remained convinced they weren't to be trusted. Nonetheless, Diabel managed to convince everyone to work together to fight the boss, thanks to a strategy guide provided free in the item shops(Argo wrote the guide, though this wasn't public knowledge) The plan required the players to split into teams. Kirito was left out, and ultimately found the only other solo player there, a “newbie” he'd encountered earlier, Asuna. The two were assigned support during the battle against the floor boss, Illfang.

The fight went as planned until the very end, when Diabel rushed forward to try and get the Last Hit Bonus and Item from the boss. Kirito realized Diabel was a beta tester as well, but to his horror saw that Illfang's strategy had changed from the beta. Diabel ignored him, and was fatally struck by the boss. Kirito and Asuna teamed together to take down the boss, and it seemed Kirito would be a reluctant leader in the game. However, Kibaou accused Kirito of being a beta tester, and demanded the others reveal themselves so they could be “dealt with”. In order to protect the other beta testers, Kirito mocked the group and claimed the beta testers were nothing, while he had gotten further than anyone else. The players dubbed Kirito both a beta tester and a cheater, which morphed into “beater”. The beta testers were protected, but Kirito became more of an outcast than ever. Only Asuna and Argo regularly spoke to him, and he refused to party with either of them.

Over the next few months, Kirito aided in the boss raids but remained on his own the rest of the time. As fate would have it, however, he one day stumbled across a mid-level guild named the Moonlit Black Cats, and helped them escape a particularly difficult battle. Seeing that their ambition went beyond their skill level, Kirito agreed to join the guild, though he planned to stay only a short while until their levels were high enough, since his level was far higher than the rest of the group's. The group had great success for a short time, and Kirito grew close to one of the members, Sachi. Eventually they earned enough money to buy a house to serve as their headquarters, and the group's leader Keita went to purchase again. Against his better judgement, Kirito was convinced to go level up with the rest of the party on the highest floor.

However, the group triggered a trap on the floor, and were surrounded by wave after wave of powerful enemies. Despite his best efforts, the other Cats were slaughtered, including Sachi. Kirito survived and was forced to tell Keita what happened. Keita blamed Kirito, calling him a beater before he jumped from the outer wall of Aincrad, committing suicide. Wracked with guilt, Kirito started to level up recklessly, driven by the rumor of a revival item that would appear only on Christmas Day. He eventually beat the quest and acquired the item, but learned it would not save Sachi. He planned to attack each floor boss wrecklessly, in effect committing suicide. That night, he discovered a recorded message from Sachi in his inventory, saying she knew she wouldn't survive the game and didn't blame him, and wanted him to survive for the both of them.

From that point forward, Kirito continued down his path in the game, doing his best to survive. But, as penance for his failure to protect the Moonlit Black Cats and Sachi, he makes it a point to help other players in need whenever he can.

Character Personality: Please be as detailed as possible. Minimum three paragraphs.

From a very young age, Kirito has defined himself by mastering MMORPGs and other games. As a result, he's both very competitive and terribly anti-social. He'll often opt to let others initiate conversation, and he's often quite blunt. He comes across as rude and insensitive, though the reality is that he's just unfamiliar dealing with other people. Thanks to his adoption being kept secret from him as well, he's incredibly slow to trust other people, and even if he spends time with them he'll make it a point to keep them at a distance. He doesn't like to lose, and can be incredibly competitive and even cocky if he'd in his element. Despite his desire to be the best at games, it's more something he wants to know for himself, and will often go out of his way to avoid excess attention. Thanks to his time with the Moonlit Black Cats and Asuna, he's learning to enjoy the games more and more, but it's still a work in progress. He loves combat and often won't miss an opportunity to hone his skills, particularly against monsters. Part of this is venting some deeply held frustration about the way others have treated him.

At heart, Kirito is a good person, and will often go out of his way to help others if they need it. He's particularly drawn to outsiders like himself, or people who remind him of those he's close to. He'll even do things to his own detriment, such as playing the role of the Beater in order to protect other beta testers. At the same time, Kirito has little tolerance for people who cause misery and suffering to others, and has been known to go out of his way to track down “orange players”(those who attack or even PK others in the game) and deliver them to the in-game jail. While he's more than willing to help others, it's very rare he'll stick around for long and accept thanks, the Black Cats being a rare exception. He's even been known to treat the in-game NPCs with respect in Sword Art Online, even though they aren't alive and will respawn if harmed.

Though he'll do his best to hide it around others, Kirito can be very emotional, and mistakes tend to weigh heavily upon him. Even his decision to leave Klein after the game's first day haunts him, to say nothing of losing the other Cats. He'll only talk about those feelings with those he gets very close to, and thus far he's not found that connection with anyone in SAO. He does find it a little easier to talk to girls, since he was teased mercilessly by the other boys his age in school and has great disdain for the attitude some people have toward girls. He rarely considers these friendships romantic; even with Sachi, he didn't consider their connection romantic, instead comparing it to “two cats licking each other's wounds”. Once he does befriend someone, however, he'll do anything for them... though he'll also be less afraid of teasing them and show a bit more of his sense of humor around them.

Once Kirito commits to something, it's hard to dissuade him. He can get a little stubborn and not even listen to reason, feeling completely confident in his decisions. He's not afraid to argue for a course of action, even taking it to a duel if need be. Though a great deal of his behavior can be altruistic, Kirito enjoys getting rare items from last hit bonuses and difficult subquests, and often keeps items long after they're of no use. He's also a bit of a food addict, and has tried every restaurant in Aincrad more than once, to the point food is one of the easier ways to break down his personal barriers.

Powers and Abilities:

Sword Art Online doesn't have magic in its game system, rather a series of skills the players can build up. Kirito is an expert with the one handed sword, easily one of the best players in the game using it, and has unlocked a variety of special sword techniques. These are simply “combo strikes” and are nothing more than a series of sword strikes strung together, without any additional effect. Kirito's reaction times are among the fastest in the game, which contributes to his immense skill. Recently, he has discovered a new skill on his character sheet, “Dual Wield”. At the current point in time, his strength attribute isn't high enough to equip it on his profile, however.

Though not a super genius by any stretch, Kirito is remarkably perceptive, with strong deductive reasoning. He has a particular affinity for computers and programming, and can figure out new systems with ease. Though the skill is of limited use, he's incredibly familiar with the MMORPG genre and can recognize tropes and patterns easily.

Samples
Network:

So, what is the objective here?

I've heard from a few people so far, and so many of the answers seem... vague. I get that I was brought here for a reason, but I still don't understand what that reason is, or what I'm supposed to do. Where I come from there's a definite goal and I understand how I reach for it. There are stats and game systems and it all makes sense. This doesn't. And being told that I'll find my way eventually doesn't help. At all.

Failing that, is anyone in the city familiar with the blacksmith trade? Or I suppose I should say, can anyone bend a sword to certain specifications? I would like to at least have my weapons in case of any trouble, since things quite clearly can get violent here. I'm not sure if there is any way to pay, but I would be more than willing to do so.

I guess... that's it.

Thanks.

Third Person:

It had quickly become a tradition. The day before Christmas Eve he talked with his friends as they planned out what they might do the next day. The last few minutes of online time were reserved for Asuna, affording them a few precious minutes to discuss their plans, as they always planned a special online date for Christmas Eve itself. Then he signed off, ate dinner with his family as normal and then retreated to his room.

With the door closed and the lights turned off, he slipped on his headphones and found the right track on the old MP3 player and stared at the clock. The minutes ticked by slowly, letting him reflect on everything that happened that day. Even though it had only been in the virtual world, he recalled the details vividly, more than many in his real life. The horrible sounds, so much like glass shattering, and that moment when their bodies flashed hot white then broke apart.

The clock finally read 12:00 AM. Christmas Eve. He pressed play, and an instrumental version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer played through the headphones. He'd tried desperately to recover the content of the message crystal from his NervGear's memory, but failed to do so. He'd wanted to hear her voice one more time, even though it played perfectly in his memory. And, as happened every year, tears began to stream down his cheeks.

He'd only ever told one person about Sachi, and the whole time he told the story, he'd been scared she would push him away and blame him for her death. She hadn't. Even Sachi hadn't blamed him, thinking her own death inevitable. But he still considered letting her and the rest of the Moonlit Black Cats die to be his greatest failing.

The song ended and he wiped away the tears with his sleeve. He'd forgotten many details of the game, from the names of players he'd only briefly met to the battles against the bosses that started to blur together after a while. But he would never forget a single detail of Sachi's loss, and the debt he would owe her forever.