Forum:Kazuto, Blade of the Winnower

"The doppelgänger of Kirito, the Legendary Black Swordsman of Aincrad, the boy who cleared the death game called "Sword Art Online," and the hero who saved Asuna. Kazuto is from an alternate Dimension where he conquered the game and instead of escaping it, he became the tyrant ruler over the game and enslaved everyone within it. After meeting with the Darkness, in their last call, Kazuto would answer them and help assist in the invasion into the Destiny Universe and murdered Zavala in the process. Kazuto Kirigaya, along with other notorious villains, leads a legion of Darkness-aligned enemies who call themselves the Shadowkeepers, and serves as one of the Shadow Heralds. His ascension over the Solar System could spell the destruction of the Light and everything we fought for."

- Official Description

Kazuto, Blade of the Winnower, also known as Kirito, the Black Swordsman, is the Black Swordsman of Aincrad, the husband of Asuna and father of Yui Narusaka, Tatsuyi Kirigaya, Yuji Kirigaya, and Konno Yuuki, and a teenager who was chosen as one of 1,000 beta testers for a new state-of-the-art virtual reality MMORPG called Sword Art Online, a game that he and Asuna completed on November 7th, 2024. Raised by his foster parents as a son, he originally trained with his cousin in the neighborhood kendo dojo under their grandfather's tutelage. Due to his aunt's influence as an editor for a computer systems magazine, he fell in love with computers and dropped kendo after two years of training. He has immense skill as a programmer, managing to build a computer from parts during elementary school, finding his erased records in the national registry at the age of ten, as well as managing to stop the SAO server from deleting Yui by converting her program into an object and storing her into his Nerve Gear as environmental data.

As the dark leader of a notorious legion of time criminals and villains known as the Shadowkeepers, he commands the Shadow Heralds, an elite faction of various enemies chosen by the Darkness to destroy the Light and rewrite the universe. While the minions of the Darkness looked up to him, the elite commanders of said army have devoted themselves to carrying out his mission of bringing the Traveler under the influence of the Darkness.

He is the main antagonist of the Paradox expansion, having formed a dark army consisting of all the enemies the Guardian faced, killed heroes such as Zavala, and destroyed Auradon, all of which earned him both the favor and respect of the Darkness as its champion.

Childhood and Past
Although not much is known about Kazuto, except for his childhood, all the Guardians know are that he was one of the players who were trapped in Sword Art Online, that he fell in love with a girl named Asuna, and that moments after beating the game, he enslaved the trapped players and became the tyrant ruler of Aincrad.

Arrival
"For centuries, humanity built the world on lies, mutual interests, truces, and so-called heroics, tainting the majesty of our shape. Ever since they came to this world, they've infested existence with the most gruesome of all lies: this abnormal addiction they call goodness, but that will all change. The universe now calls out to you... I now call out to you. I have seen your struggles, your sufferings, your pain enacted by those who claim to be heroes and villains. I have witnessed your ambitions, your powers, your awakening, your desire... to change the world. I can give you everything you've always wanted. All you have to do is carry out my will. Become the Black Swordsman and Lightning Flash, Overlords of Shadows, the instruments of our reckoning, and the heralds of our ascension. Reclaim your powers so that you can finally destroy the Light once and for all. Reshape the universe as you see fit so that it can emerge, prosper, and free its inhabitants from humanity's greatest lie: FREEDOM."

- The Darkness, speaking to Kazuto and Stacia.

Some time after the Guardians' victory during the events of Lightfall, the Darkness, having found a still-open portal, used its dying breath to send the Black Fleet into the dimensional gateway to recruit its new allies, such as Kazuto and Stacia, alternate version of Kirito and Asuna from Sword Art Online, where they not only beat the game, but also took over and ruled over within Aincrad; Totomaru, a former member of the Phantom Lord guild and the manipulator of the Solar element; Eobard Thawne, the Reverse-Flash and a speedster who murdered Nora Allen, the mother of Barry Allen; and Malcolm Merlyn, the Dark Archer and the man who orchestrated the destruction of the Queen's Gambit and played a role in Sara Lance's death.

Along with Damien Darhk, the leader of H.I.V.E. and the man who murdered Laurel Lance; Tobias Whale, a crime lord and the man who murdered Jefferson Pierce's father; The Doctor, a Framework persona of Leopold Fitz and HYDRA's ruthless second-in-command; Anton Ivanov, the leader of the Watchdogs and a powerful mercenary known as Omega; Hiram Lodge, a powerful businessman and the leader of a notorious criminal empire responsible for the emergence of the Ghoulies; Morgana le Fay, the Mother of Monsters and a powerful wizard who was betrayed by Merlin and allied with Gunmar and his army in her quest for revenge on the Trollhunters; Zevon, the son of Yzma who invaded Auradon with plans to steal the Golden Cobra and the Birthright Jewels so that he could rule said kingdom; Uldren Sov, the Prince of the Reef who was presumed dead during the Battle of Saturn; Djin, the leader of the Numeros and a former member of M.A.T.A.; Sasuke Uchiha, the lone surviving member of the Uchiha clan who acquired the Sharingan and the Rinnegan; Phoenixaro Uchihamaki, the leader of the Akatsuki and Kakashi Hatake's estranged brother; and Ruby Hale, the Destroyer of Worlds and the daughter of General Hale, who had been genetically engineered by HYDRA's leader Daniel Whitehall, the Shadow Heralds would resurrect Sachi and Eugeo by implanting the respective memories of Reign and Fikrul, the Fanatic into their vessels' bodies and form a notorious organization unlike anything the world had ever encountered known as the Shadowkeepers.

At some point in time, the Shadowkeepers would grow influence amongst minor figures from the enemy species of The Last City, and the Traveler, and rallied many of their people to join the Shadows. However, many other Factions deemed them as heretics due to reasons such as the Darkness as well as some of those Shadows are humans, causing many Factions to attack the Shadows as a result. But nonetheless, the Shadowkeepers were able to gain enough numbers to form small divisions, such as the House of Shadows, Shadow Brood, Shadow Divisive, Shadow Legion, The Reborn, and the Cult of the Scorned.

A New Aincrad
"My loyal and ambitious subjects, you are here today to finally end your troubles, finally end your griefs over your losses, finally to end your droughts against The Last City's forces...and to finally bring your people's salvation. The wait is finally over, for I, Kazuto, Chosen by the Winnower, Champion of the Black Fleet, Bringer to Light's End, will bring you the Salvation and justice that you crave so dearly..."

- Kazuto, addressing the Shadowkeepers and his elites.

Moments after taking over Auradon, Kazuto and Stacia set up countless programs and SIVA networks from his computer that the Black Fleet used to rebuild Aincrad as they saw fit and split up the Shadow Army into its six respective groups: the House of Shadows, led by Kotrik, the notorious Fallen Kell of Shadows who formerly worked with the House of Rain; the Shadow Brood, led by Zharves, a surviving Hive Deathsinger who formerly served Crota and his father; the Shadow Divisive, led by Hydrax, a massive Vex Axis Mind Hydra who possessed the ability to stop time; the Shadow Legion, led by Gha'arn, a powerful Cabal warlord who helped restore the Cabal Empire to its full glory; the Reborn, led by Thu'urg, a Taken Cabal commander who sought to seize control of Oryx's army; and the Cult of the Scorned, led by Vayeriks, Fikrul's right hand and a commander of the first Scorn.

Appearances

 * Destiny 2:
 * Paradox