Forum:The Black Swordsman (Renovated)

"Guardian, is it? I’ve heard of your so-called legendary accomplishments. Sending Oryx back into the Ascendant Plane, destroying SIVA, and so much more… But that ends here. No matter what you do, how hard you try, you’ll always fall. Even if you get back up, try to rise against the threat… this one will be too much for even you."

- Kirito, introducing himself to The Guardian.

The Black Swordsman (alias, original name Kazuto Narusaka), also known as Kirito, the Shadow Emperor, is the partner and husband of The White Angel, the father of Yui Narusaka, Tatsuyi Kirigaya, Yuji Kirigaya, and Konno Yuuki, and the Darkness-affiliated doppelgänger of The Star King.

Prior to the events of Destiny, he 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.

First reintroduced to humanity as an a-life program once in service to Rasputin, designed and modeled upon an ancient Japanese military program known as A.L.I.C.E., for the development of better weapons and defense protocols for the betterment of humanity during the Golden Age, he would become corrupted by the Black Fleet during the First Collapse and go rogue, losing all trace of his former identity and reverting to what he knew: killing or be killed.

He went dormant throughout the majority of the Dark and City ages until the Black Fleet reawakened him in preparation for their assault, restoring his memories and abilities at full capacity and reuniting him with his partner in the process.

As the dark leader of a notorious organization called the Shadowkeepers, he commands the Avatar army, along with numerous elite factions of various enemies that lingered in the atmosphere of the Solar System, infecting the surfaces of humanity's worlds with the Darkness. While the minions of the Darkness look up to him, there are a special few within the inner circle who hold him in high regard as their savior.

He is the main antagonist of the Paradox expansion, having corrupted Mallory Bertha with the Darkness, killed countless Guardians, one of them being Vanguard Commander Zavala, destroyed both The Last City and the Traveler, and enshrouded the Solar System, which earned him both the favor and respect of the Darkness as its champion.

Childhood
Born to Yukito Narusaka and Aoi Narusaka on October 7th, 2008, Kazuto Narusaka was adopted by Midori Kirigaya, his aunt; Minetaka Kirigaya, his uncle; and Suguha Kirigaya, his cousin. Throughout his childhood, he grew fond of computers and gave up kendo. When he was 10, he managed to find out the identities of his biological parents.

The Death Game and Beyond
"Our people remember a time when humanity looked up to him as many things: bright kid, player, protector, and savior. Numerous myths, legends, and tales spoke of him as the Black Swordsman, the hero of Aincrad and liberator of a thousand innocent souls. If only they were able to help him find his way back towards the path of the noble morality... the path of the Great Machine."

- Koriks, Kell of Flame to The Guardian.

See the full chronology surrounding Kirito's history here.

On November 6th, 2022, Kazuto Kirigaya, now known as Kirito, was among the ten thousand players who got trapped in Sword Art Online by Akihiko Kayaba, his idol and the creator of said game who adopted the identity of Heathcliff, the leader of the Knights of the Blood guild. Despite all the sufferings and traumatic nightmares that came his way, he, along with Asuna, Klein, Agil, Lisbeth, and Silica, managed to defeat the creator and beat the game, freeing all the surviving players in the progress.

Two months after the end of the SAO Incident, Kirito enlisted the help of Suguha and his daughter Yui, along with his other good-hearted friends, in order to defeat Sugou Nobuyuki and save Asuna and the other 299 kidnapped players within the heart of ALFheim Online.

Some time after Sugou's arrest by the police, Kirito accepted Seijirou Kikuoka's request to enter the world of Gun Gale Online to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding the GGO players' deaths. Along the way, he teamed up with Shino Asada to defeat Death Gun, who was later revealed to be Shouichi Shinkawa, Kyouji's older brother, and avenge their deaths. At some point, he caught a glimpse at Excalibur, the rumored Holy Sword that once belonged to King Arthur, and gathered Asuna, Lisbeth, Silica, Klein, and Shino for an expedition to Jötunheimr to retrieve the sword before anyone else could steal their chance. Following the success of this mission, he encountered Yuuki Konno and later teamed up with her and the Sleeping Knights to beat the boss of the 27th floor several days before paying tribute to her at a funeral in New Aincrad.

Later on, he and his friends would test out Ordinal Scale. Expecting to immerse themselves into a new world, they instead came face-to-face with Dr. Tetsuhiro Shigemura, who sought to harvest memories from all of the SAO players in order to resurrect his daughter Yuna; fortunately for them, Eiji showed up to help them thwart the doctor's plans, restoring the memories of those players.

Some months later, he was recruited by Kikuoka to help Rath with its experiment known only as Project Alicization. When he woke up in a forest, he met Eugeo and Alice Zuberg and became friends with them. Upon returning to the virtual world, he reunited with Eugeo and Alice, teaming up with them and a few other friends, including Selka, Ronye Arabel, Tiese Shtolienen, and Cardinal, to overthrow Quinella and return to the real world. However, upon defeating Quinella, his return was intercepted by Gabriel Miller and his allies Vassago Casals and Critter, all of whom launched an attack on the Space Turtle at the behest of the National Security Agency in order to retrieve the Soul Translator technology. However, he later returned to help his friends defeat Gabriel's forces and protect Alice.

A few months after the end of the War of Underworld, Kirito teamed up with Asuna and Alice to defeat Mutasina and the Virtual Research Society in order to beat the Unital Ring game.

Fall From Grace
"Accept this lifeblood that I have now granted you, and you could use it to achieve so much more than I ever did. Become more than just a hero beyond your wildest dreams. The power to strike down death itself, life eternal, the grand miracle at your command. Save the entire world and live. Have all you want and more. All you have to do is choose it... choose this power... the power to become a God of the world."

- The Eldritch Witch to Kirito.

Following the end of Unital Ring, Kirito and Asuna accepted a mysterious request from the Overworld Village to prevent a growing disturbance from engulfing the Ancient Forest, culminating in their encounter with the Eldritch Witch, who would later be revealed as the first ancestor of Savathûn. Upon defeating her and bringing her to justice, they would earn the respect and honor of the Overworld Village's denizens, along with a fabled Sword. However, before leaving the village, Kirito visited the Eldritch Witch again within a nearby prison where she spoke to him about a prophecy, explaining that his life would never be the same again upon his return to the real world, revealing that he would soon be destined to steal for Asuna, to lie for her, and to kill for her. Before being enshrouded into a huge crystal, the Eldritch Witch told him to do her and the entire world a favor: to savor the darkness within him.

Upon returning to the real world, he began having simultaneous nightmares, seeing himself walking over a destroyed city while numerous united hordes of the Fallen, Hive, Vex, Cabal, Taken, and Scorn, led by the dark commanders, launched a cataclysmic attack against numerous innocent villagers and royal members and set fire to various buildings. Towards the end of the nightmare, he saw himself standing next to a corrupt Asuna, who pulled his hand holding the gun directly at a broken, weakened, and now mortal Superman, who pleaded for him to stray from his current path and end the nightmare to restore truth and justice, claiming that he still has some good left in him. His eyes suddenly glowing red, he asked Superman how his parents were doing shortly before shooting bullets all over him, laughing as a bullet laced with a weaponized blend of a fatal variant of succinylcholine and Kryptonite sped into the Kryptonian's head, waking him up from a nightmare, covered in sweat and panting uncontrollably.

Feeling pangs of despair and guilt, he was comforted by Asuna, who immediately engaged with him in a romantically toxic relationship after promising to help him keep his nightmare a secret, not knowing that Alice was watching them. Some hours later, he and Asuna, along with their friends, received a surprising reunion with Suguha, who claimed that she had escaped from the clutches of Rosalia, Johnny Black, the Shinkawa brothers, and Critter, along with the resurrected Kuradeel, Vassago, and Gabriel, all of whom had been planning to exact their revenge on Kirito for what he did to them. Knowing that he fought her kidnappers before, he promised Suguha that he'd beat them again, but upon leaving the Dicey Cafe, he and Asuna were immediately surrounded by a group of anti-SAO protesters, led by Kosaka and his lackeys, who called them out for everything that happened ever since the SAO Incident began. However, just when Kosaka's lackeys were about to kill Asuna, Kazuto lunged towards them and stabbed them with a dagger shortly before impaling Kosaka in the chest with Shino's gun, saving Asuna in the process. Before Kosaka died, he told Kazuto that he was only just the first of many and that a savior would come to cleanse the world of its true enemies, starting with Kazuto, using up the last of his breath to send compromising information about him to his old foe, but when Kazuto asked him who he sent it to, Kosaka mockingly retorted that he thought that he knew who it was. Startled by this revelation, he and Asuna burned the bodies and weapons of Kosaka and his lackeys and dropped them into a nearby waste bin, while she told him that what he did was out of self-defense and that he didn't have to worry about it.

A few days later, he and Asuna, along with their daughter Yui, bought a futuristic house with the help of Argo's closest friend and accommodated to this new life, unaware that Sugou had broken out of prison with the help of Future Tech Industries, a shady corporation that had arranged for his release and established plans to make major changes to all of Japan. During this moment, they entered the world of Destiny Online, an Xbox-exclusive VRMMORPG where players can experience and control their in-game characters with their minds and controllers. Having already migrated their accounts into the game through their shared console, they adjusted to this new gaming style and, at some point, through their Guardians, managed to kill the united alliance led by Lisknis, Devil Enforcer and Lisknis, the Devils Executor. Believing that Sword Art Online had gotten too old for them, they began to live their own lives, but that feeling was interrupted when Alice sent a distress signal to them, telling them to turn on the news. Once they did, they saw a recent photo of a nurse, which was taken hours before her death, distressing Kazuto when he recognized her as Nurse Aki, but that feeling soon turned to horror when he saw a note that was sewed up on her uniform, which read "To the Swordsman: Your life for theirs," along with photos of Sasha and the children players, whom she cared for during the SAO Incident. Vowing to rescue them from the clutches of their kidnappers, Kazuto and Asuna went to the Ocean Turtle and consulted with Kikuoka, who helped them out with the investigation, only for them to receive more disturbing news regarding Underworld. Entrusting their friends with that task, they, along with Alice and Takeru Higa, went to the Axiom Church, where they spoke with Iskahn and Scheta, along with the Supreme Sorcerer, Emerald Archer, and Bronze Titan, the elite commanders of their respective armadas of the Integrity Mages, Bandits, and Knights, who spoke about the unsettling return of the Star King, who had now sought revenge for what happened to his Queen. Aware of his previous time as the Star King, Kirito, Alice, and Asuna traveled to the Star King's castle, where they fought off his army and managed to neutralize his powers long enough for him to get through to his counterpart and help him turn good again, which proved to be a perfect moment when a trio of monsters cornered them, seeking to avenge The Gleam Eyes's death. Having seen their movements the same way The Gleam Eyes performed its attacks, Kirito, Asuna, Alice, and the Star King formed the ultimate attack, utterly penetrating through the monsters' defenses and destroying them for good. Knowing that the Star King can finally be at peace, they thanked him for helping them and protecting Underworld shortly before logging off.

Upon returning to the real world, Kazuto encounters his aunt and uncle, who greeted them with good news regarding new developments towards the case about his biological parents' deaths, explaining that the police had finally found the identity of the person who killed them. Relieved and happy that he can finally be able to rest easy, he went with them to the police station, where Officer Saito, a prominent and kind-hearted policeman who called them about the case, discussed with them about his birth parents' killer and the events that impacted his life after their deaths. Promising to send the full details of the killer's identity, he gave them the short version, explaining that it was indeed Suguha, even though she appeared much older than her current self, and that his birth parents can finally rest in peace, knowing that she will have been brought to justice. Feeling betrayed by his own cousin, but also comforted by his promise, he thanked Saito for the news and went back home with them shortly before leaving with Asuna, which unknowingly resulted in an enraged and deranged Suguha visiting the police station, where she, having embraced the evil presence within her and adopted the Mistress of Evil's embodiment, murdered Officer Saito in cold blood and burned everything related to the murder case, managing to wipe off any and all prints that could implicate her in the intrusion.

A few days after visiting the police station, Kazuto and Asuna transitioned into their pleasurable lives, suddenly sporting their punk wardrobe looks and gaining so much popularity that they appeared on various late-night shows, revealing plans to leave their Sword Art Online career behind for a chance at a special life, including an exclusive ten-star wedding. Believing that everything had been going so well for him and Asuna and that it can go on the way he liked it, he ignored various things that bombarded his moments, including the news regarding Saito's sudden death and the continually-expanding intensity of the kidnappings, which also led to Argo being kidnapped. Suddenly realizing what had happened to her when he tried to call her, he and Asuna went back to the Ocean Turtle, where they helped Kikuoka and the rest of his friends continue with the investigation. At some point in time, he and his friends heard a signal coming from the main computer, leading to good news from Kikuoka, who told them that he'd just got a hit on the location of Argo and Sasha, along with the other people who had been kidnapped; however, while the Ocean Turtle scouts were able to safely retrieve Sasha and the younger SAO players, Kazuto was saddened that they couldn't find Argo, but suddenly felt pained by the news that Argo's entire records were erased, implying that she had never existed to begin with, although things eventually take a worse turn when he finds out from a malicious sender that Argo's death was the first consequence of his selfish decision to defy the threat message and that unless he turned himself in, many others would suffer for what he did. Still trusting of Asuna, he decided to ignore the second threat, asserting that whoever sent the threat message had no idea who he was messing with.

However, his assertion turned out to be wrong during the fifth annual Bullet of Bullets tournament festival, where Kazuto and his friends came under attack by an armored assailant and a masked teenager, both of whom had come to assassinate him. While he was able to deflect their attacks, he found himself unable to apprehend them due to their abnormal strengths and agilities; however, the attack was interrupted by Shino, who helped Kazuto escape with his life shortly before confronting the armored assailant, who immediately overwhelmed and captured her shortly before he and the masked kid left the scene, but not before mockingly asking him how many more people he will kill.

Tormented by this sickening revelation, Kazuto and his friends went back to the Dicey Cafe, where he attempted to track down Shino so that he could bring her back, but ran into Alice, who demanded to know why the two attackers were after him. Startled by her sudden approach, he replied that it was because of the death threats he had been receiving ever since Suguha's encounter with his old foes, which changed her angry mood into one of fear; sensing that he was telling the truth, Alice pleaded for him not to go after Shino's kidnappers, fearing that he could put himself in even more danger than he already was in. However, the conversation was interrupted by Andrew, who turned on the TV and told them to take a look at the broadcast that the police had set up; upon watching the live coverage, Kazuto and Alice, along with their friends, were horrified when they saw that the police had televised a montage showing off Kazuto's darkest secrets and the many unspeakable things that he had done during the SAO Incident to the public, which was followed by a speech by Diaval Reitherman, the director of the Intergalactic Peacekeeping Regime, who proclaimed that the videos that were previously leaked by an anonymous email were indeed real, explaining that Kazuto wasn't only a murderer and a beater, but also a corrupt sadist who didn't care about anyone other than himself. Kazuto's initial feeling of anger soon turned to dread when Diaval revealed that he and his wife, Dr. Malley Centius, had previously consulted with the Future Tech Industries corporation, led by Scheck; arranged for Sugou's release from prison in accordance with the reports detailing Kazuto's insane accusations against Asuna's ex-fiance and how he blackmailed the police into arresting the chairman of RECT Progress's Resarch Division, claiming that steps had been taken to ensure that Sugou's accuser didn't pose any more threat to the world ever again and that the civilians wouldn't have to suffer the traumatic nightmares they had endured during the Death Game Incident; and promised to help the authorities with restoring RECT Inc. to its previous glory and making Japan great again by hunting down the Black Swordsman to ensure that he answered for his crimes, which also included the recent murders of Kosaka and his group of anti-SAO protesters. Towards the end of the coverage, Diaval also assured them that the world would soon be safe again with his men around, not only declaring Kirito as the public's enemy, but also exposing his secret identity to the entire world, much to Kazuto's shocking dismay.

Now traumatized by Diaval's brutal revelation, Kazuto ran back to his relatives' house, where he retreated to his bedroom, struggling to take his mind off the fact that he was now a wanted fugitive, but worked up the courage to get back up when he suddenly received another message, but this time, instead of it being a death threat, it was a challenge from the masked kid, who told him to adopt his original ALO avatar and meet him at the post office. Knowing that the kid was serious, Kazuto accepted the challenge and put on his Spriggan character before heading for the post office; however, upon arriving, he found himself depowered to his status from when he first played ALO, a limitation that the teenager had implanted into the challenge to ensure that Kazuto fought him fair and square. When Kazuto asked the teenager why he tried to attack him, he revealed himself as Takeru, the Fire Warrior and a faithful servant of the Mistress of Evil, proclaiming that he came to Japan to help enforce the will that had been set upon the world by a ruthless group of powerful beings that he pledged his loyalty to in an ongoing plan to bring peace and order to the galaxy, and that Kazuto's very determination to save his loved ones would soon become his undoing shortly before engaging with him in a brutal one-on-one fight. During the fight, Kazuto deflected the many attacks that Takeru sent against him with initial ease, but soon found himself losing energy when he tried to deliver a blow against his opponent. Shocked by this abnormal amount of strength that Takeru possessed, Kazuto asked him if he was a devil, but Takeru called him out for being too ignorant, explaining that he wasn't a monster in the same way that Kazuto wasn't a hero, revealing that he should be honored to be dueling him in the same place where Shino shot the middle-aged robber when she was a child. Angrily calling Takeru out for uttering her name, Kazuto attempted to inflict as much damage as he could upon him, but ended up suffering from his own attacks. Suddenly finding himself almost depleted of his health and losing his memories about Shino, Kazuto asked Takeru why he was doing this and why he suddenly stopped remembering her, to which he responded that he did this to himself and that the Overtakers did the entire world a favor by making a minor change to the timeline, one that he wouldn't be able to remember ever again. Satisfied with Kazuto's early defeat, Takeru knocked him unconscious long enough to teleport his previous victims all over his weakened opponent before leaving the scene; when Kazuto woke up, he found himself surrounded from all corners by the police officers, who immediately placed him under direct arrest for the murders of innocent SAO players, members of Kosaka's group, and the people whose blood were found all over him, for deliberately hijacking the network servers from ALO to gain an unfair advantage against Sugou, and for many other crimes against humanity, despite his attempts to tell them that he was framed. Handcuffing his arms and legs and branding him as a terrorist, they took him to a court, where he was found guilty and taken to the Kibutsuji Florianius Penitentiary, a maximum security prison where he was cruelly placed on death row without any privileges for him to earn or any sources of defense to protect him.

Prison Break
(TBA)

Race Against Time
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Fulfilling the Prophecy
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Encounter from the Future
(TBA)

The Dreaming Heart
Sometime after the First Collapse, the worlds of the Solar system partway drawn into Aincrad from various "Darkness Zones" left behind, the a-life that would come to be known as the Black Swordsman was deposited at the foot of the Watching Tower. Confused and disoriented, Kirito demanded answers from anything that would speak to him, and received nothing. After many long and fruitless months of attempting escape, Kirito gave up all hope and resigned himself to his fate. It was then the Darkness spoke to him, promising rich rewards in exchange for lifelong servitude. The a-life agreed, and was rechristened the Black Swordsman, herald of the Darkness' coming and leader of its armies.

As time passed differently in Aincrad, or perhaps the Darkness had bent the passage of time around the a-life specifically, no sooner had the Swordsman agreed than it was revealed the Black Fleet had been mustering for its second all-out assault upon a weakened Traveler and the small alliance of humans it had rallied. Kirito was sent out from Aincrad into the material realm, reawakening long dormant lieutenants of Darkness and cutting off avenues of escape; at some point, he would be reunited with his Angel, Asuna, who had been waiting patiently for his return.

Birth of the Shadowkeepers
"You were right. Those people... they never understood us... what we've suffered. They abandoned us in favor of those monsters they call heroes, but you don't have to worry anymore. Everything's going to be okay."

- Asuna to Kirito, moments after their reunion.

(TBA)

Call to the Shadows
(TBA)

Rebellion of the Empire
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Cataclysm on Earth
(TBA)

The Second Collapse
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Retaking of Sol
(TBA)

Legacy
(TBA)

Gameplay
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Personality and Traits
(TBA)

Family

 * Yukito Narusaka, biological father &dagger;
 * Aoi Narusaka, biological mother &dagger;
 * Midori Kirigaya, aunt and adoptive mother &dagger;
 * Minetaka Kirigaya, uncle and adoptive father &dagger;
 * Suguha Kirigaya, cousin and adoptive sister &dagger;
 * Asuna Yuuki, wife
 * Yui Narusaka, daughter
 * Konno Yuuki, daughter
 * Tatsuyi Kirigaya, son
 * Yuji Kirigaya, son

Trivia
See the rest of the trivia here.
 * He is based upon a character of the same name from Sword Art Online.
 * He is voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka and Bryce Papenbrook.
 * The name Kirito is a contraction of his real name, Kirigaya Kazuto ("Kiri" from Kirigaya and "to" from Kazuto).
 * He uses a self-made PC with a 24 GHz octa-core CPU and, by extension, SIVA, which can be found within the lair room in Aincrad.
 * His favorite dishes are brown stew chicken with mushrooms due to its similarity to Ragout Rabbit Stew from SAO and, due to Asuna's influence, teriyaki and mayonnaise hamburgers, shio ramen, and honey pies.

Author's Note

 * The "Fall From Grace" and "Descent into Darkness" sections contain information from the Corrupted by Edge Lore book.

List of appearances

 * Destiny 2:
 * Paradox
 * Season of the Inferno
 * Season of Deception
 * Shadows' Legacy Update
 * Season of Dissonance
 * Season of the City
 * Age of Legends