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* ImplacableMan: Even after getting a severe beatdown by Asuna leading to him having a hole in his chest, this still isn't enough to keep down and continues menacing the heroes.
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* ImplacableMan: Even after getting Almost nothing can put this guy down for good. Getting a severe beatdown by Asuna leading gives him a TorsoWithAView, but he gets right back up as if nothing happened. He then gets frozen in ice by a Perfect Weapon Control Art, to which he breaks out using sheer willpower. The only way to put a stop to him having a hole in his chest, this still isn't enough is Kirito [[spoiler:subjecting him to keep down and continues menacing the heroes.a FateWorseThanDeath.]]
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* SlasherSmile: He loves giving these, fitting for the SerialKiller that he is.
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* ImplacableMan: Even after getting a severe beatdown by Asuna leading to him having a hole in his chest, this still isn't enough to keep down and continues menacing the heroes.
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* OmnicidalManiac: He has zero regard for the lives of anyone, including his fellow teammates. [[spoiler:His plan in Underworld is have the Japanese players killed by summoning thousands of American, Chinese and Korean players, with full intent of having them all die during their fight. He even tells Asuna that he'll kill thousands of beings, inluding her allies and every other human and monster down there, just to get the comotose Kirito to wake up; and during his various threats to murder the two both in the Underworld and in real life, he threatens to target their friends and allies.]]
to:
* OmnicidalManiac: He has zero regard for the lives of anyone, including his fellow teammates. [[spoiler:His plan in Underworld is have the Japanese players killed by summoning thousands of American, Chinese and Korean players, with full intent of having them all die during their fight. He even tells Asuna that he'll kill thousands of beings, inluding including her allies and every other human and monster down there, just to get the comotose Kirito to wake up; and during his various threats to murder the two both in the Underworld and in real life, he threatens to target their friends and allies.]]
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* ItsPersonalWithTheDragon: Interestingly becomes this for Kirito in ''Alicization''. He is firmly established as one of Kirito's {{Arch Enem|y}}ies from his time in SAO, where he was part of a BigBadEnsemble. However come ''Alicization'' he now serves as Gabriel's [[TheDragon second-in-command]], yet remains the one Kirito and really all of the SAO players have the most animosity with. By contrast, Kirito lacks personal connection to Gabriel with the two of them simply being the BigGood and BigBad and most powerful threats on the field to one another.
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** Alicization makes him one to Kirito himself. Both are SAO survivors who ended up in the Underworld, only on opposite sides of the war, had a [[DarkIsEvil generally]] [[DarkIsNotEvil black]] ColorMotif, and were arguably the [[WorldsBestWarrior World's Best Warriors]] of SAO, Kirito being considered the strongest Frontline player outside of Heathcliff, and that was partially because he was Kayaba [[TheGMIsACheatingBastard and rigged himself to never die]], while [=PoH=] was an infamous HeroKiller with an already powerful weapon that got stronger and stronger with every PK he committed. The anime drives the point even deeper by making Vassago's half-brother an IdenticalStranger to Kirito.
to:
** Alicization makes him one to Kirito himself. Both are SAO survivors who ended up in the Underworld, only on opposite sides of the war, had with a [[DarkIsEvil generally]] [[DarkIsNotEvil black]] ColorMotif, and were arguably but on opposite sides of the [[WorldsBestWarrior World's Best Warriors]] of SAO, war. Both are candidates for WorldsBestWarrior, with Kirito being considered the strongest Frontline player outside of Heathcliff, and that was partially because he was Kayaba [[TheGMIsACheatingBastard and rigged himself to never die]], while [=PoH=] was an infamous HeroKiller with an already powerful weapon that got stronger and stronger with every PK he committed.committed. In addition, while Kirito is a HeroWithBadPublicity scorned for being a Beater, Vassago is a DarkMessiah who built himself a reputation among the villainous players who he rallied into the murder guild Laughing Coffin. The anime drives the point even deeper by making Vassago's half-brother an IdenticalStranger to Kirito.
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* StalkerWithoutACrush: His obsession with Kirito can be described as this, he claims he does not hate Kirito but ''loves'' and respects him. He became fascinated by Kirito's [[{{determinator}} unbreakable will]], always remaining defiant and continuing to fight no matter how much pain he caused for the boy, never becoming corrupted no matter how much he was tempted. When [=PoH=] finds Kirito in the Underworld, his desire is not to kill the boy but to wake him up from his coma and restore him to his former state.
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Latino Is Brown has been tightened
. Single character examples go under Phenotype Stereotype; Averted Trope shouldnt be listed as its not omnipresent
. Single character examples go under Phenotype Stereotype; Averted Trope shouldnt be listed as its not omnipresentChanged line(s) 58 (click to see context) from:
* AdaptationalUgliness: The description of him in the Light Novel and his appearance in the anime make him rather attractive with his [[LatinoIsBrown exotic Latino look]], with long dark locks that hang from his head. The gameverse by contrast makes him look a lot more creepier, with more narrow snake-like eyes, no visible hair that almost makes him look bald underneath his hood, and a much [[EvilSoundsRaspy raspier voice]].
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* AdaptationalUgliness: The description of him in the Light Novel and his appearance in the anime make him rather attractive with his [[LatinoIsBrown [[PhenotypeStereotype exotic Latino look]], with long dark locks that hang from his head. The gameverse by contrast makes him look a lot more creepier, with more narrow snake-like eyes, no visible hair that almost makes him look bald underneath his hood, and a much [[EvilSoundsRaspy raspier voice]].
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* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: The Light Novel describes Vassago as being very attractive due to his [[LatinoIsBrown rather exotic appearance]], to the point where he could probably make a living as a model. Now if only he could do something about the NightmareFace he sprouts every so often...
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* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: The Light Novel describes Vassago as being very attractive due to his [[LatinoIsBrown rather exotic appearance]], appearance, to the point where he could probably make a living as a model. Now if only he could do something about the NightmareFace he sprouts every so often...
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* LatinoIsBrown: He's an offspring of a Mexican woman, and has the complexion to show it.
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* PhenotypeStereotype: Latino and has brown skin.
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!! Kuradeel
-> See the Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad page
-> See the Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad page
to:
-> See
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KojiYusa (Japanese), Creator/DougErholtz (English), Sergio Capelo (European Spanish), Christian Strempler (Latin American Spanish)
[[quoteright:331:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kuradeel_3.png]]
A Two-Handed Sword user and Asuna's bodyguard.
----
* AxCrazy: Laughs madly while slowing killing and torturing Godfrey, then takes his sweet time trying to torment Kirito as the
* BodyguardCrush: A very twisted version. He uses his position as an excuse to exclude Asuna from romantic rivals like Kirito, though it obviously doesn't stick.
* DirtyCoward: He poisons the rest of his party, paralyzing them, and slowly tortures Godfrey to death before trying to do the same to Kirito. When Asuna turns the tables on him and nearly kills him, Kuradeel pathetically tries to appeal to her conscience before trying to kill her.
* EarlyBirdCameo: In Episode 1, his name is one of many seen on the Monument of Life.
* HateSink: He was already pretty unlikable given how much of a clingy stalker of a bodyguard he was for Asuna while being extremely condescending towards Kirito for being a kid and a beta-player. However, he loses all sympathy when it's revealed he's actually an AxCrazy murderer who is a member of the Laughing Coffin.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Condemns Kirito as a murderer for killing him with his last breath, nevermind joining up with the [[PlayerKilling Laughing Coffin Guild]] and murders Godfrey and another unnamed [=KoB=] member right before moving on to kill the former.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: In the anime, Kirito blocks a strike from Kuradeel intended for Asuna [[AnArmAndALeg (at the cost of his hand)]] and then proceeds to stab him in the ribcage with an Embracer speartip hand. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to attack her in front of Kirito.
--> '''Kuradeel:''' [[FamousLastWords God damn you... you murdered me.]]
* {{Irony}}: Asuna was the object of his crazed affections, and he personally tries to make sure no one can get near her. In the webnovel, it's Asuna who [[KarmicDeath personally kills him]] without a moment of hesitation or feeling any guilt over it once he reveals his true colors.
** In the anime, since he's using his position as a guard to keep romantic rivals away from Asuna, it's also pretty ironic that Kirito is the one who kills him.
* ISurrenderSuckers: Pulls this on Asuna in both the light novel and anime. It works, unfortunately, and Kuradeel knocks her rapier away before attempting to kill her.
--> '''Kuradeel:''' The oldest trick in the book... [[SuddenlyShouting AND YOU FELL FOR IT]], [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch BITCH!]]
* {{Jerkass}}: He treats Asuna like a trophy despite being her subordinate and treats Kirito like trash despite being ten levels lower than him. Even in his dying words, he accuses Kirito of "murdering" him, even though he tried to kill Kirito and Asuna (and ''did'' kill Godfrey), forcing them to fight back in self-defense.
* StalkerWithACrush: Towards Asuna. He lurks around her house in the morning (and implied at night) because "it's his job" as her bodyguard. Asuna doesn't appreciate this.
* TattooedCrook: He bears the Laughing Coffin insignia on his forearm.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: According to Kirito, Kuradeel is in his early 20s despite his older looking face.
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!! Morte
-> See the Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad page
-> See the Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad page
to:
-> See
[[quoteright:307:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/morte_8.png]]
A mysterious player who appears to be obstructing the
----
* AxCrazy: He's a sadistic murderer, and he's got the [[AnAxeToGrind axe to prove it]].
* ArcVillain: He was one of the main threats during ''Progressive''.
* BreakTheHaughty: Throughout the previous Arcs of ''Progressive'', Morte always presented himself as cheerfully [[{{Sadist}} Sadistic]] and smug, never taking his fights with Kirito seriously and treating it more like a game if anything. [[spoiler: However, after Kirito [[AccidentalMurder almost kills him]] due to the Accuracy upgrade he gave his Sword of Eventide[[note]] While upgrades to Sharpness increases it's attack power and Weight increases the power behind attacks, Accuracy adds something of an auto-aim feature to attacks to increase the chance of hitting an enemy's weak point[[/note]], Morte is noticeably panicked and he becomes despondent after Kirito pulls the sword out, laying on the ground unmoving with the fact that his Avatar was still there being the only sign he was still alive.]]
* EvilCounterpart: Like Kirito he identifies himself as a Beater, but unlike Kirito who was [[HiddenHeartOfGold pretending to be a bad person]] due to his ZeroApprovalGambit, Morte is legitimately evil.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Kirito notes that Morte speaks in a polite tone, but this only serves to make him unnerving.
* TheHeavy: For TheConspiracy and "the man in the black poncho", [[spoiler: [=PoH=].]]
* InTheHood: He wears a chainmail coif that, while less protective than a helmet, can also hide his identity.
* LoopholeAbuse: When we first meet him, he tries to use one of these in the dueling system to avoid a red cursor. His plan to challenge Kirito to a half-off duel so make it seem friendly, only to deal enough damage to not win but get it close to half, and then use a powerful Sword Skill to guaranteed Kirito loses the rest of his HP, killing him and preventing himself from getting a Red Cursor since the duel system is designed to prevent players from getting a red cursor for attacking each other.
* ManipulativeBastard: He taught Nezuo and the Legend Braves their scamming trick, and appears to moonlight in the DKB and ALS, possibly to play both factions against one another.
* MeaningfulName: His username is the Italian word for "Death" and, while he doesn't take it as far as [=XaXa=], his [[InTheHood hooded appearance]] and use of an [[AnAxToGrind axe]] [[InvokedTrope Invokes]] something of a GrimReaper {{Motif}}. He's also part of a [=PKer=] [[TheConspiracy Conspiracy]].
* MultiMeleeMaster: He's skilled in wielding swords and axes, and does so to help keep up the illusion that his personas for both factions are different people.
* PredecessorVillain: He gave a taste of what was to come in the form of Laughing Coffin.
* PungeonMaster: He makes a lot of puns, including making fun of the term "beater."
* TheSmartGuy: He's this for TheConspiracy. Being a Beta-Tester, he has a generally good idea of things from the Beta that can cause trouble depending on if and how they were adapted to the main game, such as tricking both frontline guilds into taking different sides in the Elf War Campaign by claiming that it led to vital information on the Floor Boss and [[spoiler: revealing that the Floor 5 Boss drops the "Flag of Valor", a low-power spear that compensates by being able to grant buffs to the Guild it's affiliated with when stabbed into the ground, which would have shattered the Frontline's power balance and caused it to fall apart if only the ALS or DKB got it.]]
* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler: His murder of Lord Cylon when Kirito and Asuna are doing his questline causes it to diverge dramatically in a way Kirito couldn't have seen coming.]]
* VillainousFriendship: [[spoiler: He's {{Implied}} to know his cohort, {{Implied}} to be Joe of the ALS, IRL when Kirito accidentally cuts into Morte with a blow that could kill him, prompting his colleague yells "Mamoru", which is hinted to be his real name.]]
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** Believe or not, to Eugeo. Both were raised in loveless environments, with [=PoH=] having an [[AbusiveParents abusive mother]] and a DisappearedDad who saw effectively saw him as spare organs for his real son, whereas Eugeo was a victim of severe ParentalFavouritism towards his older siblings, as well as just generally being unfairly treated by his parents. As a result of their pasts, both have a very skewed idea of love, with [=PoH=] seeing his twisted desire to torment Kirito, as well as his loved ones to drive him into action, as some form of "love" towards him, while Eugeo believed that it was something you had to earn from others, to the point that he [[DesperatelyCravesAffection Desperately Craved Affection]] and was tempted to use the position of Integrity Knight to send money to his family. The difference is that, while Eugeo eventually learned came to believe in a more healthier definition of love, [=PoH=] never had a revelation that his beliefs were wrong and his obsession [[spoiler: ultimately bites him in the ass.]]
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** Believe or not, to Eugeo. Both were raised in loveless environments, with [=PoH=] having an [[AbusiveParents abusive mother]] and a DisappearedDad who saw effectively saw him as spare organs for his real son, whereas Eugeo was a victim of severe ParentalFavouritism towards his older siblings, as well as just generally being unfairly treated by his parents. As a result of their pasts, both have a very skewed idea of love, with [=PoH=] seeing his twisted desire to torment Kirito, as well as his loved ones to drive him into action, as some form of "love" towards him, while Eugeo believed that it was something you had to earn from others, to the point that he [[DesperatelyCravesAffection Desperately Craved Affection]] and was tempted to use the position of Integrity Knight to send money to his family. The difference is that, while Eugeo eventually learned came to believe in a more healthier definition of love, [=PoH=] never had a revelation that his beliefs were wrong and his obsession [[spoiler: ultimately bites him in the ass.]]
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* {{Foil}}: To Gabriel. Both are incredibly powerful villains, by far the most powerful and psychotic foes Kirito has faced, and serve as [[spoiler: {{Big Bad}}s for their own Arcs, Gabriel for ''War of Underworld'', taking the role of the Dark God Vecta for the purpose of invading the Underworld and capturing Alice for his own twisted ends, and [=PoH=] for ''Progressive'', being the head of TheConspiracy that are trying to make the Frontlines fall apart]]. However, whereas Gabriel is largely TheStoic, doesn't even know who Kirito is, and is more reliant on sheer brute force and power to achieve his goals of [[GodhoodSeeker attaining godhood]], [=PoH=] is a gleeful ManipulativeBastard and [[TheCorruptor Corruptor]] who's made it his mission to screw with Kirito whenever possible, and has no greater ambitions beyond causing as much pain and misery as possible solely ForTheEvulz.
** [[NatureVsNurture There's also differences in their backgrounds and how it made them who they are;]] Gabriel was a privileged child growing up, even being able to avoid falling victim to a financial crash, and had friends like Alicia, yet still went on to become a cruel homicidal megalomaniac, who [[KickTheMoralityPet killed Alicia out of]] [[EntitledToHaveYou misplaced sense of entitlement to her soul]]. [=PoH=] on other grew up being shifted from negative enviroment to negative environment, living in shitty neighborhood selling drugs with a [[AbusiveParent verbally and maybe even physically abusive mother who literally named him after a demon]] with a DisappearedDad who only stopped his mother from aborting him in case he ever needed an organ donor for his real son, and later on went to Japan and was forced to join the Korean Mafia as ProfessionalKiller to avoid getting deported, heavily hinting that while [=PoH=] is an irredeemable bastard, he may have turned out differently if he was raised in a healthier, more loving environment.
** [[NatureVsNurture There's also differences in their backgrounds and how it made them who they are;]] Gabriel was a privileged child growing up, even being able to avoid falling victim to a financial crash, and had friends like Alicia, yet still went on to become a cruel homicidal megalomaniac, who [[KickTheMoralityPet killed Alicia out of]] [[EntitledToHaveYou misplaced sense of entitlement to her soul]]. [=PoH=] on other grew up being shifted from negative enviroment to negative environment, living in shitty neighborhood selling drugs with a [[AbusiveParent verbally and maybe even physically abusive mother who literally named him after a demon]] with a DisappearedDad who only stopped his mother from aborting him in case he ever needed an organ donor for his real son, and later on went to Japan and was forced to join the Korean Mafia as ProfessionalKiller to avoid getting deported, heavily hinting that while [=PoH=] is an irredeemable bastard, he may have turned out differently if he was raised in a healthier, more loving environment.
to:
* {{Foil}}: To Gabriel. Both are incredibly powerful villains, {{Sociopath}}ic {{Sadist}}s with a severe LackOfEmpathy for others, by far the most powerful and psychotic foes Kirito has faced, and serve as [[spoiler: {{Big Bad}}s for their own Arcs, Gabriel for ''War of Underworld'', taking the role of the Dark God Vecta for the purpose of invading the Underworld and capturing Alice for his own twisted ends, and [=PoH=] for ''Progressive'', being the head of TheConspiracy that are trying to make the Frontlines fall apart]]. However, whereas Gabriel is largely TheStoic, doesn't even know who Kirito is, and is more reliant on sheer brute force and power to achieve his goals of [[GodhoodSeeker his goals of attaining godhood]], [=PoH=] is a gleeful ManipulativeBastard and [[TheCorruptor Corruptor]] who's made it his mission to screw with Kirito whenever possible, and has no greater ambitions beyond causing as much pain and misery as possible solely ForTheEvulz.
** [[NatureVsNurture There's also differences in their backgrounds and how it made them who they are;]] Gabriel was a privileged child growing up, even being able to avoid falling victim to a financial crash, and had loving parents and friends like Alicia, yet still went on to become a cruel homicidal megalomaniac,who [[KickTheMoralityPet who killed Alicia out of]] [[EntitledToHaveYou misplaced sense of entitlement to her soul]]. soul]] [[YourSoulIsMine and deluded that he could take it for himself]], ultimately lacking any kind of FreudianExcuse. [=PoH=] on other hand grew up being shifted from negative enviroment environment to negative environment, living in shitty neighborhood selling drugs with a [[AbusiveParent [[AbusiveParents verbally and maybe even physically abusive mother who literally named him after a demon]] demon to illustrate her hatred of him]] with a DisappearedDad who only stopped his mother from aborting him in case he ever needed an organ donor for his real son, and later on went to Japan as part of a deal with said DisappearedDad and was forced to join the Korean Mafia as ProfessionalKiller to avoid getting deported, heavily hinting that while [=PoH=] is an irredeemable bastard, he may have turned out differently if he was raised in a healthier, more loving environment.
** [[NatureVsNurture There's also differences in their backgrounds and how it made them who they are;]] Gabriel was a privileged child growing up, even being able to avoid falling victim to a financial crash, and had loving parents and friends like Alicia, yet still went on to become a cruel homicidal megalomaniac,
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* HandsomeLech: {{Implied}}. Thankfully, [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil he's not shown to take it as far as most instances of this with antagonists]], but [=PoH=] is {{Implied}} to be appreciative of women. He lets out a WolfWhistle when [[HotWitch Dee Eye Ell]] introduces herself, Gabriel has to make sure he doesn't go out killing or womanizing (or both) before the Dark Territory Army marches to the Great Gate, and he responds to Ronye catching him sneaking up on her with a casual "[[GratuitousEnglish Hey, baby]]" before asking how she spotted him.]]
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!! Kuradeel
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[[folder: Morte]]
!! Morte
-> See the Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad page
[[/folder]]
!! Morte
-> See the Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad page
[[/folder]]
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** [[spoiler:In the anime, while the threat of killing both Kirito and Asuna in real-life is still directed at them, the fact that he says this in front of their allies as he and Kirito fight suggests he intends to kill them in the real world as well.]]
to:
** [[spoiler:In the anime, while the threat of killing both Kirito and Asuna in real-life is still directed at them, the fact that he says this to Kirito in front of their allies as he and Kirito the two of them fight suggests he intends to kill them in the real world as well.]]
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** [[spoiler: It gets worse in ''Alicization'' when he's more than willing to even kill the underlings and summoned Chinese players working for him just to get Kirito to awaken from his coma, and treats Gabriel's men with even less respect than the man himself does.]]
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** [[spoiler: It gets worse in ''Alicization'' when he's more than willing to even kill the underlings and summoned Chinese players working for him just to get Kirito to awaken from his coma, and treats Gabriel's men with even less respect than the man himself does.respect.]]
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* LeaveNoSurvivers: [[spoiler:Ultimately his intentions in Underworld is to do this to [[OmnicidalManiac everyone]], including the Chinese and Korean players he personally summoned and all the humans, demons and monsters of Underworld itself, just to get Kirito out of his coma.]]
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* LeaveNoSurvivers: LeaveNoSurvivors: [[spoiler:Ultimately his intentions in Underworld is to do this to [[OmnicidalManiac everyone]], including the Chinese and Korean players he personally summoned and all the humans, demons and monsters of Underworld itself, just to get Kirito out of his coma.]]
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** [[spoiler: It gets worse in ''Alicization'' when he's more than willing to even kill the underlings and summoned Chinese players working for him just to get Kirito to awaken from his coma, and treats Gabriel's men with even less respect than the man himself does.]]
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* LeaveNoSurvivers: [[spoiler:Ultimately his intentions in Underworld is to do this to [[OmnicidalManiac everyone]], including the Chinese and Korean players he personally summoned and all the humans, demons and monsters of Underworld itself, just to get Kirito out of his coma.]]
** [[spoiler:In the anime, while the threat of killing both Kirito and Asuna in real-life is still directed at them, the fact that he says this in front of their allies as he and Kirito fight suggests he intends to kill them in the real world as well.]]
** [[spoiler:In the anime, while the threat of killing both Kirito and Asuna in real-life is still directed at them, the fact that he says this in front of their allies as he and Kirito fight suggests he intends to kill them in the real world as well.]]
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** To a lesser extent, all of the Assault Team. Due to being the leader of the murder guild and being responsible for many of the tragedies that occurred in SAO, all of them know about him and despise him. As such, while not explcitly mentioned, his threats towards murdering Kirito and Asuna in real life suggests he doesn't intend on stopping with just the two of them, which is all but implied in the anime. The anime adds Eiji as having personal beef with him too, despite the two never technically meeting.
to:
** To a lesser extent, all of the Assault Team. Due to being the leader of the murder guild and being responsible for many of the tragedies that occurred in SAO, all of them know about him and despise him. As such, while not explcitly explicitly mentioned, his threats towards murdering Kirito and Asuna in real life suggests he doesn't intend on stopping with just the two of them, which is all but implied in the anime. The anime adds Eiji as having personal beef with him too, despite the two never technically meeting.
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** To a lesser extent, all of the Assault Team. Due to being the leader of the murder guild and being responsible for many of the tragedies that occurred in SAO, all of them know about him and despise him. As such, while not explcitly mentioned, his threats towards murdering Kirito and Asuna in real life suggests he doesn't intend of stopping with just the two of them, which is all but implied in the anime. The anime adds Eiji as having personal beef with him too, despite the two never technically meeting.
to:
** To a lesser extent, all of the Assault Team. Due to being the leader of the murder guild and being responsible for many of the tragedies that occurred in SAO, all of them know about him and despise him. As such, while not explcitly mentioned, his threats towards murdering Kirito and Asuna in real life suggests he doesn't intend of on stopping with just the two of them, which is all but implied in the anime. The anime adds Eiji as having personal beef with him too, despite the two never technically meeting.
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** To a lesser extent, all of the Assault Team. Due to being the leader of the murder guild and being responsible for many of the tragedies that occurred in SAO, all of them know about him and despise him. As such, while not directly targeted, his threats towards murdering Kirito and Asuna in real life suggests he doesn't intend of stopping with just the two of them, which is all but implied in the anime. The anime adds Eiji as having personal beef with him too, despite the two never technically meeting.
to:
** To a lesser extent, all of the Assault Team. Due to being the leader of the murder guild and being responsible for many of the tragedies that occurred in SAO, all of them know about him and despise him. As such, while not directly targeted, explcitly mentioned, his threats towards murdering Kirito and Asuna in real life suggests he doesn't intend of stopping with just the two of them, which is all but implied in the anime. The anime adds Eiji as having personal beef with him too, despite the two never technically meeting.
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[[/folder]]
[[folder:SPOILER CHARACTER]]
-> See Lux's entry under Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlfheimOnline
[[folder:SPOILER CHARACTER]]
-> See Lux's entry under Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlfheimOnline
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** To Kirito and Asuna. He desires to kill these two members of the Assault Team more than anyone else, willing to go back into the Underworld upon finding out they were present there. With Kirito he displays an almost a StalkerWithoutACrush obsession with Kirito, awed by the boy's [[{{Determinator}} indomitable will]] that keeps pushing him forward and providing [=PoH=] with so much fun. In ''Alicization'', his desire to seek out the Black Swordsman and wants to awaken Kirito from being an EmptyShell being willing to [[KickTheDog kill as many people as needed]] to bring the boy back to his senses.
** To a lesser extent, all of the Assault Team. Due to being the leader of the murder guild and being responsible for many of the tragedies that occurred in SAO, all of them know about him and despise him, as such, his threats towards murdering Kirito and Asuna in real life suggests he doesn't intend of stopping with just the two of them, which is all but implied in the anime. The anime adds Eiji as having personal beef with him too, despite the two never technically meeting.
** To a lesser extent, all of the Assault Team. Due to being the leader of the murder guild and being responsible for many of the tragedies that occurred in SAO, all of them know about him and despise him, as such, his threats towards murdering Kirito and Asuna in real life suggests he doesn't intend of stopping with just the two of them, which is all but implied in the anime. The anime adds Eiji as having personal beef with him too, despite the two never technically meeting.
to:
** To Kirito and Asuna. He desires to kill these two members of the Assault Team more than anyone else, willing to go back into the Underworld upon finding out they were present there. With Kirito he displays an almost a StalkerWithoutACrush obsession with Kirito, awed by the boy's [[{{Determinator}} indomitable will]] that keeps pushing him forward and providing [=PoH=] with so much fun. In ''Alicization'', his desire to seek out the Black Swordsman and wants to awaken Kirito from being an EmptyShell being willing to [[KickTheDog kill as many people ad demons as needed]] to bring the boy back to his senses.
** To a lesser extent, all of the Assault Team. Due to being the leader of the murder guild and being responsible for many of the tragedies that occurred in SAO, all of them know about him and despisehim, as him. As such, while not directly targeted, his threats towards murdering Kirito and Asuna in real life suggests he doesn't intend of stopping with just the two of them, which is all but implied in the anime. The anime adds Eiji as having personal beef with him too, despite the two never technically meeting.
** To a lesser extent, all of the Assault Team. Due to being the leader of the murder guild and being responsible for many of the tragedies that occurred in SAO, all of them know about him and despise
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* JustBetweenYouAndMe: For starters, [[spoiler:he brags to Kirito's face that he's going [[AnArmAndALeg to cut off his limbs]], then [[ColdBloodedTorture torture Asuna]] and [[ForcedToWatch make him watch]]]]. And when [[spoiler:he's defeated in Underworld, he declares that no matter how many times Kirito beats him in-game, he's ''not'' going to stop coming after him and Asuna until he finally kills them for real by slitting their throats and ripping their hearts out. [[StupidEvil This proves to be the final straw]]; rather than kill him, Kirito gives [=PoH=] a FateWorseThanDeath by turning him into a tree and trapping him in Underworld, declaring that he'll never log out. The anime changes this slightly by having him say this near the Assault Team while the two are fighting, with the implication of him planning to target them as well.]]
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* JustBetweenYouAndMe: For starters, [[spoiler:he brags to Kirito's face that he's going [[AnArmAndALeg to cut off his limbs]], then [[ColdBloodedTorture torture Asuna]] and [[ForcedToWatch make him watch]]]]. And when [[spoiler:he's defeated in Underworld, he declares that no matter how many times Kirito beats him in-game, he's ''not'' going to stop coming after him and Asuna until he finally kills them for real by slitting their throats and ripping their hearts out. [[StupidEvil This proves to be the final straw]]; rather than kill him, Kirito gives [=PoH=] a FateWorseThanDeath by turning him into a tree and trapping him in Underworld, declaring that he'll never log out. The anime changes alters this slightly by having him say this near Asuna and the Assault Team rest of the group while the two are fighting, with the implication of him planning to [[KillEmAll target them the others as well.well]].]]
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** [[spoiler:Him stalking Kirito and Asuna and then attacking Kirito with the succinylcholine syringe]].
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** [[spoiler:Him stalking Kirito and Asuna and then attacking Kirito with the succinylcholine syringe]].syringe and [[KarmaHoudini fleeing the scene before anything can happen to him]]]].
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* JustBetweenYouAndMe: For starters, [[spoiler:he brags to Kirito's face that he's going [[AnArmAndALeg to cut off his limbs]], then [[ColdBloodedTorture torture Asuna]] and [[ForcedToWatch make him watch]]]]. And when [[spoiler:he's defeated in Underworld, he declares that no matter how many times Kirito beats him in-game, he's ''not'' going to stop coming after him and Asuna until he finally kills them for real by slitting their throats and ripping their hearts out. [[StupidEvil This proves to be the final straw]]; rather than kill him, Kirito gives [=PoH=] a FateWorseThanDeath by turning him into a tree and trapping him in Underworld, declaring that he'll never log out. The anime changes this slightly by having him say this near the entire Assault Team while the two are fighting, with the implication of him planning to target them as well.]]
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* JustBetweenYouAndMe: For starters, [[spoiler:he brags to Kirito's face that he's going [[AnArmAndALeg to cut off his limbs]], then [[ColdBloodedTorture torture Asuna]] and [[ForcedToWatch make him watch]]]]. And when [[spoiler:he's defeated in Underworld, he declares that no matter how many times Kirito beats him in-game, he's ''not'' going to stop coming after him and Asuna until he finally kills them for real by slitting their throats and ripping their hearts out. [[StupidEvil This proves to be the final straw]]; rather than kill him, Kirito gives [=PoH=] a FateWorseThanDeath by turning him into a tree and trapping him in Underworld, declaring that he'll never log out. The anime changes this slightly by having him say this near the entire Assault Team while the two are fighting, with the implication of him planning to target them as well.]]
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* JustBetweenYouAndMe: For starters, [[spoiler:he brags to Kirito's face that he's going [[AnArmAndALeg to cut off his limbs]], then [[ColdBloodedTorture torture Asuna]] and [[ForcedToWatch make him watch]]]]. And when [[spoiler:he's defeated in Underworld, he declares that no matter how many times Kirito beats him in-game, he's ''not'' going to stop coming after him and Asuna until he finally kills them for real by slitting their throats and ripping their hearts out. [[StupidEvil This proves to be the final straw]]; rather than kill him, Kirito gives [=PoH=] a FateWorseThanDeath by turning him into a tree and trapping him in Underworld, declaring that he'll never log out.]]
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* JustBetweenYouAndMe: For starters, [[spoiler:he brags to Kirito's face that he's going [[AnArmAndALeg to cut off his limbs]], then [[ColdBloodedTorture torture Asuna]] and [[ForcedToWatch make him watch]]]]. And when [[spoiler:he's defeated in Underworld, he declares that no matter how many times Kirito beats him in-game, he's ''not'' going to stop coming after him and Asuna until he finally kills them for real by slitting their throats and ripping their hearts out. [[StupidEvil This proves to be the final straw]]; rather than kill him, Kirito gives [=PoH=] a FateWorseThanDeath by turning him into a tree and trapping him in Underworld, declaring that he'll never log out. The anime changes this slightly by having him say this near the entire Assault Team while the two are fighting, with the implication of him planning to target them as well.]]
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[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/laughing_coffin_removebg_preview.png]]The notorious PlayerKilling guild that terrorized SAO. After the clearing of the game, many members would return in later arcs to continue antagonizing Kirito, making them {{Overarching Villain}}s for the series as a whole.
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The notorious PlayerKilling guild that terrorized SAO. After the clearing of the game, many members would return in later arcs to continue antagonizing Kirito, making them {{Overarching Villain}}s for the series as a whole.
The notorious PlayerKilling guild that terrorized SAO. After the clearing of the game, many members would return in later arcs to continue antagonizing Kirito, making them {{Overarching Villain}}s for the series as a whole.
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Thepng]]The notorious PlayerKilling guild that terrorized SAO. After the clearing of the game, many members would return in later arcs to continue antagonizing Kirito, making them {{Overarching Villain}}s for the series as a whole.
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%%Before editing, please read Administrivia/HowToWriteAnExample in its entirety. We cannot stress enough how harsh the punishment for violating Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers, Administrivia/ConversationInTheMainPage and Administrivia/ZeroContextExample is, so do not ignore this comment.
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[[WMG:[[center: [- ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' '''[[Characters/SwordArtOnline Main Character Index]]'''\\
[[Characters/SwordArtOnlineMajorCharacters Major Characters]] ([[Characters/SwordArtOnlineKazutoKirigaya Kazuto Kirigaya]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAsunaYuuki Asuna Yuuki]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineSuguhaKirigaya Suguha Kirigaya]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineShinoAsada Shino Asada]]) | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad Aincrad]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlfheimOnline Alfheim Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineGunGaleOnline Gun Gale Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineUnderworld Underworld]] ([[Characters/SwordArtOnlineIntegrityKnights Integrity Knights]]) | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAntagonists Antagonists]] ([[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAkihikoKayaba Akihiko Kayaba]], '''Laughing Coffin''') | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineVideoGame Video Game Exclusives]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnline Alternative Gun Gale Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineOthers Others]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineMobileGames Mobile Game Exclusives]]]]]]-]
->Real world names are in western naming order. Followed by their online name and worlds they played in.[[note]]If only the online name is known, then display as normal.[[/note]]
The notorious PlayerKilling guild that terrorized SAO. After the clearing of the game, many members would return in later arcs to continue antagonizing Kirito, making them {{Overarching Villain}}s for the series as a whole.
'''Note: Unmarked spoilers ahead.''' '''If you're starting the anime, ''do not'' read this page!'''
----
[[folder:In General]]
* ArchEnemy: All of them (particularly the three highest ranking members) come to despise Kirito for defeating them in SAO. Members of their guild return in subsequent arcs to menace Kirito repeatedly in different games and in the real world.
* AxCrazy: A guild of psychopathic murderers who lust for bloodshed and would rather let themselves be killed in battle than surrendering.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: During Kirito's recount of the Assault Team's raid on the Laughing Coffin HQ, over twenty Laughing Coffin members choose to let themselves be killed rather than surrendering. One particularly psychopathic member already had his HP reduced to red and was cornered by three Assault Team members, yet instead of giving in, he chose to maniacally lunge and stab at the Assault Team members, managing to kill all three of them, all the while cackling like a lunatic. Kirito is just in time to see the three die before the guy decides to attack Kirito, and he does not stop until Kirito deals the killing blow himself.
* TheConspiracy: [[spoiler: The ''Progressive'' Novels implies that the guild started out as this, being a small group of players led by [=PoH=], or as he was known then "the man in the black poncho", dedicated to sabotaging the frontlines and prevent everyone from escaping the game.]]
* DissonantSerenity: Part of what makes them so intimidating is how casually they generally treat their cruel actions, such as when [=PoH=], [=XaXa=] and Johnny Black ambushed Golden Apple, and discussed what to do with them, with Johnny suggesting that they force them to fight each other to the death and kill the survivor, as if it was just every day for them... which, well, it kind of is, but still.
* TheDreaded: Were this as a group, with multiple HeroKiller types like [=PoH=], Xa Xa, and Johnny Black among their ranks. It's bad enough that in the GGO arc Kirito lapses into PTSD upon seeing Death Gun's LC tattoo, while [[BoisterousBruiser Klein]] drops his alcohol and panics when Death Gun utters [=PoH=]'s CatchPhrase.
* EarlyBirdCameo:
** [=PoH=], [=XaXa=], and Johnny Black are first seen during the "A Murder Case in the Area" story, as very minor antagonists. However they will all go on to become {{Arc Villain}}s later in the story.
** In a blink-and-miss shot of the players names list Kayaba brings out when telling Asuna and Kirito about everyone being logged out you can see [=XaXa=], [=Johnny Black=] and [=PoH=]'s names on the list of players logged out having survived SAO.
* EvilCounterpart: To the Knights of the Blood Oath, being a large and famous guild, but one that is [[TheDreaded feared]] for being [[PlayerKilling murderers]], rather than attempting to save the players by clearing the game.
* ForTheEvulz: Their entire M.O. is to kill other players without consequence, on the grounds that if it's a death game, then killing is a must. In fact, the entire Phantom Bullet arc was set in motion because [[spoiler:two of the members wanted to ''continue'' the death game]].
* GrayscaleOfEvil: Their signature symbol/tattoo is always black and white.
* InTheHood: Members of the guild are fond of draping themselves in black cloaks.
* KarmaHoudini: [[DeceasedFallGuyGambit Due to all blame being placed on Akihiko Kayaba,]] none of their crimes were revealed to the public and none of the surviving members were punished for their crimes. [[LaserGuidedKarma However]], after the guild's kill count climbed into the triple digits, the Knights Of Blood put the floor-clearing on hold and with a lot of other like-minded players, initiated a purge to track down all members of the guild and bring them to justice. Many of them [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled chose to let themselves be killed]] rather than to be captured. Some of them, including [=XaXa=] and Johnny Black, managed to escape, though, and remain at large. [[spoiler:At least, until the ''Death Gun'' incident.]]
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: While they get off scot-free for their actions in SAO due to Kayaba getting the blame, the surviving members return in later arcs and finally get their comeuppance: [[spoiler:[=XaXa=] and Johnny Black are arrested and incarcerated after perpetuating the Death Gun incident (although the latter escapes justice long enough to attack and nearly kill Kirito in real-life), and [=PoH=] himself is subjected to a FateWorseThanDeath by Kirito during the climax of the Alicization arc.]]
* LoopholeAbuse: Because the Laughing Coffin cannot be recognized as a guild by the system given their abnormally high count of [[PlayerKilling orange and red players]], their members are free to join and infiltrate other guilds. Kuradeel exploited this by posing as a frontline soldier in the Knights of the Blood Oath, unbeknownst to everyone until he reveals his tattoo to Kirito.
* MasterPoisoner: Most, if not all, members of this guild are skilled in potion mixing, usually to paralyze their victims before going for the kill, chief among them being Johnny Black.
* MurderInc: Sometimes, some players will hire their services to kill a target as a means to avoid having their KarmaMeter changed to orange or red.
* OffscreenVillainy: Most of their more brutal crimes such as the killing of hundreds of players occur entirely offscreen. Aside from Kuradeel, the only time we see them in action during the Aincrad arc was during "A Murder Case in the Area" story where they are hired by Grimlock to carry out the murders of his old guild. It isn't until the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc via a flashback that we finally get to see just how monstrous these guys truly are when a battle between them and the Assault Team results on a bloodbath on both sides.
* OverArchingVillain: The Laughing Coffin are present one way or another in every season of the series. In the ''Aincrad'' arc they are a murder guild present in SAO and form a BigBadEnsemble with Kayaba. In the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc, two former members ([=XaXa=] and Johnny Black) are part of the BigBadDuumvirate that makes up Death Gun, while in the ''Alicization'' arc [=PoH=] returns as TheDragon working for the new BigBad Gabriel.
* PlayerKilling: Some time after Laughing Coffin, a ragtag bunch of orange players, was founded, [=PoH=] spread the belief that killing other players was alright, uncaring of the fact that SAO was a death game.
* PragmaticVillainy: ''Girls Ops'' reveals that there were times when they actually opted out of killing other players, instead forcing them to join their guild as Green Player Spies, who were tasked with doing tasks that the Red Player member players were incapable of, such as entering towns to do shopping, and spying on rival guilds or scouting out farming spots without arousing suspicions. The only instance when they killed them was if they ever tried to escape, [[spoiler: which happened before Lux encountered them, prompting them to force her to join instead of killing her.]]
* PsychoForHire: They are willing to get payed to perform their [=PKing=].
* TattooedCrook: Members have their guild symbol tattooed on their avatar's bodies.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: They know their game-world actions have lethal real world consequences and yet they kill anyway.
* VillainTeamUp: [[spoiler: When they started as TheConspiracy, they apparently joined up with the Fallen Elves faction of the Elf War campaign, with Kirito suspecting that they somehow discovered a unique VillainProtagonist questline. This gives their members at the time, such as Morte, access to unique weapons such as specially poisoned throwing knives.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Vassago Casals / [=PoH=]]]
!!Vassago Casals / [=PoH=] (SAO, GGO, UW)
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KeijiFujiwara (Games), Creator/TsuyoshiKoyama (Anime) (Japanese), Creator/XanderMobus (English), Alfredo Gabriel Basurto (Latin American Spanish)
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-->"''It's showtime.''"
Laughing Coffin's Leader and founder, having drawn people in by preaching about how all the actual deaths will blamed on Kayaba once SAO ends. He later returns in the ''Alicization'' Arc [[DemotedToDragon working for Gabriel Miller in his attempts to capture Alice.]]
----
* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler: His mother wanted to abort him and named him after a demon to illustrate that she hated him, while his father only forced her to have him so he could give his kidney to a relative (outright stated to be a legitimate son in the anime).]]
* AdaptationalUgliness: The description of him in the Light Novel and his appearance in the anime make him rather attractive with his [[LatinoIsBrown exotic Latino look]], with long dark locks that hang from his head. The gameverse by contrast makes him look a lot more creepier, with more narrow snake-like eyes, no visible hair that almost makes him look bald underneath his hood, and a much [[EvilSoundsRaspy raspier voice]].
* AnimalMotifs: Vassago has a snake motif going around. He created the Laughing Coffin guild, whose weapons of choice include PoisonedWeapons, poisons people with his philosophy, and and he openly defies the god-like entity and its messiah like the snaky devil. Some characters (and even the author) even compare him to snakes.
* AndIMustScream: His ultimate fate. [[spoiler:After [=PoH=] declares he'll never stop coming after Kirito and Asuna until he's killed them in real-life, Kirito declares that he's never logging out of Underworld and traps him in a tree, leaving him to rot in Underworld forever. It's made even worse by the fact that time in Underworld runs on YearInsideHourOutside; years can pass in-game while mere days pass in the real world. Kirito even takes the time to [[ToThePain describe such a fate]] to him: [=PoH=] will spend ten or more years of isolation and insanity, and then die after another 30 years of brain activity; as Kirito puts it, he better pray his allies bail him out, otherwise he's stuck in there, rotting for the rest of his life until someone else cuts him down with an axe.]]
** [[spoiler: Possibly {{Subverted}}. It's revealed that when the remaining Glowgen mercenaries are retreating, those in charge of securing Gabriel and Vassago's corpses reveal that they were only able to recover Gabriel's body, and that Vassago's had mysteriously disappeared, implying that he escaped his fate somehow and disappeared from the Ocean Turtle without anyone noticing.]]
* ArchEnemy:
** To Kirito and Asuna. He desires to kill these two members of the Assault Team more than anyone else, willing to go back into the Underworld upon finding out they were present there. With Kirito he displays an almost a StalkerWithoutACrush obsession with Kirito, awed by the boy's [[{{Determinator}} indomitable will]] that keeps pushing him forward and providing [=PoH=] with so much fun. In ''Alicization'', his desire to seek out the Black Swordsman and wants to awaken Kirito from being an EmptyShell being willing to [[KickTheDog kill as many people as needed]] to bring the boy back to his senses.
** To a lesser extent, all of the Assault Team. Due to being the leader of the murder guild and being responsible for many of the tragedies that occurred in SAO, all of them know about him and despise him, as such, his threats towards murdering Kirito and Asuna in real life suggests he doesn't intend of stopping with just the two of them, which is all but implied in the anime. The anime adds Eiji as having personal beef with him too, despite the two never technically meeting.
* AscendedExtra:
** Goes from being a scarcely seen villain part of a BigBadEnsemble in the Aincrad arc to TheHeavy of the second half of the Alicization arc. ''Progressive'' also makes him a more direct threat too.
** [[spoiler:''Hollow Fragment'' upgrades him to the BigBad of the Hollow Area though his Hollow AI counterpart.]]
* AxCrazy: Easily the craziest below Gabriel Miller. However, he's at least calculated in his insanity. Vassago emphatically isn't.
* BadBoss: [[spoiler:He's the one who leaked the Laughing Coffin's hideout to the other players while giving partial information about the raid on their HQ to his followers, all so he can watch both sides kill each other.]]
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler: In regards to the Laughing Coffin Raid. While he did lose his entire guild and had to rely on manipulating random guys like Kuradeel to cause trouble from then on, TheReveal that he was the one who ratted them out in the first place brings a new perspective; he manages to cause the Clearing Force to lose a number of their people and force the surviving ones to become murderers, and as a bonus, [[ForTheEvulz he got a good show out of it.]]]]
* BadPowersBadPeople: He's an AxCrazy murderer who [[KickTheDog kicks the dog]] ForTheEvulz and his WeaponOfChoice, the Mate Chopper, gets a stat increase every time it kills another player. [[spoiler: In ''Alicization'', it's transfer into the Underworld combined with his own incarnation alters it so that it gets more powerful the more people die in general.]]
* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler:Is turned into a tree by Kirito]].
* BastardBastard: [[spoiler:He's revealed to be an illegitimate son of a Japanese man and a Mexican woman, and he's definitely a bastard to boot]].
* BatmanGambit: {{Implied}}.[[spoiler: When [[OnlySaneMan Moonphase]] notices how eerily calm [=PoH=] is in the face of his army turning against each other due to him convincing them a number of them about how off the whole situation is, he realizes, [[OhCrap to his horror]], that [=PoH=] may have already suspected that certain parts of his army might start realizing that they're being lied to, but that there'd still be a number of them who would cling to their hatred of Japan and insist on continuing the fight, giving him prime opportunity to provoke them into killing each other for his own amusement.]]
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: [[spoiler: While beating up the still brain dead Kirito, he demands the latter to stand up and fight him despite Asuna's pleas. Guess what Kirito did to him after waking up.]]
* {{BFS}}: [[spoiler: His Mate Chopper absorbing all the death to occur in ''War of the Underworld'' causes to grow substantially, making it go from a Chinese Kitchen Knife to a giant cleaver.]]
* BigBadEnsemble: Given the damage he and his guild did, he rivals Kayaba for the biggest problem of the arc as well, necessitating most frontline players to put off the progression and actively hunt Laughing Coffin down. [[spoiler:In ''Hollow Fragment'', his Hollow AI counterpart serves as another example of this trope and nearly succeeds in killing and replacing everyone with their Hollows, including the real [=PoH=]. Additionally, in ''Alicization'', he serves as the other half in the BigBadDuumvirate along with Gabriel Miller]]
* BlackKnight: [[spoiler:Uses a Dark Knight avatar when he enters the Underworld.]]
* BoomerangBigot: He deeply hates East Asians and wants them to kill each other. His father is Japanese.
* BullyingADragon: After [[spoiler:Kirito beats him, [=PoH=] decides to mouth off to him, gloating that even if Kirito kills him in-game, he'll just keep coming after him and Asuna again and again until [[SlashedThroat he finally kills them]] [[AndShowItToYou for real as payback]]. Of course, this bites him in the ass immediately afterwards, since Kirito proceeds to make sure that [=PoH=] is in [[FateWorseThanDeath no condition to come after them, ever again]].]]
* ButNotTooForeign: He was conceived from an illegitimate relationship between a Japanese father and a Mexican mother.
* CatchPhrase: "It's Showtime." (said in English) [[spoiler:When the Death Gun utters this phrase in the [=BoB=] tournament, Kirito is quick to (incorrectly) assume that [=PoH=] might be the perpetrator; Klein similarly recognizes Death Gun as ex-Laughing Coffin, although the differences in speech tell him that he's not [=PoH=]. Indeed, [=XaXa=] is the one operating the avatar.]]
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In Aincrad he seemed to be more of a patient planner who would enjoy the show from the sidelines, while in ''Alicization'' he's noticeably more restless and loses his temper easily while requiring Gabriel to calm him. Asuna suspects that the shift in personality is due to [=PoH=] letting go of the facade he uses to manipulate others and embracing his bloodlust.
* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler: In the early days of SAO, he's revealed to have been the ringleader of a [[TheConspiracy Conspiracy]] consisting of himself and a few other players, including the Beta-Tester Morte, who aim to hinder the frontlines in any way in order to keep SAO from getting cleared, with methods such as tricking the frontlines into almost committing the first PK by giving the Legend Braves an idea for a scam to allow them to join the frontlines, trying to get the two DKB and ALS to come to blows by spreading false info about the Elf War Quest and making sure they picked different sides, and trying to get one of them to get a GameBreaker item so that the other guild would drop out of the frontlines due to not wanting to be absorbed by the other. Knowing [=PoH=]'s reasons for being in SAO and his general personality, this could be either to give himself as much time as possible to locate the player he was sent in to kill or just to cause as much harm ForTheEvulz.]]
* ColdBloodedTorture: [[spoiler:His beatdown on a still-comatose Kirito]].
* CombatSadomasochist: [[spoiler: When Vassago is going on about how awesome the Underworld is, Gabriel attempts to rein him in by mentioning how the lack of a Pain Absorber will mean that every wound will hurt. Vassago just replies that that's the best part.]]
* TheCorrupter:
** While his guild did a lot of damage back in SAO, there is still long-term damage in that he cultivated a number of potential real-life serial killers because of his influence. [[spoiler: [=XaXa=] and Johnny Black are two examples]].
** He even tried to do this to the Assault Team, [[spoiler:pitting them and his entire Laughing Coffin guild against each other to not only watch them slaughter each other, but with the intent of turning the Assault Team into killers.]]
* CutLexLuthorACheck: [[spoiler:He managed to get a stable, good-paying job after leaving Japan back to America following ''Aincrad'' but to him what good is it if he can't go back to killing people in the VR world to his heart's content]]?
* DarkMessiah: On top of being a SatanicArchetype, he is also revered as a Messianic figure who inspires wrath and hatred in his followers.
* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: Recruits people for his red guild by promising them that all the blame for any murderers they commit will be placed on Kayaba.
* DemotedToDragon: He was the leader of Laughing Coffin during SAO, while in [[spoiler:Alicization he is only the [[NumberTwo second-in-command]] to Gabriel Miller.]]
* {{Determinator}}: Even in defeat, [[spoiler:[=PoH=] remains DefiantToTheEnd and attempts to threaten Kirito with a WeWillMeetAgain speech and continue to KickTheDog... [[DidntSeeThatComing which doesn't end well for him]].]]
* DidntSeeThatComing: When [[spoiler:Kirito defeats him in Underworld, [=PoH=] expects Kirito to give him a warrior's death, since he'll be able to pursue him and Asuna and kill them for real after being booted out of the system. What he ''didn't'' expect was Kirito to subject him to a FateWorseThanDeath by imprisoning him in a tree and leaving him to rot in Underworld, vowing that this is the last time they'll meet and [=PoH=] will ''never'' log out of the Soul Translator.]]
* DiscOneFinalBoss: Of ''Hollow Fragment''. [[spoiler:...or at least his Hollow AI counterpart: he plots to initiate an update that would make Cardinal reverse the designations of players and the Hollow AI counterparts. Since Hollow Data is not allowed in Aincrad, this would cause a whole heap of trouble]]. However, his defeat does not spell the end of the death game, [[spoiler:and Alberich/Sugou still needs to be defeated. Beating him also doesn't stop the Cardinal update, which requires the player to beat a Hollow version of Kirito]].
* DiseaseBleach: [[spoiler: After being defeated and turned into a tree in the Underworld, his IRL hair turns completely white.]]
* TheDreaded: The Assault Team are utterly terrified by his very existence. Klein freezes in fear at the mere possibility of his return.
* DuelBoss: In ''Hollow Fragment'', [[spoiler:Kirito has to fight his Hollow AI by himself, which means no partners to help restore SP faster.]]
* {{Eagleland}}: Was born in America, and is clearly a vicious Boorish variety.
* EvilCounterpart:
** He is built up to be a parallel to Heathcliff. While Heathcliff rallied the strongest players in the game into forming an elite guild known as the Knight of the Blood Oath, [=PoH=] brought together all of the psychopathic orange players in the game into a guild and spread the belief that it was acceptable to kill in a death game. Much like how Heathcliff is respected among most players, the Laughing Coffin members idolized [=PoH=].
** Alicization makes him one to Kirito himself. Both are SAO survivors who ended up in the Underworld, only on opposite sides of the war, had a [[DarkIsEvil generally]] [[DarkIsNotEvil black]] ColorMotif, and were arguably the [[WorldsBestWarrior World's Best Warriors]] of SAO, Kirito being considered the strongest Frontline player outside of Heathcliff, and that was partially because he was Kayaba [[TheGMIsACheatingBastard and rigged himself to never die]], while [=PoH=] was an infamous HeroKiller with an already powerful weapon that got stronger and stronger with every PK he committed. The anime drives the point even deeper by making Vassago's half-brother an IdenticalStranger to Kirito.
** Believe or not, to Eugeo. Both were raised in loveless environments, with [=PoH=] having an [[AbusiveParents abusive mother]] and a DisappearedDad who saw effectively saw him as spare organs for his real son, whereas Eugeo was a victim of severe ParentalFavouritism towards his older siblings, as well as just generally being unfairly treated by his parents. As a result of their pasts, both have a very skewed idea of love, with [=PoH=] seeing his twisted desire to torment Kirito, as well as his loved ones to drive him into action, as some form of "love" towards him, while Eugeo believed that it was something you had to earn from others, to the point that he [[DesperatelyCravesAffection Desperately Craved Affection]] and was tempted to use the position of Integrity Knight to send money to his family. The difference is that, while Eugeo eventually learned came to believe in a more healthier definition of love, [=PoH=] never had a revelation that his beliefs were wrong and his obsession [[spoiler: ultimately bites him in the ass.]]
* EvilDuo: He works with Gabriel as partners with, Vassago as his TheDragon and the second biggest threat in the ''War of the Underworld'' arc.
* EvilSoundsDeep: For both his gameverse and his anime voice. Though gameverse [=PoH=] voice sounds [[EvilSoundsRaspy raspier]] while in the anime he tends to have NoIndoorVoice.
* EvilSoundsRaspy: In the gameverse he has a guttural, raspy voice. This is absent in the anime where his voice actor was recast.
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: The Light Novel describes Vassago as being very attractive due to his [[LatinoIsBrown rather exotic appearance]], to the point where he could probably make a living as a model. Now if only he could do something about the NightmareFace he sprouts every so often...
* FatalFlaw: Bloodlust and sadism. He can't stop being obsessed with killing and violence or resist the opportunity to KickTheDog, even when doing so is clearly ''not'' in his best interests. [[spoiler:Him bragging to Kirito that he'll never stop coming after him and Asuna until he finally kills them IRL after his final fight with Kirito leads directly to his undoing]].
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler: Got turned into a tree by Kirito, left to rot in Underworld, and driven to insanity as a result.]] [[spoiler: That being said, he's {{Implied}} to have somehow escaped his fate.]]
* FauxAffablyEvil: When in the company of other Glowgen members, Vassago downplays his bloodlust and seems like a boisterous and eager soldier with a snarky sense of humor. When he learns that [[spoiler:Asuna and other SAO survivors are in the Underworld]], he can barely restrain his malice and wears a [[SlasherSmile smile so cruel]] that Critter immediately realizes that Vassago's previous behavior is just a facade.
* {{Foil}}: To Gabriel. Both are incredibly powerful villains, by far the most powerful and psychotic foes Kirito has faced, and serve as [[spoiler: {{Big Bad}}s for their own Arcs, Gabriel for ''War of Underworld'', taking the role of the Dark God Vecta for the purpose of invading the Underworld and capturing Alice for his own twisted ends, and [=PoH=] for ''Progressive'', being the head of TheConspiracy that are trying to make the Frontlines fall apart]]. However, whereas Gabriel is largely TheStoic, doesn't even know who Kirito is, and is more reliant on sheer brute force and power to achieve his goals of [[GodhoodSeeker attaining godhood]], [=PoH=] is a gleeful ManipulativeBastard and [[TheCorruptor Corruptor]] who's made it his mission to screw with Kirito whenever possible, and has no greater ambitions beyond causing as much pain and misery as possible solely ForTheEvulz.
** [[NatureVsNurture There's also differences in their backgrounds and how it made them who they are;]] Gabriel was a privileged child growing up, even being able to avoid falling victim to a financial crash, and had friends like Alicia, yet still went on to become a cruel homicidal megalomaniac, who [[KickTheMoralityPet killed Alicia out of]] [[EntitledToHaveYou misplaced sense of entitlement to her soul]]. [=PoH=] on other grew up being shifted from negative enviroment to negative environment, living in shitty neighborhood selling drugs with a [[AbusiveParent verbally and maybe even physically abusive mother who literally named him after a demon]] with a DisappearedDad who only stopped his mother from aborting him in case he ever needed an organ donor for his real son, and later on went to Japan and was forced to join the Korean Mafia as ProfessionalKiller to avoid getting deported, heavily hinting that while [=PoH=] is an irredeemable bastard, he may have turned out differently if he was raised in a healthier, more loving environment.
* ForTheEvulz: His entire motivation is to have people (East Asians in particular) kill each other for his own amusement. He displays this trait [[StupidEvil way too much for his own good]], as his sadistic tendencies introduce him to a world of hurt when, [[spoiler:after being defeated by Kirito in Alicization, he insults, threatens, and gloats to him that he will be hellbent on him and Asuna until he finally manages to brutally murder them in real life, leading to Kirito trapping him in the Underworld so he will ''never'' log out.]]
* FunWithAcronyms: His username stands for "Prince of Hell". Also, see MeaningfulName.
* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: He has nothing but hatred for East Asians because his biological father, a Japanese man, forced his mother to have him so he can be used in a Kidney transplant for a relative and basically abandoned them after he was born. Upon arriving in Japan as part of a deal with his father, he's forced to join a Korean crime gang as a hitman since the laws would have otherwise had him deported. He starts the Laughing Coffin guild just so he could see Japanese people kill each other, and [[spoiler:later brings in Chinese and Korean gamers to fight the Japanese gamers who want to rescue Kirito and later tries to turn them against each other solely because he wants to watch East Asians kill one another]]. That said, this isn't treated as sympathetic or redeeming, and he is never shown to have loved his mother (who, to be fair, [[AbusiveParents didn't love him, either]]).
* GlassCannon: His Mate Chopper can boost his attack strength at the cost of his defense and armor stats.
* GratuitousEnglish: He slips a fair bit of English phrases into his dialogue. Somehow, he also spouts the word "suck" as if it is an expletive. Makes sense as he's American.
* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler: Of the GGO and, to an extent, Alicization arcs, where he is personally uninvolved in the former but responsible for the corruption of many [=SAO=] players through Laughing Coffin, including his two right-hand men who become the villains for that season, and one of his right-hand men almost comes close to killing Kirito, leading to him ending up in the Underworld.]]
** [[spoiler: He's also this for the Girls Ops' Spin-Offs, being the one who gave Lux the SadisticChoice of either joining Laughing Coffin or being left for dead, which is the starting point of the TraumaCongaLine that is her DarkAndTroubledPast. His recruitment of her is also what led to her meeting [[OnlyFriend Gwen]], the leader of one of LC's subsidiary guilds, and he unintentionally[[note]] Although all things considered, [[{{Sadist}} he would have been happy to hear he did]][[/note]] ruins their friendship by leaking Laughing Coffin's location, leading to Gwen becoming an antagonist in the second arc.]]
* HairTriggerTemper: Doesn't take much to piss him off.
* HatePlague: One of his abilities in the Underworld is emitting a corruptive miasma that drives players into killing each other.
* HateSink: Vassago is ultimately a vile and cruel man who is unfortunately blessed with a high level of charisma that allows him to corrupt people and rally them behind him with ease, in contrast to the despicable but brilliant Gabriel Miller. He cements his loathsomeness in his raging homicidal sadism, the corruption of most of the members of his guild into becoming killers like him, and his callous mistreatment of his own men, as shown when he [[spoiler:sold out his own guild members and gleefully watched them get slaughtered by the Assault Team in SAO, and when he purposely manipulated the Chinese and Korean players into killing each other in the Underworld]], completely lacking in any sympathetic or admirable traits to offset his nature as a SatanicArchetype.
* HatesTheirParent: He detests his father for [[spoiler:conceiving him so that he could be used as a kidney donor for his older, sickly half-brother]].
* HeroKiller: Had this reputation, with even Kirito respecting his abilities. Given that he had the highest body count of almost any player, this is understandable. [[spoiler:He also swears that once he logs out of Underworld, he'll keep coming after Kirito and Asuna until he kills them in real-life... so Kirito makes sure that he ''can't'' log out]].
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Vassago was so begging to fight Kirito that it ultimately leads to his defeat]].
* ILetYouWin: [[spoiler: He reveals that he was the one who leaked Laughing Coffin's location to the Clearers, [[ImpliedTrope Implying]] that he could have possibly led them for longer and allow them to cause even more havoc if he didn't get tired of leading them and thought it'd be fun to force the Clearers, namely Kirito, to become killers by forcing the two groups to come to blows.]]
* InTheHood: His face is partially shadowed by the black hood he wears, concealing part of his identity.
* IKnowMortalKombat: Inverted then played Straight. It's implied that his time as a ProfessionalKiller for the Korean Mafia benefited him in SAO in fighting and [=PKing=] other players. After he escapes and returns to the States, he's praised as an expert in simulation combat thanks to his two-year experience trapped in VR.
* JustBetweenYouAndMe: For starters, [[spoiler:he brags to Kirito's face that he's going [[AnArmAndALeg to cut off his limbs]], then [[ColdBloodedTorture torture Asuna]] and [[ForcedToWatch make him watch]]]]. And when [[spoiler:he's defeated in Underworld, he declares that no matter how many times Kirito beats him in-game, he's ''not'' going to stop coming after him and Asuna until he finally kills them for real by slitting their throats and ripping their hearts out. [[StupidEvil This proves to be the final straw]]; rather than kill him, Kirito gives [=PoH=] a FateWorseThanDeath by turning him into a tree and trapping him in Underworld, declaring that he'll never log out.]]
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: After having gotten away with spreading his reign of terror across SAO, [=PoH=] finally [[spoiler:gets what's coming to him in the Alicization arc, when Kirito turns him into a tree and leaves him to rot in Underworld for the rest of his life, [[AndIMustScream unable to]] [[FateWorseThanDeath log out]].]] [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Or so]] [[AmbigiousSituation it seems.]]]]
* KickTheDog: Does this a bunch and revels in it, such as establishing the Laughing Coffin guild so he can make people kill each other for his own amusement, to [[spoiler:[[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown beating up a comatose Kirito]] in front of his TrueCompanions entirely to spite them, to inducing players and Underworld residents alike to start killing each other solely to provoke Kirito into snapping out of his catatonia so he can fight and kill him, to even his announcement to Kirito and Asuna that he will always be hellbent on them and their allies no matter what until he brutally murders them in real-life.]]
* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler: In his backstory, it's stated that after SAO ended Vassago killed his old employer, a Korean Mafia boss who [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom was the one who sent him into SAO in the first place]], after he tried to swindle him out of his payment.]]
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: [=PoH=] reaches an all-new low during the Alicization arc when he [[spoiler:knocks a catatonic Kirito out of his wheelchair and beats him to a pulp in front of Asuna and the rest of his friends, all while demanding Kirito snap out of it. In the anime, were it not for Eiji and Yuna's [[BigDamnHeroes intervention]], [=PoH=] would have killed him outright.]]
* KillEmAll: This is his main goal between threatening to murder Kirito and Asuna in real life and trying to kill them and their allies during battle; to outright planning to cause an ApocalypseHow on Underworld itself with no survivors. [[spoiler:Not that he actually gets to do any of it.]]
* KnifeNut: His "[[NamedWeapon Mate Chopper]]" resembles a Chinese kitchen knife and is classified as a One-Handed Dagger.
** [[spoiler: He also uses a dagger, which he bluffs has Level-5 Paralyzing Venom and Damaging Poison applied to it, to threaten Kirito on the 5th floor in their first meeting.]]
** [[spoiler: Even as a Dark Knight in the Underworld that comes with a high priority sword, he instead opts for a dagger in combat.]]
* LatinoIsBrown: He's an offspring of a Mexican woman, and has the complexion to show it.
* LaughablyEvil: For a psychopathic player killer, he can be somewhat humorous when interacting with his allies. He has a tendency to make Gabriel uncomfortable by calling him "bro," constantly butts heads with Critter, shows [[PsychopathicManchild childish glee]] in logging into the Underworld and joining the front lines, and confuses his Underworld allies with MMO terminology.
* TheLeader: Of Laughing Coffin. He led the guild with a mix of of his devil-like Charisma, having drawn other players in by preaching his PK views like some kind of cult leader, and keen, Levelheaded intellect, having been [[CrazyPrepared extremely careful when going out on excursions]], [[spoiler: having headed it when it started as TheConspiracy in ''Progressive'' and almost dismantled the frontlines a few times]], and managing to have his guild evade capture for a good while before they were finally discovered and taken down, [[spoiler: and that's because he leaked their location out of the boredom.]]
* LeftForDead: [[spoiler: After defeating him, Kirito turns [=PoH=] into a tree to make sure he's unable to log out of the Underworld.]]
* LouisCypher: Although not literally Satan/Lucifer, he ''is'' [[SatanicArchetype the closest equivalent]] to him in the franchise, and his real-life name is Vassago and his avatar's name is [=PoH=] (Prince of Hell), which already speaks of his character.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: This was what he was in SAO for. For starters, an unnamed crime syndicate had been wanting to eliminate someone, but have had no success at it since the target was too well-guarded in reality. When they find out about Kayaba's death game and the fact that the target is trapped in SAO, they seize upon the opportunity given to them, and tasked Vassago with killing the target's avatar in game, which would of course lead to the target dying in reality. He is then provided the necessary [=NerveGear=] and copy of [=SAO=]. But how did he even get into SAO after the death game kicked off, when [[LightNovel/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGAleOnline Pitohui]] and many others who were unable to log in on launch day (Due to scheduling conflicts, other sorts of personal obligations on that day, etc.) could not? This is answered in the ''Sisters' Prayer'' side story. After all the players were moved to hospitals and reconnected, the server stopped allowing logins from new [=IP=] addresses, but it would still accept logins from someone sharing an IP address with an SAO player. Ergo, someone in the same hospital as a player could log in. This is exactly what Merida had been counting on to be able to log in before Yuuki and Aiko talked her out of it, and is also the method Vassago used to get into SAO.
* ManipulativeBastard: When he isn't getting in on the action himself, [=PoH=] has just as much fun manipulating other people into killing each for his own amusement. [[spoiler: He preached his twisted "PK is okay" views in SAO, formed Laughing Coffin, and then leaked their location to the Clearers solely so he could watch them all kill each other and force the clearer's to kill, and it's hinted that when he invited the Chinese and Korean players to the Underworld to act as his reinforcements, it's {{Implied}} that he knew that they would figure him out sooner or later, but banked on a number of them clinging to their hatred of Japan so that he could spur all of them into killing each other just by killing the one who started pointing out how he was manipulating him.]]
* MaskOfSanity: Downplayed. While [=PoH=] has always been a murderous psychopath, he's a low-functioning sociopath who's able to pass himself off as a high-functioning one.
-->A cold gust of wind rustled his leather hood, revealing the eyes underneath for a brief moment. They were [[RedEyesTakeWarning red]] and [[EvilIsNotWellLit dimly glowing]]. A devil. He was not human, but a true devil. [[SatanicArchetype That was the true nature of PoH]]. The mask of the cheerful agitator he wore in Aincrad and the mask of the harsh commander he wore here were both just that: lies. In truth, he was a cold, cruel agent of vengeance who [[{{Sadist}} sought only to inflict pain, to torment]] and wipe out all traces of humanity...
* MeaningfulName: His given name (Vassago) is a reference to a certain [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassago Prince of Hell.]] It also adds to his [[SatanicArchetype satanic]] character. [[spoiler: Apparently his mother gave it to him because she never wanted him to begin with.]]
* NotQuiteDead: {{Implied}}. [[spoiler: Despite [[BalefulPolymorph his fate]] [[AndIMustScream in the Underworld]], Vassago's body is revealed to have mysteriously disappeared when the GDS survivors went to collect his, Gabriel and Brigg's bodies, to which Critter remembers that while he did confirm Gabriel's death and witness Brigg get killed, he never confirmed whether or not that Vassago was dead.]]
* ObviouslyEvil: With his name, satanic character and RedRightHand, you could see villain from a mile away.
* OhCrap: [[spoiler:Has this reaction after figuring out that Kirito intends to imprison him in a tree instead of killing him.]]
* OmniGlot: [[InformedAbility According to the novels]] he is apparently fluent in Japanese, English, Korean, Russian, and Latin American Spanish. Kirito even wonders if he's of [[ButNotTooForeign mixed ethnicity]], which is verified later on: He was born as the illegitimate son of a Japanese man and Mexican woman and joined a Korean crime gang upon coming to Japan.
** His multilingual fluency is much more relevant later on during the Alicization arc, [[spoiler:where he's part of a 12-man team of operators from Glowgen Defense Systems making an assault on Ocean Turtle, led by [=GDS's=] own Gabriel Miller. All of the team speak English, with only him and Gabriel being fluent in Japanese. This meant that they would enter the Underworld via non-password protected accounts (Vassago chose an account of a dark knight, while Gabriel got the account of Emperor Vector), in an attempt to locate Alice.]]
* OmnicidalManiac: He has zero regard for the lives of anyone, including his fellow teammates. [[spoiler:His plan in Underworld is have the Japanese players killed by summoning thousands of American, Chinese and Korean players, with full intent of having them all die during their fight. He even tells Asuna that he'll kill thousands of beings, inluding her allies and every other human and monster down there, just to get the comotose Kirito to wake up; and during his various threats to murder the two both in the Underworld and in real life, he threatens to target their friends and allies.]]
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: [[spoiler:He's enraged when he enters Underworld and sees the broken Kirito, but only because ''he'' wasn't the one to leave him that way. Part of his reason to get everyone around killing each other is to try and snap Kirito out of it so he can fight and destroy him himself]].
* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:Transforms into a literal "Prince of Hell" during his fight against Kirito.]]
* OverarchingVillain: [=PoH=] is arguably the most recurring and influential villain in the series, being the part of the BigBadDuumvirate in the ''Aincrad'' [[spoiler: and ''Progressive'']] arcs, becoming the GreaterScopeVillain in ''Phantom Bullet'' through his influence on [[spoiler: [=XaXa=] and Johnny Black]], and becoming TheDragon for Gabriel Miller, the second BigBad of the ''Alicization Arc''. [[spoiler: It's even implied that he somehow escapes his FateWorseThanDeath at Kirito's hands in the Underworld with not even the GDS knowing where he is, implying a possible return in the future.]]
* PersonalityPowers: Invoked weapon example. His weapon, the Mate Chopper, is largely dependent on what the wielder does with it; the lore of Aincrad labels it as a cursed weapon that gets more powerful if it kills other players, but weaker if it kills monsters and other mobs. [[DifficultButAwesome If you kill enough monsters and "break the curse", it turns into a powerful katana]] but if you do what [=PoH=] did and just keep killing other players with it, you get a weapon that just keeps getting more and more powerful whenever you kill someone.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: His hatred towards his Japanese father translates to hostility towards East Asians as a whole, to the point that he relishes in the sight of East Asian players killing one another.
* PoweredByAForsakenChild: Not child per se, but the more his Mate Chopper is used to kill other players it's stats increase more and more. The inverse of killing monsters, while apparently awarding you with a powerful Katana, actually decreases it's stats. [[spoiler:In the Underworld, it just gets empowered by death in general.]]
* PragmaticVillainy: [[spoiler: In ''Girls Ops''. In Lux's backstory, he stops one of his underlings from killing her by pointing out that they're down a town infiltration member, as they had to kill one of them when they tried escaping. Plus, from the sinister sneer he flashed when he forced her to join, [[{{Sadist}} he probably figured she'd suffer more if forced to work for them.]]]]
* PurpleIsPowerful: [[spoiler: As a Dark Knight, he dons dark purple armor and, while not as powerful as he is using his SAO Avatar, he's still plenty skilled, being able to sneak into the Human Army camp without notice before encountering Ronye, and almost killing her when they get into a brief duel.]]
* ProfessionalKiller: Upon coming to Japan, Vassago [[spoiler: joined the Korean Mafia as an assassin, and pulled off nine successful hits before SAO. Even his presence in SAO was part of a job, logging in after the Death Game started since the target was too well-guarded IRL.]]
* PsychoForHire: A murderous {{Sadist}} who cares only for killing, and not only did his guild take jobs to kill other players for a price, but [[spoiler: before SAO he was a ProfessionalKiller for the Korean Mafia, who were the guys who sent him into SAO in the first place, and after it ended he returned to the USA to become a mercenary for a PMC company that specializes in wetwork.]]
* RealityEnsues: In the Alicization arc, [[spoiler:he has the [[SarcasmMode brilliant idea]] to [[EvilGloating insult, threaten and gloat]] to Kirito, who just kicked his ass, that he's never going to stop coming after him until he brutally murders him, Asuna and their friends in real-life, expecting him to just sit there and cry about it. Instead, his threats are met with retaliation and efforts to make sure he never comes after anyone ever again, as can be expected when one threatens someone who can and ''will'' fight back, especially since Kirito ''knows'' what [[TheSociopath PoH]] is capable of and will spell nothing but bad news wherever he goes.]]
* RedRightHand: Vassago has a [[GoodScarsEvilScars large vertical scar]] on the right side of his head. Also his eyes [[RedEyesTakeWarning glow red]] when he's hooded.
* {{Sadist}}: Taken UpToEleven. Born to a Japanese father, who forced his mother to have him so he can be used in a kidney transplant for a relative, he joined a Korean crime gang to kill Japanese people and he created the Laughing Coffin guild just to watch them kill each other. [[spoiler:[=PoH=] later brings Chinese and Korean gamers into Underworld to fight the Japanese gamers who are rescuing Kirito, just to revel in the sight of Asians killing each other. But wait, there's more. [=PoH=] proceeds to [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown beat down a helpless Kirito]] in front of his TrueCompanions just to spite them, planning to [[AnArmAndALeg cut off his limbs]] and [[ForcedToWatch force Kirito to watch him torture Asuna]]. And when Kirito has recovered from his GameBreakingInjury and defeats him, [=PoH=] vows that he will ''never'' stop coming after Kirito and Asuna until he finally manages to kill them in real-life by [[SlashedThroat cutting their throats]] and [[BeatStillMyHeart ripping their hearts out]]. This [[TooDumbToLive backfires on him]] ''epically''; after hearing this, Kirito has had enough of him and subjects [=PoH=] to a FateWorseThanDeath by permanently trapping him in a tree and [[AndIMustScream leaving him to rot in Underworld]].]]
* SatanicArchetype: Perhaps the closest example in the series. He was considered an outcast having been born as an illegitimate child similar to Lucifer being cast from Heaven. Not only is he responsible for the corruption of many an SAO player and the post-SAO incidents but he dons a dark robe, is named Vassago (one of the demons in the Ars Goetia) and calls himself [=PoH=] (meaning Prince of Hell). Also adding to his Satanic character is that he deceives players from America, China, Korea and Russia to fight the Japanese players in the Underworld, which neatly parallels Satan gathering the nations around the world to fight the people of God in the Book of Revelation. To further add to the Messiah-Satan contrast, Kirito's [[CameBackStrong recovery]] from his GameBreakingInjury and victory over [=PoH=] and his forces during the final battle parallels the Second Coming of Christ and him defeating Satan's forces in the final battle in the Book of Revelation.
* SelfDuplication: [[spoiler: He creates several shadowy duplicates of himself using his Incarnation during his duel with Kirito in the ''War of the Underworld''.]]
* SimpleYetAwesome: [[spoiler: It's noted that the simplicity of his Incarnation, which generates from his single-minded desire to kill and torture, ends up making him incredibly powerful, to the point where he can survive having a TorsoWithAView.]]
* SlashedThroat: [[spoiler:Attempts to do this on both Kirito and Asuna should he get kicked out from UW. Kirito kills him for this shortly afterwards (via [[FateWorseThanDeath a cruel and unusual method]]).]]
* SmallRoleBigImpact: For the franchise as a whole. Although getting much less screen-time than Kayaba in the Aincrad arc, the repercussions of his actions extend far beyond him. [[spoiler:His establishment of the Laughing Coffin in Aincrad and the subsequent corruption of many a player into player killers and even real-life {{serial killer}}s was what ultimately led to the Phantom Bullet and Alicization arcs.]]
* TheSociopath: Misanthropic, bloodthirsty, manipulative, and utterly devoted to [[KickTheDog dog-kicking]], Vassago shows among the darker, more dangerous depictions of sociopathy. He establishes the Laughing Coffin guild so he can have people kill each other to satisfy his bloodlust, and even corrupts many an SAO player into player killers and even real-life {{serial killer}}s.
* StupidEvil: As highlighted under FatalFlaw, [=PoH=] is far too sadistic and bloodthirsty for his own good and simply can't resist "twisting the knife" or opportunities to KickTheDog, actively antagonizing Kirito and his friends even when doing so is clearly ''not'' a good idea. [[spoiler:This backfires on him when he openly mouths off to Kirito that once he logs out of the Underworld, he won't stop coming after Kirito and Asuna until he manages to brutally murder them in real-life; in response, Kirito traps him in a tree and leaves him to rot in Underworld]].
* TooDumbToLive: After [[spoiler:Kirito defeats him soundly in the Alicization arc, [=PoH=] decides to [[EvilGloating openly mouth off to him and brag]] that as soon as he logs out of Underworld, he's going to keep coming after Kirito and Asuna until he finally kills them in real-life. He cements his downfall doing this; Kirito has no intention of letting him walk away after such a threat and decides to trap him in a tree and leave him to rot in Underworld forever rather than kill him.]]
* TorsoWithAView: [[spoiler: Gets one when Asuna uses Mother's Rosario on him, but his Mate Chopper sucking in all the death occurring on the battlefield helps him survive.]]
* {{Ubermensch}}: Vassago has the antisocial behavior, presenting himself as a cheerfully sadistic man who believes that the virtual world reveals people's true colors and that people should give in to their murderous impulses and murder each other to their heart's content, which was why he founded the [[PlayerKilling Laughing Coffin]] so he can murder other players ForTheEvulz and influence others into doing the same. His love of killing and violence serves its purpose as a twisted value; he doesn't care which side was winning, such as [[spoiler:when he leaked the Laughing Coffin guild's location to the raiders or tried to make the Chinese and Korean players kill each other when they start to find out about his scheme]], because all he cared about was watching people kill each other. Understandably, most people see his philosophy as little more than murder and sadism ForTheEvulz, but he was able to influence several of the Laughing Coffin members to his ideals, such as [=XaXa=] and Johnny Black. Kirito here would be the Last Man.
* TheUnfettered: [=PoH=] can't be reasoned with and he'll do whatever it takes to get what he wants. [[spoiler:This is also [[FatalFlaw his "double-edged sword"]].]]
* VillainHasAPoint: He founds Laughing Coffin with the sole intent of [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential killing other players for fun]], stating that since Akihiko Kayaba is the one who set up the death game in the first place, he'll [[DeceasedFallGuyGambit get all the blame for any deaths that occur in SAO]] while any and all player killers will [[KarmaHoudini get off scot-free]]. Sadly, he's proven right when SAO is cleared.
* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Starts losing his composure when after Kirito starts using his Night Sky Sword, which was made from the Gigas Cedar, to absorb the spatial resources from the deceased his Mate Chopper was previously absorbing, desperately waving his enlarged dagger to try cut off the flow going to Kirito's sword.]]
* VillainousRescue: {{Subverted}}. [[spoiler: He ''did'' save Lux from getting killed by a monster, but he then immediately forced her to join the Guild as a town infiltrator and threatened to leave her to die if she didn't comply.]]
* VillainRespect: [[spoiler: Contrary to what Asuna believes, [=PoH=] admits that he has nothing but respect for Kirito, even claiming her loves him, not only for his strength, but [[IncorruptablePurePureness for being able to resist his attempts to manipulate and corrupt him.]] Unfortunately, this "respect" and "love" compels him to [[KickTheDog do increasingly horrendous acts]] and being [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou obsessed with killing him himself.]]]]
* WeWillMeetAgain: He attempts this, declaring that [[spoiler:even if Kirito ''does'' kill him in UW, he'll just keep showing up in front of Kirito over and over again until he finally manages to brutally murder Kirito and Asuna. Unfortunately for him, Kirito has no intention of letting him walk away after such a threat and traps him in a tree, declaring he's [[AndIMustScream never logging out]].]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: Despite being [[AndIMustScream trapped as a tree in the Underworld]], his IRL body somehow disappears from the Ocean Turtle with not even the GDS mercenaries, who went to the STL Room to collect Gabriel's body, knowing where it went.]]
* WillfullyWeak: Zig-zagged. His Mate Chopper was apparently a very unique weapon in that if it killed enough mobs, an action that lowers it's stats each time, it turns into a powerful Katana with the same name. This being [[SerialKiller [=PoH=]]], he naturally stuck with it's dagger form and it's ability to get more powerful the more players it killed.
* TheWorfEffect: Despite being the former leader of Laughing Coffin and Gabriel's right-hand man, [[spoiler:[=PoH=] ends up being defeated, and then unceremoniously killed off by Kirito to show off the latter's DualWielding of the Night Sky and Blue Rose Swords.]]
* WouldHitAGirl:
** [[spoiler: When he's initially logged in as a Dark Knight, Vassago gets into a duel with Ronye while he's infiltrating the human camp, and would have killed her if it wasn't' for Asuna's DeusExMachina. Later on when he logs back in with his SAO Avatar, he casually shoves her out of his way when she tries to block him off from Kirito.]]
** [[spoiler:Would've [[SlashedThroat slit Asuna's throat]] along with Kirito's, if it weren't for the latter's interference putting a [[SpannerInTheWorks Spanner in His Works]]]].
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: It's said that he set up Laughing Coffin to be killed by the clearers when he got "bored" of running it.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Shouichi Shinkawa / [=XaXa=]]]
!!Shouichi Shinkawa / [=XaXa=] (SAO)
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SoichiroHoshi (Japanese) Creator/BenDiskin (English)
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/red_eyed_xaxa_2.png]]
One of the top members of the Laughing Coffin, who survived the assault on the guild.
----
* AscendedExtra: A very minor character in the Aincrad arc before going on to become the BigBadDuumvirate of the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc.
%%* BigBadDuumvirate: Of ''Phantom Bullet'', alongside Johnny Black, [[spoiler:and his brother Kyouji]].
* CallForward: In the light novel version of "A Murder Case in the Area" (Episodes 4 and 5 from season 1 for reference), he threatens to chase down Kirito on a horse after he rides in on one to save Yorko, Caynz and Schmitt. [[spoiler: In GGO, he, as Death Gun, chases down Kirito and Sinon on a (mechanical) horse.]]
* CoDragons: To [=PoH=] alongside Johnny Black.
* CreepySouvenir: His appearance in [[spoiler: "The Safe Zone Murder"]] hints that he makes a habit of stealing rapier and estoc weapons from his victims to wield himself, [[spoiler: such when he takes the Estoc made by [[TheBlacksmith Grimlock]] that Yolko was using to intimidate Schmitt for himself upon noticing it's good stats.]] Seeing as deaths in SAO [[NoBodyLeftBehind result in the victim exploding into shards]], this is likely the closest he gets to collecting body parts from his victims.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: His avatar in SAO has red hair and eyes.
* DragonAscendant: Along with Johnny Black, [=XaXa=] becomes the ArcVillain of ''GGO''.
* EarlyBirdCameo: In ''Hollow Realization'', [[spoiler:while [[TheGhost he doesn't make a direct appearance]], Kyouji (as Richter) does make mention of him multiple times as his "brother", particularly when threatening Kirito and including a part where, upon gaining an orange cursor after attacking Sinon, he notes it happened just like his "big brother" said it would]].
** [[spoiler:After the above event happens and a later event with Sinon finishes, he uses his brother's account to talk to Kirito and say he'll be the one to eventually bring his story to an end, heavily giving hints to who he is without outright revealing it.]]
* EvilCounterpart:
** For Yuuki Konno. Both are very ill in real-life and wanted to prove their strength in the VR world, which gave them more opportunities than the real world. Unlike Yuuki, [=XaXa=] completely gave up on real world ethics and became a killing machine, equating strength with murder.
** Also one to Kirito, who noted they are both SAO survivors. However Kirito was left traumatized by taking the life of other players, while [=XaXa=] took pride in it and his status as a true red player.
%%* EvilRedhead: His avatar in SAO.
* TheFaceless: The audience never gets a clear look at Shouichi's face, and the heroes never get a chance to meet him in real-life. He wears a skull mask as [=XaXa=] and as [[spoiler: Death Gun]], and his brief shots in the anime always obscure his eyes.
* FreudianExcuse: Shouichi lived his entire life [[IllBoy suffering from frailty and sickness to the point he was constantly moved between his home and the hospital]] after middle school. By the time he entered high school a year late, his father had [[InadequateInheritor all but given up on him becoming a doctor and coming into the family business]]. He eventually dropped out of high school entirely and turned to the internet and [=MMORPGs=] as an escape from the disappointment of his real-life. Then he ended up in [[TheMostDangerousVideoGame SAO]], where he met [[TheCorrupter PoH]] and was molded with the mindset of a serial killer.
* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:He is responsible for Kirito's presence in the ''Alicization'' arc due to providing Johnny Black with the syringe of succinylcholine, the method of killing used in their "Death Gun" scheme, which he used to badly injure Kirito. This in turn starts the chain of events that leads to Kirito ending up in the Underworld]].
* TheHeavy: While Johnny Black [[spoiler:and his brother Kyouji]] are also part of [[spoiler:Death Gun]], it is [=XaXa=] who poses the most direct threat to Kirito and Sinon during the events of ''Phantom Bullet'', controlling the avatar that engages them in combat and culminating in the final duel that results in his identity (and indirectly those of consorts) being made known. His defeat also signals the end of most of the conflict of the arc [[spoiler:minus the last bit with his brother Kyouji]].
* HeroKiller: Earns this reputation in SAO [[spoiler:and GGO]]. As one of the few players who can match Kirito in a sword fight, it is not unwarranted.
* IllBoy: His brother [[spoiler: Kyouji]] describes him as being very sick ([[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant in body, not mind]]). [[spoiler:It's a problem that's hounded him his whole life, to the point his father decided he wasn't worthy of taking up the family business and he eventually dropped out of high school and turned to the internet and [=MMORPG=]s. [[StartOfDarkness Then he got trapped in SAO and met PoH]]...]]
* InadequateInheritor: Of a different stripe than [[spoiler:his brother Kyouji]]. Due to his [[IllBoy life of illness]] his father eventually gave up hope of him ever inheriting the family business of being a doctor [[spoiler:and pushed his expectations on his little brother]], which lead to Shouichi dropping out of high school and committing himself to the internet and videogames.
* LackOfEmpathy: Due to his past, [=XaXa=] only sees value in that which is beneficial to him. He has no qualms killing other people if the mood strikes, and he actually spent his time in GGO [[spoiler:before he became Death Gun]] stalking other players from afar and imagining ways to kill them. [[spoiler: He also sees no problem in manipulating his brother into joining on his murderous exploits with seemingly no concern for his future.]]
* MasterSwordsman: The best swordsman in the Guild, and a match for Kirito. [[spoiler:He gets to duel once more against the latter during the climax of GGO's [=BoB=] tournament, this time posing as the Death Gun and using a hidden estoc within his sniper rifle. He also goes into detail about how Kirito is rusty and uses technical jargon.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler: The Death Gun incident can be largely attributed to him taking advantage of his brother's fragile mind and his hatred for [=XeXeeD=] to give himself an excuse to kill again.]]
* PsychoForHire: To the point where he could not stop killing after being released into the real world.
* RedBaron: "Red-Eyed" [=XaXa=]
* RedEyesTakeWarning: His avatar in SAO has red eyes which helped [[EarnYourTitle earn his nickname]]. [[spoiler:His helmet as the Death Gun in GGO has red lenses that glow.]]
* RoyalRapier: He's a master fencer and he wields an estoc, a thin, sharply pointed sword meant for stabbing. It's zigzagged with the archetype associated with rapier-users. He turns out to be the scion of a rich family that owns a hospital, but he doesn't have any personal refinement or manners, being rather thuggish and blunt towards other characters.
* SerialKiller: In ''SAO'' and out of it, he kills others that match his profile.
* SkullForAHead: Wears a skull helmet. [[spoiler:His preference carries over into GGO, where he poses as the Death Gun.]]
* WeaponOfChoice: Estoc-type weapons. [[spoiler:In GGO, he tried to recreate one with the metal found in ''space battleships'', but was only able to make a thin blade he can hide in his sniper rifle.]]
* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: Averted. [[spoiler:After his capture and imprisonment in SAO, he did nothing but train with his rapier skills, to the point where like Kirito, he can replicate SAO moves via muscle memory and can actually beat Kirito in a sword fight (though it should be noted that Kirito couldn't fight all out as his lightsaber had no weight, and he's too used to heavy swords).]]
* VillainousFriendship: [=XaXa=] is very good friends with Johnny Black which is likely why [[spoiler:it was so easy for [=XaXa=] to convince Black to help him as part of Death Gun.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: Even more so than the rest of his Laughing Coffin comrades due to the fact that he [[spoiler:comes back in Gun Gale Online as the avatar known as Death Gun, and carries out public virtual executions while his accomplices inject their victims with succinylcholine in the real world]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Atsushi Kanamoto / Johnny Black]]
!!Atsushi Kanamoto / Johnny Black (SAO)
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RyotaOhsaka (Japanese), Creator/AlejandroSaab (English), Alberto Bernal (Latin American Spanish)
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/animejohnnyblack.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here to see him in RL]]\\
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/johnny_09.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
One of the top members of the Laughing Coffin, and a survivor of SAO.
----
* AxCrazy: Is easily the most unhinged of the Death Gun trio.
* BeardOfEvil: His real-life appearance shows that he has a stubble, though it's oddly absent in the anime.
%%* BigBadDuumvirate: Of ''GGO'', alongside [=XaXa=] [[spoiler:and his brother Kyouji]].
* CoDragons: To [=PoH=] alongside [=XaXa=].
* CreepyHighPitchedVoice: For a person of his appearance, he's got a noticeably high-pitched voice, which only goes to make him even more disturbing.
* DragonAscendant: Along with [=XaXa=], Johnny Black becomes the ArcVillain of ''GGO''.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: His first on-screen appearance was when he, [=XaXa=] and [=PoH=] incapacitate the Golden Apple guild. Black planned on making the guild fight each other to the death before killing the last man standing. Based on [=PoH=]'s comment to him, this isn't the first time he did it, and it shows how sadistic he is.
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: In the manga, at least, Johnny Black is seen smoking a cigarette and tossing in down onto the ground before squishing it with his shoe. It may have been a habit he picked up from [=PoH=]
* HeroKiller: Has this reputation in ''SAO'' like many others in Laughing Coffin. [[spoiler: He also nearly killed Kazuto in real life.]]
* InvoluntaryBattleToTheDeath: Plans to force the members of the Golden Apple Guild into one. [[SarcasmMode The survivor gets to live]]!
-->'''[=PoH=]''': But the last time you did that, you killed the winner anyways.\\
'''Johnny''': Agh, don't tell them that!
%%* LackOfEmpathy
* KickTheDog: Everything he does in his on-screen appearances is to show how petty and wicked he is.
** Incapacitates the Golden Apple guild and wants to force them to kill each other before killing the last man standing anyway, with [=PoH=] revealing that he's done this before.
** [[spoiler:Him stalking Kirito and Asuna and then attacking Kirito with the succinylcholine syringe]].
* KnifeNut: His WeaponOfChoice were a large collection of knives for both melee and [[FlechetteStorm throwing]], all coated in his signature poisons.
* MasterPoisoner: Was infamous for using poisons, and equipping the rest of Laughing Coffin with them.
* MeaningfulName: Johnny Black alludes to another [[Film/TheShining insane character]].
* MinorMajorCharacter: He's one of the three high-ranking members of Laughing Coffin and also [[spoiler:one of the three members that make up Death Gun, however he gets very minimal focus and most of his acts are all {{Informed Attribute}}s. Even when he shows up in person to stab Kirito with a toxin it's merely a plot device and he isn't a main villain.]]
* NightmareFace: From what little IRL screentime we get, he wastes no time in showing some pretty disturbing and twisted faces, almost always with a SlasherSmile. Little wonder why there was the burlap sack.
* ObviouslyEvil: Let's see, Player Killer, TortureTechnician and MasterPoisoner in-game with a [[SackheadSlasher burlap sack]] for a mask, and his real-life appearance having a haggard-looking appearance with narrow eyes and a stubble, what else could you guess what kind of person he is from all that?
* PoisonedWeapons: His specialty, which only serves to highlight his ObviouslyEvil character.
* PsychoForHire: Loves to kill, in both the real world and the games.
* RevengeBeforeReason: Chooses to use his last shot of succinylcholine to attack Kirito and avenge his comrades rather than attempt to flee the country for good. {{Justified}} in the end since while he had no way of knowing it, the authorities discovered his role in the Death Gun incident from interrogating his two co-conspirators and even without that, as an SAO survivor he'd likely be under great scrutiny from the government anyway.
* SackheadSlasher: Wore a burlap sack for a mask in Aincrad.
* {{Sadist}}: You know how sadistic he is when they not only force their captives to fight to the death but kill the last man standing anyway.
* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: After [[spoiler: [=XaXa=] is revealed to be Death Gun and their plans are foiled Black gets the hell out of dodge as quickly as possible.]]
* SerialKiller: In ''SAO'' and out of it, [[spoiler:culminating in an attack on Kirito and Asuna in the real world.]]
* SmallRoleBigImpact: His attempted murder of [[spoiler:Kirito was what lands him in Underworld, and considering [[BreakTheCutie all the misfortunes that happen to him over there]]]].
* TortureTechnician: Uses his poisons so he can incapacitate and then torture before killing them.
* WhiteHairBlackHeart: From what little is seen of him, his real-life counterpart has very fair (or grey) hair.
* WideEyesAndShrunkenIrises: Which goes hand-in-hand with his IRL NightmareFace.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kuradeel]]
-> See the Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad page
[[/folder]]
%%Before editing, please read Administrivia/HowToWriteAnExample in its entirety. We cannot stress enough how harsh the punishment for violating Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers, Administrivia/ConversationInTheMainPage and Administrivia/ZeroContextExample is, so do not ignore this comment.
%%
[[WMG:[[center: [- ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' '''[[Characters/SwordArtOnline Main Character Index]]'''\\
[[Characters/SwordArtOnlineMajorCharacters Major Characters]] ([[Characters/SwordArtOnlineKazutoKirigaya Kazuto Kirigaya]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAsunaYuuki Asuna Yuuki]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineSuguhaKirigaya Suguha Kirigaya]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineShinoAsada Shino Asada]]) | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad Aincrad]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlfheimOnline Alfheim Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineGunGaleOnline Gun Gale Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineUnderworld Underworld]] ([[Characters/SwordArtOnlineIntegrityKnights Integrity Knights]]) | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAntagonists Antagonists]] ([[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAkihikoKayaba Akihiko Kayaba]], '''Laughing Coffin''') | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineVideoGame Video Game Exclusives]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnline Alternative Gun Gale Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineOthers Others]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineMobileGames Mobile Game Exclusives]]]]]]-]
->Real world names are in western naming order. Followed by their online name and worlds they played in.[[note]]If only the online name is known, then display as normal.[[/note]]
The notorious PlayerKilling guild that terrorized SAO. After the clearing of the game, many members would return in later arcs to continue antagonizing Kirito, making them {{Overarching Villain}}s for the series as a whole.
'''Note: Unmarked spoilers ahead.''' '''If you're starting the anime, ''do not'' read this page!'''
----
[[folder:In General]]
* ArchEnemy: All of them (particularly the three highest ranking members) come to despise Kirito for defeating them in SAO. Members of their guild return in subsequent arcs to menace Kirito repeatedly in different games and in the real world.
* AxCrazy: A guild of psychopathic murderers who lust for bloodshed and would rather let themselves be killed in battle than surrendering.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: During Kirito's recount of the Assault Team's raid on the Laughing Coffin HQ, over twenty Laughing Coffin members choose to let themselves be killed rather than surrendering. One particularly psychopathic member already had his HP reduced to red and was cornered by three Assault Team members, yet instead of giving in, he chose to maniacally lunge and stab at the Assault Team members, managing to kill all three of them, all the while cackling like a lunatic. Kirito is just in time to see the three die before the guy decides to attack Kirito, and he does not stop until Kirito deals the killing blow himself.
* TheConspiracy: [[spoiler: The ''Progressive'' Novels implies that the guild started out as this, being a small group of players led by [=PoH=], or as he was known then "the man in the black poncho", dedicated to sabotaging the frontlines and prevent everyone from escaping the game.]]
* DissonantSerenity: Part of what makes them so intimidating is how casually they generally treat their cruel actions, such as when [=PoH=], [=XaXa=] and Johnny Black ambushed Golden Apple, and discussed what to do with them, with Johnny suggesting that they force them to fight each other to the death and kill the survivor, as if it was just every day for them... which, well, it kind of is, but still.
* TheDreaded: Were this as a group, with multiple HeroKiller types like [=PoH=], Xa Xa, and Johnny Black among their ranks. It's bad enough that in the GGO arc Kirito lapses into PTSD upon seeing Death Gun's LC tattoo, while [[BoisterousBruiser Klein]] drops his alcohol and panics when Death Gun utters [=PoH=]'s CatchPhrase.
* EarlyBirdCameo:
** [=PoH=], [=XaXa=], and Johnny Black are first seen during the "A Murder Case in the Area" story, as very minor antagonists. However they will all go on to become {{Arc Villain}}s later in the story.
** In a blink-and-miss shot of the players names list Kayaba brings out when telling Asuna and Kirito about everyone being logged out you can see [=XaXa=], [=Johnny Black=] and [=PoH=]'s names on the list of players logged out having survived SAO.
* EvilCounterpart: To the Knights of the Blood Oath, being a large and famous guild, but one that is [[TheDreaded feared]] for being [[PlayerKilling murderers]], rather than attempting to save the players by clearing the game.
* ForTheEvulz: Their entire M.O. is to kill other players without consequence, on the grounds that if it's a death game, then killing is a must. In fact, the entire Phantom Bullet arc was set in motion because [[spoiler:two of the members wanted to ''continue'' the death game]].
* GrayscaleOfEvil: Their signature symbol/tattoo is always black and white.
* InTheHood: Members of the guild are fond of draping themselves in black cloaks.
* KarmaHoudini: [[DeceasedFallGuyGambit Due to all blame being placed on Akihiko Kayaba,]] none of their crimes were revealed to the public and none of the surviving members were punished for their crimes. [[LaserGuidedKarma However]], after the guild's kill count climbed into the triple digits, the Knights Of Blood put the floor-clearing on hold and with a lot of other like-minded players, initiated a purge to track down all members of the guild and bring them to justice. Many of them [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled chose to let themselves be killed]] rather than to be captured. Some of them, including [=XaXa=] and Johnny Black, managed to escape, though, and remain at large. [[spoiler:At least, until the ''Death Gun'' incident.]]
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: While they get off scot-free for their actions in SAO due to Kayaba getting the blame, the surviving members return in later arcs and finally get their comeuppance: [[spoiler:[=XaXa=] and Johnny Black are arrested and incarcerated after perpetuating the Death Gun incident (although the latter escapes justice long enough to attack and nearly kill Kirito in real-life), and [=PoH=] himself is subjected to a FateWorseThanDeath by Kirito during the climax of the Alicization arc.]]
* LoopholeAbuse: Because the Laughing Coffin cannot be recognized as a guild by the system given their abnormally high count of [[PlayerKilling orange and red players]], their members are free to join and infiltrate other guilds. Kuradeel exploited this by posing as a frontline soldier in the Knights of the Blood Oath, unbeknownst to everyone until he reveals his tattoo to Kirito.
* MasterPoisoner: Most, if not all, members of this guild are skilled in potion mixing, usually to paralyze their victims before going for the kill, chief among them being Johnny Black.
* MurderInc: Sometimes, some players will hire their services to kill a target as a means to avoid having their KarmaMeter changed to orange or red.
* OffscreenVillainy: Most of their more brutal crimes such as the killing of hundreds of players occur entirely offscreen. Aside from Kuradeel, the only time we see them in action during the Aincrad arc was during "A Murder Case in the Area" story where they are hired by Grimlock to carry out the murders of his old guild. It isn't until the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc via a flashback that we finally get to see just how monstrous these guys truly are when a battle between them and the Assault Team results on a bloodbath on both sides.
* OverArchingVillain: The Laughing Coffin are present one way or another in every season of the series. In the ''Aincrad'' arc they are a murder guild present in SAO and form a BigBadEnsemble with Kayaba. In the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc, two former members ([=XaXa=] and Johnny Black) are part of the BigBadDuumvirate that makes up Death Gun, while in the ''Alicization'' arc [=PoH=] returns as TheDragon working for the new BigBad Gabriel.
* PlayerKilling: Some time after Laughing Coffin, a ragtag bunch of orange players, was founded, [=PoH=] spread the belief that killing other players was alright, uncaring of the fact that SAO was a death game.
* PragmaticVillainy: ''Girls Ops'' reveals that there were times when they actually opted out of killing other players, instead forcing them to join their guild as Green Player Spies, who were tasked with doing tasks that the Red Player member players were incapable of, such as entering towns to do shopping, and spying on rival guilds or scouting out farming spots without arousing suspicions. The only instance when they killed them was if they ever tried to escape, [[spoiler: which happened before Lux encountered them, prompting them to force her to join instead of killing her.]]
* PsychoForHire: They are willing to get payed to perform their [=PKing=].
* TattooedCrook: Members have their guild symbol tattooed on their avatar's bodies.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: They know their game-world actions have lethal real world consequences and yet they kill anyway.
* VillainTeamUp: [[spoiler: When they started as TheConspiracy, they apparently joined up with the Fallen Elves faction of the Elf War campaign, with Kirito suspecting that they somehow discovered a unique VillainProtagonist questline. This gives their members at the time, such as Morte, access to unique weapons such as specially poisoned throwing knives.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Vassago Casals / [=PoH=]]]
!!Vassago Casals / [=PoH=] (SAO, GGO, UW)
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KeijiFujiwara (Games), Creator/TsuyoshiKoyama (Anime) (Japanese), Creator/XanderMobus (English), Alfredo Gabriel Basurto (Latin American Spanish)
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/poh_9.png]]
[[quoteright:350: [[labelnote:Click here to see Vassago]]\\
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vassagocasalsfull2735645.png[[/labelnote]]]]
-->"''It's showtime.''"
Laughing Coffin's Leader and founder, having drawn people in by preaching about how all the actual deaths will blamed on Kayaba once SAO ends. He later returns in the ''Alicization'' Arc [[DemotedToDragon working for Gabriel Miller in his attempts to capture Alice.]]
----
* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler: His mother wanted to abort him and named him after a demon to illustrate that she hated him, while his father only forced her to have him so he could give his kidney to a relative (outright stated to be a legitimate son in the anime).]]
* AdaptationalUgliness: The description of him in the Light Novel and his appearance in the anime make him rather attractive with his [[LatinoIsBrown exotic Latino look]], with long dark locks that hang from his head. The gameverse by contrast makes him look a lot more creepier, with more narrow snake-like eyes, no visible hair that almost makes him look bald underneath his hood, and a much [[EvilSoundsRaspy raspier voice]].
* AnimalMotifs: Vassago has a snake motif going around. He created the Laughing Coffin guild, whose weapons of choice include PoisonedWeapons, poisons people with his philosophy, and and he openly defies the god-like entity and its messiah like the snaky devil. Some characters (and even the author) even compare him to snakes.
* AndIMustScream: His ultimate fate. [[spoiler:After [=PoH=] declares he'll never stop coming after Kirito and Asuna until he's killed them in real-life, Kirito declares that he's never logging out of Underworld and traps him in a tree, leaving him to rot in Underworld forever. It's made even worse by the fact that time in Underworld runs on YearInsideHourOutside; years can pass in-game while mere days pass in the real world. Kirito even takes the time to [[ToThePain describe such a fate]] to him: [=PoH=] will spend ten or more years of isolation and insanity, and then die after another 30 years of brain activity; as Kirito puts it, he better pray his allies bail him out, otherwise he's stuck in there, rotting for the rest of his life until someone else cuts him down with an axe.]]
** [[spoiler: Possibly {{Subverted}}. It's revealed that when the remaining Glowgen mercenaries are retreating, those in charge of securing Gabriel and Vassago's corpses reveal that they were only able to recover Gabriel's body, and that Vassago's had mysteriously disappeared, implying that he escaped his fate somehow and disappeared from the Ocean Turtle without anyone noticing.]]
* ArchEnemy:
** To Kirito and Asuna. He desires to kill these two members of the Assault Team more than anyone else, willing to go back into the Underworld upon finding out they were present there. With Kirito he displays an almost a StalkerWithoutACrush obsession with Kirito, awed by the boy's [[{{Determinator}} indomitable will]] that keeps pushing him forward and providing [=PoH=] with so much fun. In ''Alicization'', his desire to seek out the Black Swordsman and wants to awaken Kirito from being an EmptyShell being willing to [[KickTheDog kill as many people as needed]] to bring the boy back to his senses.
** To a lesser extent, all of the Assault Team. Due to being the leader of the murder guild and being responsible for many of the tragedies that occurred in SAO, all of them know about him and despise him, as such, his threats towards murdering Kirito and Asuna in real life suggests he doesn't intend of stopping with just the two of them, which is all but implied in the anime. The anime adds Eiji as having personal beef with him too, despite the two never technically meeting.
* AscendedExtra:
** Goes from being a scarcely seen villain part of a BigBadEnsemble in the Aincrad arc to TheHeavy of the second half of the Alicization arc. ''Progressive'' also makes him a more direct threat too.
** [[spoiler:''Hollow Fragment'' upgrades him to the BigBad of the Hollow Area though his Hollow AI counterpart.]]
* AxCrazy: Easily the craziest below Gabriel Miller. However, he's at least calculated in his insanity. Vassago emphatically isn't.
* BadBoss: [[spoiler:He's the one who leaked the Laughing Coffin's hideout to the other players while giving partial information about the raid on their HQ to his followers, all so he can watch both sides kill each other.]]
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler: In regards to the Laughing Coffin Raid. While he did lose his entire guild and had to rely on manipulating random guys like Kuradeel to cause trouble from then on, TheReveal that he was the one who ratted them out in the first place brings a new perspective; he manages to cause the Clearing Force to lose a number of their people and force the surviving ones to become murderers, and as a bonus, [[ForTheEvulz he got a good show out of it.]]]]
* BadPowersBadPeople: He's an AxCrazy murderer who [[KickTheDog kicks the dog]] ForTheEvulz and his WeaponOfChoice, the Mate Chopper, gets a stat increase every time it kills another player. [[spoiler: In ''Alicization'', it's transfer into the Underworld combined with his own incarnation alters it so that it gets more powerful the more people die in general.]]
* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler:Is turned into a tree by Kirito]].
* BastardBastard: [[spoiler:He's revealed to be an illegitimate son of a Japanese man and a Mexican woman, and he's definitely a bastard to boot]].
* BatmanGambit: {{Implied}}.[[spoiler: When [[OnlySaneMan Moonphase]] notices how eerily calm [=PoH=] is in the face of his army turning against each other due to him convincing them a number of them about how off the whole situation is, he realizes, [[OhCrap to his horror]], that [=PoH=] may have already suspected that certain parts of his army might start realizing that they're being lied to, but that there'd still be a number of them who would cling to their hatred of Japan and insist on continuing the fight, giving him prime opportunity to provoke them into killing each other for his own amusement.]]
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: [[spoiler: While beating up the still brain dead Kirito, he demands the latter to stand up and fight him despite Asuna's pleas. Guess what Kirito did to him after waking up.]]
* {{BFS}}: [[spoiler: His Mate Chopper absorbing all the death to occur in ''War of the Underworld'' causes to grow substantially, making it go from a Chinese Kitchen Knife to a giant cleaver.]]
* BigBadEnsemble: Given the damage he and his guild did, he rivals Kayaba for the biggest problem of the arc as well, necessitating most frontline players to put off the progression and actively hunt Laughing Coffin down. [[spoiler:In ''Hollow Fragment'', his Hollow AI counterpart serves as another example of this trope and nearly succeeds in killing and replacing everyone with their Hollows, including the real [=PoH=]. Additionally, in ''Alicization'', he serves as the other half in the BigBadDuumvirate along with Gabriel Miller]]
* BlackKnight: [[spoiler:Uses a Dark Knight avatar when he enters the Underworld.]]
* BoomerangBigot: He deeply hates East Asians and wants them to kill each other. His father is Japanese.
* BullyingADragon: After [[spoiler:Kirito beats him, [=PoH=] decides to mouth off to him, gloating that even if Kirito kills him in-game, he'll just keep coming after him and Asuna again and again until [[SlashedThroat he finally kills them]] [[AndShowItToYou for real as payback]]. Of course, this bites him in the ass immediately afterwards, since Kirito proceeds to make sure that [=PoH=] is in [[FateWorseThanDeath no condition to come after them, ever again]].]]
* ButNotTooForeign: He was conceived from an illegitimate relationship between a Japanese father and a Mexican mother.
* CatchPhrase: "It's Showtime." (said in English) [[spoiler:When the Death Gun utters this phrase in the [=BoB=] tournament, Kirito is quick to (incorrectly) assume that [=PoH=] might be the perpetrator; Klein similarly recognizes Death Gun as ex-Laughing Coffin, although the differences in speech tell him that he's not [=PoH=]. Indeed, [=XaXa=] is the one operating the avatar.]]
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In Aincrad he seemed to be more of a patient planner who would enjoy the show from the sidelines, while in ''Alicization'' he's noticeably more restless and loses his temper easily while requiring Gabriel to calm him. Asuna suspects that the shift in personality is due to [=PoH=] letting go of the facade he uses to manipulate others and embracing his bloodlust.
* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler: In the early days of SAO, he's revealed to have been the ringleader of a [[TheConspiracy Conspiracy]] consisting of himself and a few other players, including the Beta-Tester Morte, who aim to hinder the frontlines in any way in order to keep SAO from getting cleared, with methods such as tricking the frontlines into almost committing the first PK by giving the Legend Braves an idea for a scam to allow them to join the frontlines, trying to get the two DKB and ALS to come to blows by spreading false info about the Elf War Quest and making sure they picked different sides, and trying to get one of them to get a GameBreaker item so that the other guild would drop out of the frontlines due to not wanting to be absorbed by the other. Knowing [=PoH=]'s reasons for being in SAO and his general personality, this could be either to give himself as much time as possible to locate the player he was sent in to kill or just to cause as much harm ForTheEvulz.]]
* ColdBloodedTorture: [[spoiler:His beatdown on a still-comatose Kirito]].
* CombatSadomasochist: [[spoiler: When Vassago is going on about how awesome the Underworld is, Gabriel attempts to rein him in by mentioning how the lack of a Pain Absorber will mean that every wound will hurt. Vassago just replies that that's the best part.]]
* TheCorrupter:
** While his guild did a lot of damage back in SAO, there is still long-term damage in that he cultivated a number of potential real-life serial killers because of his influence. [[spoiler: [=XaXa=] and Johnny Black are two examples]].
** He even tried to do this to the Assault Team, [[spoiler:pitting them and his entire Laughing Coffin guild against each other to not only watch them slaughter each other, but with the intent of turning the Assault Team into killers.]]
* CutLexLuthorACheck: [[spoiler:He managed to get a stable, good-paying job after leaving Japan back to America following ''Aincrad'' but to him what good is it if he can't go back to killing people in the VR world to his heart's content]]?
* DarkMessiah: On top of being a SatanicArchetype, he is also revered as a Messianic figure who inspires wrath and hatred in his followers.
* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: Recruits people for his red guild by promising them that all the blame for any murderers they commit will be placed on Kayaba.
* DemotedToDragon: He was the leader of Laughing Coffin during SAO, while in [[spoiler:Alicization he is only the [[NumberTwo second-in-command]] to Gabriel Miller.]]
* {{Determinator}}: Even in defeat, [[spoiler:[=PoH=] remains DefiantToTheEnd and attempts to threaten Kirito with a WeWillMeetAgain speech and continue to KickTheDog... [[DidntSeeThatComing which doesn't end well for him]].]]
* DidntSeeThatComing: When [[spoiler:Kirito defeats him in Underworld, [=PoH=] expects Kirito to give him a warrior's death, since he'll be able to pursue him and Asuna and kill them for real after being booted out of the system. What he ''didn't'' expect was Kirito to subject him to a FateWorseThanDeath by imprisoning him in a tree and leaving him to rot in Underworld, vowing that this is the last time they'll meet and [=PoH=] will ''never'' log out of the Soul Translator.]]
* DiscOneFinalBoss: Of ''Hollow Fragment''. [[spoiler:...or at least his Hollow AI counterpart: he plots to initiate an update that would make Cardinal reverse the designations of players and the Hollow AI counterparts. Since Hollow Data is not allowed in Aincrad, this would cause a whole heap of trouble]]. However, his defeat does not spell the end of the death game, [[spoiler:and Alberich/Sugou still needs to be defeated. Beating him also doesn't stop the Cardinal update, which requires the player to beat a Hollow version of Kirito]].
* DiseaseBleach: [[spoiler: After being defeated and turned into a tree in the Underworld, his IRL hair turns completely white.]]
* TheDreaded: The Assault Team are utterly terrified by his very existence. Klein freezes in fear at the mere possibility of his return.
* DuelBoss: In ''Hollow Fragment'', [[spoiler:Kirito has to fight his Hollow AI by himself, which means no partners to help restore SP faster.]]
* {{Eagleland}}: Was born in America, and is clearly a vicious Boorish variety.
* EvilCounterpart:
** He is built up to be a parallel to Heathcliff. While Heathcliff rallied the strongest players in the game into forming an elite guild known as the Knight of the Blood Oath, [=PoH=] brought together all of the psychopathic orange players in the game into a guild and spread the belief that it was acceptable to kill in a death game. Much like how Heathcliff is respected among most players, the Laughing Coffin members idolized [=PoH=].
** Alicization makes him one to Kirito himself. Both are SAO survivors who ended up in the Underworld, only on opposite sides of the war, had a [[DarkIsEvil generally]] [[DarkIsNotEvil black]] ColorMotif, and were arguably the [[WorldsBestWarrior World's Best Warriors]] of SAO, Kirito being considered the strongest Frontline player outside of Heathcliff, and that was partially because he was Kayaba [[TheGMIsACheatingBastard and rigged himself to never die]], while [=PoH=] was an infamous HeroKiller with an already powerful weapon that got stronger and stronger with every PK he committed. The anime drives the point even deeper by making Vassago's half-brother an IdenticalStranger to Kirito.
** Believe or not, to Eugeo. Both were raised in loveless environments, with [=PoH=] having an [[AbusiveParents abusive mother]] and a DisappearedDad who saw effectively saw him as spare organs for his real son, whereas Eugeo was a victim of severe ParentalFavouritism towards his older siblings, as well as just generally being unfairly treated by his parents. As a result of their pasts, both have a very skewed idea of love, with [=PoH=] seeing his twisted desire to torment Kirito, as well as his loved ones to drive him into action, as some form of "love" towards him, while Eugeo believed that it was something you had to earn from others, to the point that he [[DesperatelyCravesAffection Desperately Craved Affection]] and was tempted to use the position of Integrity Knight to send money to his family. The difference is that, while Eugeo eventually learned came to believe in a more healthier definition of love, [=PoH=] never had a revelation that his beliefs were wrong and his obsession [[spoiler: ultimately bites him in the ass.]]
* EvilDuo: He works with Gabriel as partners with, Vassago as his TheDragon and the second biggest threat in the ''War of the Underworld'' arc.
* EvilSoundsDeep: For both his gameverse and his anime voice. Though gameverse [=PoH=] voice sounds [[EvilSoundsRaspy raspier]] while in the anime he tends to have NoIndoorVoice.
* EvilSoundsRaspy: In the gameverse he has a guttural, raspy voice. This is absent in the anime where his voice actor was recast.
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: The Light Novel describes Vassago as being very attractive due to his [[LatinoIsBrown rather exotic appearance]], to the point where he could probably make a living as a model. Now if only he could do something about the NightmareFace he sprouts every so often...
* FatalFlaw: Bloodlust and sadism. He can't stop being obsessed with killing and violence or resist the opportunity to KickTheDog, even when doing so is clearly ''not'' in his best interests. [[spoiler:Him bragging to Kirito that he'll never stop coming after him and Asuna until he finally kills them IRL after his final fight with Kirito leads directly to his undoing]].
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler: Got turned into a tree by Kirito, left to rot in Underworld, and driven to insanity as a result.]] [[spoiler: That being said, he's {{Implied}} to have somehow escaped his fate.]]
* FauxAffablyEvil: When in the company of other Glowgen members, Vassago downplays his bloodlust and seems like a boisterous and eager soldier with a snarky sense of humor. When he learns that [[spoiler:Asuna and other SAO survivors are in the Underworld]], he can barely restrain his malice and wears a [[SlasherSmile smile so cruel]] that Critter immediately realizes that Vassago's previous behavior is just a facade.
* {{Foil}}: To Gabriel. Both are incredibly powerful villains, by far the most powerful and psychotic foes Kirito has faced, and serve as [[spoiler: {{Big Bad}}s for their own Arcs, Gabriel for ''War of Underworld'', taking the role of the Dark God Vecta for the purpose of invading the Underworld and capturing Alice for his own twisted ends, and [=PoH=] for ''Progressive'', being the head of TheConspiracy that are trying to make the Frontlines fall apart]]. However, whereas Gabriel is largely TheStoic, doesn't even know who Kirito is, and is more reliant on sheer brute force and power to achieve his goals of [[GodhoodSeeker attaining godhood]], [=PoH=] is a gleeful ManipulativeBastard and [[TheCorruptor Corruptor]] who's made it his mission to screw with Kirito whenever possible, and has no greater ambitions beyond causing as much pain and misery as possible solely ForTheEvulz.
** [[NatureVsNurture There's also differences in their backgrounds and how it made them who they are;]] Gabriel was a privileged child growing up, even being able to avoid falling victim to a financial crash, and had friends like Alicia, yet still went on to become a cruel homicidal megalomaniac, who [[KickTheMoralityPet killed Alicia out of]] [[EntitledToHaveYou misplaced sense of entitlement to her soul]]. [=PoH=] on other grew up being shifted from negative enviroment to negative environment, living in shitty neighborhood selling drugs with a [[AbusiveParent verbally and maybe even physically abusive mother who literally named him after a demon]] with a DisappearedDad who only stopped his mother from aborting him in case he ever needed an organ donor for his real son, and later on went to Japan and was forced to join the Korean Mafia as ProfessionalKiller to avoid getting deported, heavily hinting that while [=PoH=] is an irredeemable bastard, he may have turned out differently if he was raised in a healthier, more loving environment.
* ForTheEvulz: His entire motivation is to have people (East Asians in particular) kill each other for his own amusement. He displays this trait [[StupidEvil way too much for his own good]], as his sadistic tendencies introduce him to a world of hurt when, [[spoiler:after being defeated by Kirito in Alicization, he insults, threatens, and gloats to him that he will be hellbent on him and Asuna until he finally manages to brutally murder them in real life, leading to Kirito trapping him in the Underworld so he will ''never'' log out.]]
* FunWithAcronyms: His username stands for "Prince of Hell". Also, see MeaningfulName.
* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: He has nothing but hatred for East Asians because his biological father, a Japanese man, forced his mother to have him so he can be used in a Kidney transplant for a relative and basically abandoned them after he was born. Upon arriving in Japan as part of a deal with his father, he's forced to join a Korean crime gang as a hitman since the laws would have otherwise had him deported. He starts the Laughing Coffin guild just so he could see Japanese people kill each other, and [[spoiler:later brings in Chinese and Korean gamers to fight the Japanese gamers who want to rescue Kirito and later tries to turn them against each other solely because he wants to watch East Asians kill one another]]. That said, this isn't treated as sympathetic or redeeming, and he is never shown to have loved his mother (who, to be fair, [[AbusiveParents didn't love him, either]]).
* GlassCannon: His Mate Chopper can boost his attack strength at the cost of his defense and armor stats.
* GratuitousEnglish: He slips a fair bit of English phrases into his dialogue. Somehow, he also spouts the word "suck" as if it is an expletive. Makes sense as he's American.
* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler: Of the GGO and, to an extent, Alicization arcs, where he is personally uninvolved in the former but responsible for the corruption of many [=SAO=] players through Laughing Coffin, including his two right-hand men who become the villains for that season, and one of his right-hand men almost comes close to killing Kirito, leading to him ending up in the Underworld.]]
** [[spoiler: He's also this for the Girls Ops' Spin-Offs, being the one who gave Lux the SadisticChoice of either joining Laughing Coffin or being left for dead, which is the starting point of the TraumaCongaLine that is her DarkAndTroubledPast. His recruitment of her is also what led to her meeting [[OnlyFriend Gwen]], the leader of one of LC's subsidiary guilds, and he unintentionally[[note]] Although all things considered, [[{{Sadist}} he would have been happy to hear he did]][[/note]] ruins their friendship by leaking Laughing Coffin's location, leading to Gwen becoming an antagonist in the second arc.]]
* HairTriggerTemper: Doesn't take much to piss him off.
* HatePlague: One of his abilities in the Underworld is emitting a corruptive miasma that drives players into killing each other.
* HateSink: Vassago is ultimately a vile and cruel man who is unfortunately blessed with a high level of charisma that allows him to corrupt people and rally them behind him with ease, in contrast to the despicable but brilliant Gabriel Miller. He cements his loathsomeness in his raging homicidal sadism, the corruption of most of the members of his guild into becoming killers like him, and his callous mistreatment of his own men, as shown when he [[spoiler:sold out his own guild members and gleefully watched them get slaughtered by the Assault Team in SAO, and when he purposely manipulated the Chinese and Korean players into killing each other in the Underworld]], completely lacking in any sympathetic or admirable traits to offset his nature as a SatanicArchetype.
* HatesTheirParent: He detests his father for [[spoiler:conceiving him so that he could be used as a kidney donor for his older, sickly half-brother]].
* HeroKiller: Had this reputation, with even Kirito respecting his abilities. Given that he had the highest body count of almost any player, this is understandable. [[spoiler:He also swears that once he logs out of Underworld, he'll keep coming after Kirito and Asuna until he kills them in real-life... so Kirito makes sure that he ''can't'' log out]].
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Vassago was so begging to fight Kirito that it ultimately leads to his defeat]].
* ILetYouWin: [[spoiler: He reveals that he was the one who leaked Laughing Coffin's location to the Clearers, [[ImpliedTrope Implying]] that he could have possibly led them for longer and allow them to cause even more havoc if he didn't get tired of leading them and thought it'd be fun to force the Clearers, namely Kirito, to become killers by forcing the two groups to come to blows.]]
* InTheHood: His face is partially shadowed by the black hood he wears, concealing part of his identity.
* IKnowMortalKombat: Inverted then played Straight. It's implied that his time as a ProfessionalKiller for the Korean Mafia benefited him in SAO in fighting and [=PKing=] other players. After he escapes and returns to the States, he's praised as an expert in simulation combat thanks to his two-year experience trapped in VR.
* JustBetweenYouAndMe: For starters, [[spoiler:he brags to Kirito's face that he's going [[AnArmAndALeg to cut off his limbs]], then [[ColdBloodedTorture torture Asuna]] and [[ForcedToWatch make him watch]]]]. And when [[spoiler:he's defeated in Underworld, he declares that no matter how many times Kirito beats him in-game, he's ''not'' going to stop coming after him and Asuna until he finally kills them for real by slitting their throats and ripping their hearts out. [[StupidEvil This proves to be the final straw]]; rather than kill him, Kirito gives [=PoH=] a FateWorseThanDeath by turning him into a tree and trapping him in Underworld, declaring that he'll never log out.]]
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: After having gotten away with spreading his reign of terror across SAO, [=PoH=] finally [[spoiler:gets what's coming to him in the Alicization arc, when Kirito turns him into a tree and leaves him to rot in Underworld for the rest of his life, [[AndIMustScream unable to]] [[FateWorseThanDeath log out]].]] [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Or so]] [[AmbigiousSituation it seems.]]]]
* KickTheDog: Does this a bunch and revels in it, such as establishing the Laughing Coffin guild so he can make people kill each other for his own amusement, to [[spoiler:[[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown beating up a comatose Kirito]] in front of his TrueCompanions entirely to spite them, to inducing players and Underworld residents alike to start killing each other solely to provoke Kirito into snapping out of his catatonia so he can fight and kill him, to even his announcement to Kirito and Asuna that he will always be hellbent on them and their allies no matter what until he brutally murders them in real-life.]]
* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler: In his backstory, it's stated that after SAO ended Vassago killed his old employer, a Korean Mafia boss who [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom was the one who sent him into SAO in the first place]], after he tried to swindle him out of his payment.]]
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: [=PoH=] reaches an all-new low during the Alicization arc when he [[spoiler:knocks a catatonic Kirito out of his wheelchair and beats him to a pulp in front of Asuna and the rest of his friends, all while demanding Kirito snap out of it. In the anime, were it not for Eiji and Yuna's [[BigDamnHeroes intervention]], [=PoH=] would have killed him outright.]]
* KillEmAll: This is his main goal between threatening to murder Kirito and Asuna in real life and trying to kill them and their allies during battle; to outright planning to cause an ApocalypseHow on Underworld itself with no survivors. [[spoiler:Not that he actually gets to do any of it.]]
* KnifeNut: His "[[NamedWeapon Mate Chopper]]" resembles a Chinese kitchen knife and is classified as a One-Handed Dagger.
** [[spoiler: He also uses a dagger, which he bluffs has Level-5 Paralyzing Venom and Damaging Poison applied to it, to threaten Kirito on the 5th floor in their first meeting.]]
** [[spoiler: Even as a Dark Knight in the Underworld that comes with a high priority sword, he instead opts for a dagger in combat.]]
* LatinoIsBrown: He's an offspring of a Mexican woman, and has the complexion to show it.
* LaughablyEvil: For a psychopathic player killer, he can be somewhat humorous when interacting with his allies. He has a tendency to make Gabriel uncomfortable by calling him "bro," constantly butts heads with Critter, shows [[PsychopathicManchild childish glee]] in logging into the Underworld and joining the front lines, and confuses his Underworld allies with MMO terminology.
* TheLeader: Of Laughing Coffin. He led the guild with a mix of of his devil-like Charisma, having drawn other players in by preaching his PK views like some kind of cult leader, and keen, Levelheaded intellect, having been [[CrazyPrepared extremely careful when going out on excursions]], [[spoiler: having headed it when it started as TheConspiracy in ''Progressive'' and almost dismantled the frontlines a few times]], and managing to have his guild evade capture for a good while before they were finally discovered and taken down, [[spoiler: and that's because he leaked their location out of the boredom.]]
* LeftForDead: [[spoiler: After defeating him, Kirito turns [=PoH=] into a tree to make sure he's unable to log out of the Underworld.]]
* LouisCypher: Although not literally Satan/Lucifer, he ''is'' [[SatanicArchetype the closest equivalent]] to him in the franchise, and his real-life name is Vassago and his avatar's name is [=PoH=] (Prince of Hell), which already speaks of his character.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: This was what he was in SAO for. For starters, an unnamed crime syndicate had been wanting to eliminate someone, but have had no success at it since the target was too well-guarded in reality. When they find out about Kayaba's death game and the fact that the target is trapped in SAO, they seize upon the opportunity given to them, and tasked Vassago with killing the target's avatar in game, which would of course lead to the target dying in reality. He is then provided the necessary [=NerveGear=] and copy of [=SAO=]. But how did he even get into SAO after the death game kicked off, when [[LightNovel/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGAleOnline Pitohui]] and many others who were unable to log in on launch day (Due to scheduling conflicts, other sorts of personal obligations on that day, etc.) could not? This is answered in the ''Sisters' Prayer'' side story. After all the players were moved to hospitals and reconnected, the server stopped allowing logins from new [=IP=] addresses, but it would still accept logins from someone sharing an IP address with an SAO player. Ergo, someone in the same hospital as a player could log in. This is exactly what Merida had been counting on to be able to log in before Yuuki and Aiko talked her out of it, and is also the method Vassago used to get into SAO.
* ManipulativeBastard: When he isn't getting in on the action himself, [=PoH=] has just as much fun manipulating other people into killing each for his own amusement. [[spoiler: He preached his twisted "PK is okay" views in SAO, formed Laughing Coffin, and then leaked their location to the Clearers solely so he could watch them all kill each other and force the clearer's to kill, and it's hinted that when he invited the Chinese and Korean players to the Underworld to act as his reinforcements, it's {{Implied}} that he knew that they would figure him out sooner or later, but banked on a number of them clinging to their hatred of Japan so that he could spur all of them into killing each other just by killing the one who started pointing out how he was manipulating him.]]
* MaskOfSanity: Downplayed. While [=PoH=] has always been a murderous psychopath, he's a low-functioning sociopath who's able to pass himself off as a high-functioning one.
-->A cold gust of wind rustled his leather hood, revealing the eyes underneath for a brief moment. They were [[RedEyesTakeWarning red]] and [[EvilIsNotWellLit dimly glowing]]. A devil. He was not human, but a true devil. [[SatanicArchetype That was the true nature of PoH]]. The mask of the cheerful agitator he wore in Aincrad and the mask of the harsh commander he wore here were both just that: lies. In truth, he was a cold, cruel agent of vengeance who [[{{Sadist}} sought only to inflict pain, to torment]] and wipe out all traces of humanity...
* MeaningfulName: His given name (Vassago) is a reference to a certain [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassago Prince of Hell.]] It also adds to his [[SatanicArchetype satanic]] character. [[spoiler: Apparently his mother gave it to him because she never wanted him to begin with.]]
* NotQuiteDead: {{Implied}}. [[spoiler: Despite [[BalefulPolymorph his fate]] [[AndIMustScream in the Underworld]], Vassago's body is revealed to have mysteriously disappeared when the GDS survivors went to collect his, Gabriel and Brigg's bodies, to which Critter remembers that while he did confirm Gabriel's death and witness Brigg get killed, he never confirmed whether or not that Vassago was dead.]]
* ObviouslyEvil: With his name, satanic character and RedRightHand, you could see villain from a mile away.
* OhCrap: [[spoiler:Has this reaction after figuring out that Kirito intends to imprison him in a tree instead of killing him.]]
* OmniGlot: [[InformedAbility According to the novels]] he is apparently fluent in Japanese, English, Korean, Russian, and Latin American Spanish. Kirito even wonders if he's of [[ButNotTooForeign mixed ethnicity]], which is verified later on: He was born as the illegitimate son of a Japanese man and Mexican woman and joined a Korean crime gang upon coming to Japan.
** His multilingual fluency is much more relevant later on during the Alicization arc, [[spoiler:where he's part of a 12-man team of operators from Glowgen Defense Systems making an assault on Ocean Turtle, led by [=GDS's=] own Gabriel Miller. All of the team speak English, with only him and Gabriel being fluent in Japanese. This meant that they would enter the Underworld via non-password protected accounts (Vassago chose an account of a dark knight, while Gabriel got the account of Emperor Vector), in an attempt to locate Alice.]]
* OmnicidalManiac: He has zero regard for the lives of anyone, including his fellow teammates. [[spoiler:His plan in Underworld is have the Japanese players killed by summoning thousands of American, Chinese and Korean players, with full intent of having them all die during their fight. He even tells Asuna that he'll kill thousands of beings, inluding her allies and every other human and monster down there, just to get the comotose Kirito to wake up; and during his various threats to murder the two both in the Underworld and in real life, he threatens to target their friends and allies.]]
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: [[spoiler:He's enraged when he enters Underworld and sees the broken Kirito, but only because ''he'' wasn't the one to leave him that way. Part of his reason to get everyone around killing each other is to try and snap Kirito out of it so he can fight and destroy him himself]].
* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:Transforms into a literal "Prince of Hell" during his fight against Kirito.]]
* OverarchingVillain: [=PoH=] is arguably the most recurring and influential villain in the series, being the part of the BigBadDuumvirate in the ''Aincrad'' [[spoiler: and ''Progressive'']] arcs, becoming the GreaterScopeVillain in ''Phantom Bullet'' through his influence on [[spoiler: [=XaXa=] and Johnny Black]], and becoming TheDragon for Gabriel Miller, the second BigBad of the ''Alicization Arc''. [[spoiler: It's even implied that he somehow escapes his FateWorseThanDeath at Kirito's hands in the Underworld with not even the GDS knowing where he is, implying a possible return in the future.]]
* PersonalityPowers: Invoked weapon example. His weapon, the Mate Chopper, is largely dependent on what the wielder does with it; the lore of Aincrad labels it as a cursed weapon that gets more powerful if it kills other players, but weaker if it kills monsters and other mobs. [[DifficultButAwesome If you kill enough monsters and "break the curse", it turns into a powerful katana]] but if you do what [=PoH=] did and just keep killing other players with it, you get a weapon that just keeps getting more and more powerful whenever you kill someone.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: His hatred towards his Japanese father translates to hostility towards East Asians as a whole, to the point that he relishes in the sight of East Asian players killing one another.
* PoweredByAForsakenChild: Not child per se, but the more his Mate Chopper is used to kill other players it's stats increase more and more. The inverse of killing monsters, while apparently awarding you with a powerful Katana, actually decreases it's stats. [[spoiler:In the Underworld, it just gets empowered by death in general.]]
* PragmaticVillainy: [[spoiler: In ''Girls Ops''. In Lux's backstory, he stops one of his underlings from killing her by pointing out that they're down a town infiltration member, as they had to kill one of them when they tried escaping. Plus, from the sinister sneer he flashed when he forced her to join, [[{{Sadist}} he probably figured she'd suffer more if forced to work for them.]]]]
* PurpleIsPowerful: [[spoiler: As a Dark Knight, he dons dark purple armor and, while not as powerful as he is using his SAO Avatar, he's still plenty skilled, being able to sneak into the Human Army camp without notice before encountering Ronye, and almost killing her when they get into a brief duel.]]
* ProfessionalKiller: Upon coming to Japan, Vassago [[spoiler: joined the Korean Mafia as an assassin, and pulled off nine successful hits before SAO. Even his presence in SAO was part of a job, logging in after the Death Game started since the target was too well-guarded IRL.]]
* PsychoForHire: A murderous {{Sadist}} who cares only for killing, and not only did his guild take jobs to kill other players for a price, but [[spoiler: before SAO he was a ProfessionalKiller for the Korean Mafia, who were the guys who sent him into SAO in the first place, and after it ended he returned to the USA to become a mercenary for a PMC company that specializes in wetwork.]]
* RealityEnsues: In the Alicization arc, [[spoiler:he has the [[SarcasmMode brilliant idea]] to [[EvilGloating insult, threaten and gloat]] to Kirito, who just kicked his ass, that he's never going to stop coming after him until he brutally murders him, Asuna and their friends in real-life, expecting him to just sit there and cry about it. Instead, his threats are met with retaliation and efforts to make sure he never comes after anyone ever again, as can be expected when one threatens someone who can and ''will'' fight back, especially since Kirito ''knows'' what [[TheSociopath PoH]] is capable of and will spell nothing but bad news wherever he goes.]]
* RedRightHand: Vassago has a [[GoodScarsEvilScars large vertical scar]] on the right side of his head. Also his eyes [[RedEyesTakeWarning glow red]] when he's hooded.
* {{Sadist}}: Taken UpToEleven. Born to a Japanese father, who forced his mother to have him so he can be used in a kidney transplant for a relative, he joined a Korean crime gang to kill Japanese people and he created the Laughing Coffin guild just to watch them kill each other. [[spoiler:[=PoH=] later brings Chinese and Korean gamers into Underworld to fight the Japanese gamers who are rescuing Kirito, just to revel in the sight of Asians killing each other. But wait, there's more. [=PoH=] proceeds to [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown beat down a helpless Kirito]] in front of his TrueCompanions just to spite them, planning to [[AnArmAndALeg cut off his limbs]] and [[ForcedToWatch force Kirito to watch him torture Asuna]]. And when Kirito has recovered from his GameBreakingInjury and defeats him, [=PoH=] vows that he will ''never'' stop coming after Kirito and Asuna until he finally manages to kill them in real-life by [[SlashedThroat cutting their throats]] and [[BeatStillMyHeart ripping their hearts out]]. This [[TooDumbToLive backfires on him]] ''epically''; after hearing this, Kirito has had enough of him and subjects [=PoH=] to a FateWorseThanDeath by permanently trapping him in a tree and [[AndIMustScream leaving him to rot in Underworld]].]]
* SatanicArchetype: Perhaps the closest example in the series. He was considered an outcast having been born as an illegitimate child similar to Lucifer being cast from Heaven. Not only is he responsible for the corruption of many an SAO player and the post-SAO incidents but he dons a dark robe, is named Vassago (one of the demons in the Ars Goetia) and calls himself [=PoH=] (meaning Prince of Hell). Also adding to his Satanic character is that he deceives players from America, China, Korea and Russia to fight the Japanese players in the Underworld, which neatly parallels Satan gathering the nations around the world to fight the people of God in the Book of Revelation. To further add to the Messiah-Satan contrast, Kirito's [[CameBackStrong recovery]] from his GameBreakingInjury and victory over [=PoH=] and his forces during the final battle parallels the Second Coming of Christ and him defeating Satan's forces in the final battle in the Book of Revelation.
* SelfDuplication: [[spoiler: He creates several shadowy duplicates of himself using his Incarnation during his duel with Kirito in the ''War of the Underworld''.]]
* SimpleYetAwesome: [[spoiler: It's noted that the simplicity of his Incarnation, which generates from his single-minded desire to kill and torture, ends up making him incredibly powerful, to the point where he can survive having a TorsoWithAView.]]
* SlashedThroat: [[spoiler:Attempts to do this on both Kirito and Asuna should he get kicked out from UW. Kirito kills him for this shortly afterwards (via [[FateWorseThanDeath a cruel and unusual method]]).]]
* SmallRoleBigImpact: For the franchise as a whole. Although getting much less screen-time than Kayaba in the Aincrad arc, the repercussions of his actions extend far beyond him. [[spoiler:His establishment of the Laughing Coffin in Aincrad and the subsequent corruption of many a player into player killers and even real-life {{serial killer}}s was what ultimately led to the Phantom Bullet and Alicization arcs.]]
* TheSociopath: Misanthropic, bloodthirsty, manipulative, and utterly devoted to [[KickTheDog dog-kicking]], Vassago shows among the darker, more dangerous depictions of sociopathy. He establishes the Laughing Coffin guild so he can have people kill each other to satisfy his bloodlust, and even corrupts many an SAO player into player killers and even real-life {{serial killer}}s.
* StupidEvil: As highlighted under FatalFlaw, [=PoH=] is far too sadistic and bloodthirsty for his own good and simply can't resist "twisting the knife" or opportunities to KickTheDog, actively antagonizing Kirito and his friends even when doing so is clearly ''not'' a good idea. [[spoiler:This backfires on him when he openly mouths off to Kirito that once he logs out of the Underworld, he won't stop coming after Kirito and Asuna until he manages to brutally murder them in real-life; in response, Kirito traps him in a tree and leaves him to rot in Underworld]].
* TooDumbToLive: After [[spoiler:Kirito defeats him soundly in the Alicization arc, [=PoH=] decides to [[EvilGloating openly mouth off to him and brag]] that as soon as he logs out of Underworld, he's going to keep coming after Kirito and Asuna until he finally kills them in real-life. He cements his downfall doing this; Kirito has no intention of letting him walk away after such a threat and decides to trap him in a tree and leave him to rot in Underworld forever rather than kill him.]]
* TorsoWithAView: [[spoiler: Gets one when Asuna uses Mother's Rosario on him, but his Mate Chopper sucking in all the death occurring on the battlefield helps him survive.]]
* {{Ubermensch}}: Vassago has the antisocial behavior, presenting himself as a cheerfully sadistic man who believes that the virtual world reveals people's true colors and that people should give in to their murderous impulses and murder each other to their heart's content, which was why he founded the [[PlayerKilling Laughing Coffin]] so he can murder other players ForTheEvulz and influence others into doing the same. His love of killing and violence serves its purpose as a twisted value; he doesn't care which side was winning, such as [[spoiler:when he leaked the Laughing Coffin guild's location to the raiders or tried to make the Chinese and Korean players kill each other when they start to find out about his scheme]], because all he cared about was watching people kill each other. Understandably, most people see his philosophy as little more than murder and sadism ForTheEvulz, but he was able to influence several of the Laughing Coffin members to his ideals, such as [=XaXa=] and Johnny Black. Kirito here would be the Last Man.
* TheUnfettered: [=PoH=] can't be reasoned with and he'll do whatever it takes to get what he wants. [[spoiler:This is also [[FatalFlaw his "double-edged sword"]].]]
* VillainHasAPoint: He founds Laughing Coffin with the sole intent of [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential killing other players for fun]], stating that since Akihiko Kayaba is the one who set up the death game in the first place, he'll [[DeceasedFallGuyGambit get all the blame for any deaths that occur in SAO]] while any and all player killers will [[KarmaHoudini get off scot-free]]. Sadly, he's proven right when SAO is cleared.
* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Starts losing his composure when after Kirito starts using his Night Sky Sword, which was made from the Gigas Cedar, to absorb the spatial resources from the deceased his Mate Chopper was previously absorbing, desperately waving his enlarged dagger to try cut off the flow going to Kirito's sword.]]
* VillainousRescue: {{Subverted}}. [[spoiler: He ''did'' save Lux from getting killed by a monster, but he then immediately forced her to join the Guild as a town infiltrator and threatened to leave her to die if she didn't comply.]]
* VillainRespect: [[spoiler: Contrary to what Asuna believes, [=PoH=] admits that he has nothing but respect for Kirito, even claiming her loves him, not only for his strength, but [[IncorruptablePurePureness for being able to resist his attempts to manipulate and corrupt him.]] Unfortunately, this "respect" and "love" compels him to [[KickTheDog do increasingly horrendous acts]] and being [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou obsessed with killing him himself.]]]]
* WeWillMeetAgain: He attempts this, declaring that [[spoiler:even if Kirito ''does'' kill him in UW, he'll just keep showing up in front of Kirito over and over again until he finally manages to brutally murder Kirito and Asuna. Unfortunately for him, Kirito has no intention of letting him walk away after such a threat and traps him in a tree, declaring he's [[AndIMustScream never logging out]].]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: Despite being [[AndIMustScream trapped as a tree in the Underworld]], his IRL body somehow disappears from the Ocean Turtle with not even the GDS mercenaries, who went to the STL Room to collect Gabriel's body, knowing where it went.]]
* WillfullyWeak: Zig-zagged. His Mate Chopper was apparently a very unique weapon in that if it killed enough mobs, an action that lowers it's stats each time, it turns into a powerful Katana with the same name. This being [[SerialKiller [=PoH=]]], he naturally stuck with it's dagger form and it's ability to get more powerful the more players it killed.
* TheWorfEffect: Despite being the former leader of Laughing Coffin and Gabriel's right-hand man, [[spoiler:[=PoH=] ends up being defeated, and then unceremoniously killed off by Kirito to show off the latter's DualWielding of the Night Sky and Blue Rose Swords.]]
* WouldHitAGirl:
** [[spoiler: When he's initially logged in as a Dark Knight, Vassago gets into a duel with Ronye while he's infiltrating the human camp, and would have killed her if it wasn't' for Asuna's DeusExMachina. Later on when he logs back in with his SAO Avatar, he casually shoves her out of his way when she tries to block him off from Kirito.]]
** [[spoiler:Would've [[SlashedThroat slit Asuna's throat]] along with Kirito's, if it weren't for the latter's interference putting a [[SpannerInTheWorks Spanner in His Works]]]].
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: It's said that he set up Laughing Coffin to be killed by the clearers when he got "bored" of running it.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Shouichi Shinkawa / [=XaXa=]]]
!!Shouichi Shinkawa / [=XaXa=] (SAO)
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SoichiroHoshi (Japanese) Creator/BenDiskin (English)
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/red_eyed_xaxa_2.png]]
One of the top members of the Laughing Coffin, who survived the assault on the guild.
----
* AscendedExtra: A very minor character in the Aincrad arc before going on to become the BigBadDuumvirate of the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc.
%%* BigBadDuumvirate: Of ''Phantom Bullet'', alongside Johnny Black, [[spoiler:and his brother Kyouji]].
* CallForward: In the light novel version of "A Murder Case in the Area" (Episodes 4 and 5 from season 1 for reference), he threatens to chase down Kirito on a horse after he rides in on one to save Yorko, Caynz and Schmitt. [[spoiler: In GGO, he, as Death Gun, chases down Kirito and Sinon on a (mechanical) horse.]]
* CoDragons: To [=PoH=] alongside Johnny Black.
* CreepySouvenir: His appearance in [[spoiler: "The Safe Zone Murder"]] hints that he makes a habit of stealing rapier and estoc weapons from his victims to wield himself, [[spoiler: such when he takes the Estoc made by [[TheBlacksmith Grimlock]] that Yolko was using to intimidate Schmitt for himself upon noticing it's good stats.]] Seeing as deaths in SAO [[NoBodyLeftBehind result in the victim exploding into shards]], this is likely the closest he gets to collecting body parts from his victims.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: His avatar in SAO has red hair and eyes.
* DragonAscendant: Along with Johnny Black, [=XaXa=] becomes the ArcVillain of ''GGO''.
* EarlyBirdCameo: In ''Hollow Realization'', [[spoiler:while [[TheGhost he doesn't make a direct appearance]], Kyouji (as Richter) does make mention of him multiple times as his "brother", particularly when threatening Kirito and including a part where, upon gaining an orange cursor after attacking Sinon, he notes it happened just like his "big brother" said it would]].
** [[spoiler:After the above event happens and a later event with Sinon finishes, he uses his brother's account to talk to Kirito and say he'll be the one to eventually bring his story to an end, heavily giving hints to who he is without outright revealing it.]]
* EvilCounterpart:
** For Yuuki Konno. Both are very ill in real-life and wanted to prove their strength in the VR world, which gave them more opportunities than the real world. Unlike Yuuki, [=XaXa=] completely gave up on real world ethics and became a killing machine, equating strength with murder.
** Also one to Kirito, who noted they are both SAO survivors. However Kirito was left traumatized by taking the life of other players, while [=XaXa=] took pride in it and his status as a true red player.
%%* EvilRedhead: His avatar in SAO.
* TheFaceless: The audience never gets a clear look at Shouichi's face, and the heroes never get a chance to meet him in real-life. He wears a skull mask as [=XaXa=] and as [[spoiler: Death Gun]], and his brief shots in the anime always obscure his eyes.
* FreudianExcuse: Shouichi lived his entire life [[IllBoy suffering from frailty and sickness to the point he was constantly moved between his home and the hospital]] after middle school. By the time he entered high school a year late, his father had [[InadequateInheritor all but given up on him becoming a doctor and coming into the family business]]. He eventually dropped out of high school entirely and turned to the internet and [=MMORPGs=] as an escape from the disappointment of his real-life. Then he ended up in [[TheMostDangerousVideoGame SAO]], where he met [[TheCorrupter PoH]] and was molded with the mindset of a serial killer.
* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:He is responsible for Kirito's presence in the ''Alicization'' arc due to providing Johnny Black with the syringe of succinylcholine, the method of killing used in their "Death Gun" scheme, which he used to badly injure Kirito. This in turn starts the chain of events that leads to Kirito ending up in the Underworld]].
* TheHeavy: While Johnny Black [[spoiler:and his brother Kyouji]] are also part of [[spoiler:Death Gun]], it is [=XaXa=] who poses the most direct threat to Kirito and Sinon during the events of ''Phantom Bullet'', controlling the avatar that engages them in combat and culminating in the final duel that results in his identity (and indirectly those of consorts) being made known. His defeat also signals the end of most of the conflict of the arc [[spoiler:minus the last bit with his brother Kyouji]].
* HeroKiller: Earns this reputation in SAO [[spoiler:and GGO]]. As one of the few players who can match Kirito in a sword fight, it is not unwarranted.
* IllBoy: His brother [[spoiler: Kyouji]] describes him as being very sick ([[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant in body, not mind]]). [[spoiler:It's a problem that's hounded him his whole life, to the point his father decided he wasn't worthy of taking up the family business and he eventually dropped out of high school and turned to the internet and [=MMORPG=]s. [[StartOfDarkness Then he got trapped in SAO and met PoH]]...]]
* InadequateInheritor: Of a different stripe than [[spoiler:his brother Kyouji]]. Due to his [[IllBoy life of illness]] his father eventually gave up hope of him ever inheriting the family business of being a doctor [[spoiler:and pushed his expectations on his little brother]], which lead to Shouichi dropping out of high school and committing himself to the internet and videogames.
* LackOfEmpathy: Due to his past, [=XaXa=] only sees value in that which is beneficial to him. He has no qualms killing other people if the mood strikes, and he actually spent his time in GGO [[spoiler:before he became Death Gun]] stalking other players from afar and imagining ways to kill them. [[spoiler: He also sees no problem in manipulating his brother into joining on his murderous exploits with seemingly no concern for his future.]]
* MasterSwordsman: The best swordsman in the Guild, and a match for Kirito. [[spoiler:He gets to duel once more against the latter during the climax of GGO's [=BoB=] tournament, this time posing as the Death Gun and using a hidden estoc within his sniper rifle. He also goes into detail about how Kirito is rusty and uses technical jargon.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler: The Death Gun incident can be largely attributed to him taking advantage of his brother's fragile mind and his hatred for [=XeXeeD=] to give himself an excuse to kill again.]]
* PsychoForHire: To the point where he could not stop killing after being released into the real world.
* RedBaron: "Red-Eyed" [=XaXa=]
* RedEyesTakeWarning: His avatar in SAO has red eyes which helped [[EarnYourTitle earn his nickname]]. [[spoiler:His helmet as the Death Gun in GGO has red lenses that glow.]]
* RoyalRapier: He's a master fencer and he wields an estoc, a thin, sharply pointed sword meant for stabbing. It's zigzagged with the archetype associated with rapier-users. He turns out to be the scion of a rich family that owns a hospital, but he doesn't have any personal refinement or manners, being rather thuggish and blunt towards other characters.
* SerialKiller: In ''SAO'' and out of it, he kills others that match his profile.
* SkullForAHead: Wears a skull helmet. [[spoiler:His preference carries over into GGO, where he poses as the Death Gun.]]
* WeaponOfChoice: Estoc-type weapons. [[spoiler:In GGO, he tried to recreate one with the metal found in ''space battleships'', but was only able to make a thin blade he can hide in his sniper rifle.]]
* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: Averted. [[spoiler:After his capture and imprisonment in SAO, he did nothing but train with his rapier skills, to the point where like Kirito, he can replicate SAO moves via muscle memory and can actually beat Kirito in a sword fight (though it should be noted that Kirito couldn't fight all out as his lightsaber had no weight, and he's too used to heavy swords).]]
* VillainousFriendship: [=XaXa=] is very good friends with Johnny Black which is likely why [[spoiler:it was so easy for [=XaXa=] to convince Black to help him as part of Death Gun.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: Even more so than the rest of his Laughing Coffin comrades due to the fact that he [[spoiler:comes back in Gun Gale Online as the avatar known as Death Gun, and carries out public virtual executions while his accomplices inject their victims with succinylcholine in the real world]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Atsushi Kanamoto / Johnny Black]]
!!Atsushi Kanamoto / Johnny Black (SAO)
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RyotaOhsaka (Japanese), Creator/AlejandroSaab (English), Alberto Bernal (Latin American Spanish)
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/animejohnnyblack.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here to see him in RL]]\\
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/johnny_09.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
One of the top members of the Laughing Coffin, and a survivor of SAO.
----
* AxCrazy: Is easily the most unhinged of the Death Gun trio.
* BeardOfEvil: His real-life appearance shows that he has a stubble, though it's oddly absent in the anime.
%%* BigBadDuumvirate: Of ''GGO'', alongside [=XaXa=] [[spoiler:and his brother Kyouji]].
* CoDragons: To [=PoH=] alongside [=XaXa=].
* CreepyHighPitchedVoice: For a person of his appearance, he's got a noticeably high-pitched voice, which only goes to make him even more disturbing.
* DragonAscendant: Along with [=XaXa=], Johnny Black becomes the ArcVillain of ''GGO''.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: His first on-screen appearance was when he, [=XaXa=] and [=PoH=] incapacitate the Golden Apple guild. Black planned on making the guild fight each other to the death before killing the last man standing. Based on [=PoH=]'s comment to him, this isn't the first time he did it, and it shows how sadistic he is.
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: In the manga, at least, Johnny Black is seen smoking a cigarette and tossing in down onto the ground before squishing it with his shoe. It may have been a habit he picked up from [=PoH=]
* HeroKiller: Has this reputation in ''SAO'' like many others in Laughing Coffin. [[spoiler: He also nearly killed Kazuto in real life.]]
* InvoluntaryBattleToTheDeath: Plans to force the members of the Golden Apple Guild into one. [[SarcasmMode The survivor gets to live]]!
-->'''[=PoH=]''': But the last time you did that, you killed the winner anyways.\\
'''Johnny''': Agh, don't tell them that!
%%* LackOfEmpathy
* KickTheDog: Everything he does in his on-screen appearances is to show how petty and wicked he is.
** Incapacitates the Golden Apple guild and wants to force them to kill each other before killing the last man standing anyway, with [=PoH=] revealing that he's done this before.
** [[spoiler:Him stalking Kirito and Asuna and then attacking Kirito with the succinylcholine syringe]].
* KnifeNut: His WeaponOfChoice were a large collection of knives for both melee and [[FlechetteStorm throwing]], all coated in his signature poisons.
* MasterPoisoner: Was infamous for using poisons, and equipping the rest of Laughing Coffin with them.
* MeaningfulName: Johnny Black alludes to another [[Film/TheShining insane character]].
* MinorMajorCharacter: He's one of the three high-ranking members of Laughing Coffin and also [[spoiler:one of the three members that make up Death Gun, however he gets very minimal focus and most of his acts are all {{Informed Attribute}}s. Even when he shows up in person to stab Kirito with a toxin it's merely a plot device and he isn't a main villain.]]
* NightmareFace: From what little IRL screentime we get, he wastes no time in showing some pretty disturbing and twisted faces, almost always with a SlasherSmile. Little wonder why there was the burlap sack.
* ObviouslyEvil: Let's see, Player Killer, TortureTechnician and MasterPoisoner in-game with a [[SackheadSlasher burlap sack]] for a mask, and his real-life appearance having a haggard-looking appearance with narrow eyes and a stubble, what else could you guess what kind of person he is from all that?
* PoisonedWeapons: His specialty, which only serves to highlight his ObviouslyEvil character.
* PsychoForHire: Loves to kill, in both the real world and the games.
* RevengeBeforeReason: Chooses to use his last shot of succinylcholine to attack Kirito and avenge his comrades rather than attempt to flee the country for good. {{Justified}} in the end since while he had no way of knowing it, the authorities discovered his role in the Death Gun incident from interrogating his two co-conspirators and even without that, as an SAO survivor he'd likely be under great scrutiny from the government anyway.
* SackheadSlasher: Wore a burlap sack for a mask in Aincrad.
* {{Sadist}}: You know how sadistic he is when they not only force their captives to fight to the death but kill the last man standing anyway.
* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: After [[spoiler: [=XaXa=] is revealed to be Death Gun and their plans are foiled Black gets the hell out of dodge as quickly as possible.]]
* SerialKiller: In ''SAO'' and out of it, [[spoiler:culminating in an attack on Kirito and Asuna in the real world.]]
* SmallRoleBigImpact: His attempted murder of [[spoiler:Kirito was what lands him in Underworld, and considering [[BreakTheCutie all the misfortunes that happen to him over there]]]].
* TortureTechnician: Uses his poisons so he can incapacitate and then torture before killing them.
* WhiteHairBlackHeart: From what little is seen of him, his real-life counterpart has very fair (or grey) hair.
* WideEyesAndShrunkenIrises: Which goes hand-in-hand with his IRL NightmareFace.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kuradeel]]
-> See the Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad page
[[/folder]]
