History Characters / SwordArtOnlineLaughingCoffin

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Vassago is not only the founder and leader of Laughing Coffin, but also it's strongest member.

** To Kirito, having quite possibly the strongest holder of that claim out of all of Kirito's enemies. A vast majority of the things that have gone wrong in Kirito's life can be traced back to him. [=PoH=]'s strong desire to kill Kirito has driven him for years, with him being willing to go back into the Underworld upon finding out he was 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 leads him to wish to awaken Kirito from being an EmptyShell, willing to [[KickTheDog kill as many people and demons as needed]] to bring the boy back to his senses.

* EarlyBirdCameo: [[spoiler:He appears in the first ''Progressive'' movie as part of the first floor raid team.]]

** To Kirito, with quite possibly the strongest holder of that claim out of all of Kirito's enemies. A vast majority of the things that have gone wrong in Kirito's life can be traced back to him. [=PoH=]'s strong desire to kill Kirito has driven him for years, with him being willing to go back into the Underworld upon finding out he was 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 leads him to wish to awaken Kirito from being an EmptyShell, willing to [[KickTheDog kill as many people and demons as needed]] to bring the boy back to his senses.

* 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.]]

[[WMG:[[center: [- ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' '''[[Characters/SwordArtOnline Main Character Index]]'''\\

'''''[[LightNovel/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnline Alternative Gun Gale Online]]''''' '''[[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnline Characters]]''': [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnlineTeamLPFM Team LPFM]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnlineTeamSHINC Team SHINC]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnlineTeamMMTM Team MMTM]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnlineOthers Others]]\\

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: This was what he was in SAO for. For starters, an unnamed crime syndicate had been wanting to eliminate someone; but 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 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.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: He's stated to be the Guilds MasterSwordsman, and he was CoDragons to [[TheLeader [=PoH=]]] alongside Johnny Black.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Much like [=XaXa=], Johnny Black is skilled enough to be one of [=PoH=]'s CoDragons.

* 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 KarmicDeath by turning him into a tree and trapping him in Underworld, declaring that he'll never log out. The anime alters this by having him say this as Asuna and the rest of the group watch the two fight, the implication being that he intends to [[KillEmAll target the others in some form as well]].]]

* 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 an ApocalypseHow on Underworld itself with no survivors except for himself. [[spoiler:Not that he actually gets to do any of it.]]

* 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 alters this by having him say this as Asuna and the rest of the group watch the two fight, the implication being that he intends to [[KillEmAll target the others in some form as well]].]]

* {{Sadist}}: 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 everyone else down in Underworld, regardless of their affiliation or species. 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]].]]

* SlashedThroat: [[spoiler:Attempts to do this on both Kirito and Asuna should he get kicked out from UW, with the anime adding in the [[ImpliedDeathThreat implication that he won't stop with just them]]. Kirito kills him for this shortly afterward (via [[FateWorseThanDeath a cruel and unusual method]]).]]

* 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.]]

* 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.]]

* ObviouslyEvil: {{Downplayed}}. If his stalkerish and rude behavior wasn't enough, his WeaponOfChoice is a [[DarkIsEvil darkly colored]] sword called ''Tyrant Dragon''.

* OmnicidalManiac: He has zero regard for the lives of anyone, [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder including his fellow teammates in Laughing Coffin or would-be boss Gabriel in Underworld]]. Upon entering Underworld, [[spoiler:his goal is to pit all of the Japanese players by summoning thousands of American, Chinese, and Korean players and have them all fight to the death. Then brag to Asuna that he'll kill thousands of beings, including her, their allied forces, and every other human and monster down there, [[TheStarscream including the foreign players he just summoned and the demon army under his and Gabriel's command]] [[ForTheEvulz just to get a comatose Kirito to wake up and fight him]]. His threat to Kirito about [[AndShowItToYou ripping out his and Asuna's hearts out]] and slitting their throats carries the implication that he'll do so knowing that their friends or family will find out, and that he'll be around to take them out in much the same way.

* PutOnAPrisonBus: After his final attack on Kirito, he soon gets arrested and is never heard of ever again.

* 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.]]

* AxCrazy: He's a sadistic murderer, and he's got the [[AnAxeToGrind axe to prove it]].

* 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 Player Killer [[TheConspiracy Conspiracy]].

* ILetYouWin: [[spoiler: He reveals that he was the one who leaked Laughing Coffin's location to the Assault Team, [[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 Assault Team, namely Kirito, to become killers by forcing the two groups to come to blows.]]

'''Main series''': [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineMajorCharacters Major Characters]] ([[Characters/SwordArtOnlineKazutoKirigaya Kazuto Kirigaya]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAsunaYuuki Asuna Yuuki]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineSuguhaKirigaya Suguha Kirigaya]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineShinoAsada Shino Asada]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineEugeo Eugeo]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAliceZuberg Alice Zuberg]]) | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAincrad Aincrad]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlfheimOnline Alfheim Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineGunGaleOnline Gun Gale Online]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineUnderworld Underworld]] ([[Characters/SwordArtOnlineIntegrityKnights Integrity Knights]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineDarkTerritory Dark Territory]]) | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAntagonists Antagonists]] ([[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAkihikoKayaba Akihiko Kayaba]], '''Laughing Coffin''', [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineNobuyukiSugou Nobuyuki Sugou]], [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineQuinella Quinella]]) | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineBosses Bosses]] | [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineOthers Others]]\\

** To Kirito, with quite possibly the strongest holder of that claim out of all of Kirito's enemies. He desires to kill Kirito 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 leads him to wish to awaken Kirito from being an EmptyShell, willing to [[KickTheDog kill as many people and demons as needed]] to bring the boy back to his senses.
** To a lesser extent Asuna and the rest 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 also become {{Implied Death Threat}}s to the rest of the group, which the anime makes more explicit. The anime further adds Eiji as having personal beef with him too, despite the two never technically meeting.

* 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.]]

* 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.]]

** To Kirito himself, especially in ''Alicization''. Both are SAO survivors who ended up in the Underworld, with a [[DarkIsEvil generally]] [[DarkIsNotEvil black]] ColorMotif, but on opposite sides of the 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. In addition, while Kirito is a HeroWithBadPublicity scorned for being a Beater and was a solo player, Vassago is a DarkMessiah who built himself a reputation among the villainous players who he rallied into the murder guild Laughing Coffin. In the Underworld, both also possess swords with the power to absorb spatial resources with Vassago's Mate-Chopper and Kirito's Night Sky Sword respectively. The anime drives the point even deeper by making Vassago's half-brother an IdenticalStranger to Kirito.

* TheLeader: Of Laughing Coffin. He led the guild with a mix 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.]]

* 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.]]

* WeakButSkilled: PlayedWith. Shouichi was an ill boy IRL, but SAO showed him to be a MasterSwordsman, something that made him one of the most feared [=PKers=] alongside [=PoH=] and [[MasterPoisoner Johnny Black]]. However, it's unknown if his stat build in-game {{Invoked}} this or StrongAndSkilled, [[spoiler: and his Death Gun Avatar doesn't provide many indicators to which since A; his improvised estoc was likely much weaker statistically compared to his ones in SAO and mainly gave him the advantage in that he was more used to wielding weapons like it, and B; he was fighting someone with a LaserBlade, which are essentially OneHitKill weapons.]]

* 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]].

** Alicization makes him one to Kirito himself. Both are SAO survivors who ended up in the Underworld, with a [[DarkIsEvil generally]] [[DarkIsNotEvil black]] ColorMotif, but on opposite sides of the 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. In addition, while Kirito is a HeroWithBadPublicity scorned for being a Beater and was a solo player, Vassago is a DarkMessiah who built himself a reputation among the villainous players who he rallied into the murder guild Laughing Coffin. In the Underworld, both also possess swords with the power to absorb spatial resources with Vassago's Mate-Chopper and Kirito's Night Sky Sword respectively. The anime drives the point even deeper by making Vassago's half-brother an IdenticalStranger to Kirito.

** To Kirito, quite possibly holding the title of ''THE'' ArchEnemy for the boy. He desires to kill Kirito 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 leads him to wish to awaken Kirito from being an EmptyShell, willing to [[KickTheDog kill as many people and demons as needed]] to bring the boy back to his senses.

* 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.]]

* KnifeNut: His WeaponOfChoice were a large collection of knives for both melee and [[FlechetteStorm throwing]], all coated in his signature poisons.

* KnifeNut: He has a One-Handed Dagger resembling his {{BFS}} as a backup weapon. He attempts to use it against Kirito after he breaks his sword, only for Asuna to disarm him.

* BalefulPolymorph: His final fate [[spoiler:is getting turned into a tree by Kirito, to permanently end his threat and make sure he can never logout.]]

* 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.]]

* OmnicidalManiac: He has zero regard for the lives of anyone, [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder including his fellow teammates in Laughing Coffin or would-be boss Gabriel in Underworld]]. Upon entering Underworld, [[spoiler:his goal is to pit all of the Japanese players by summoning thousands of American, Chinese, and Korean players and have them all fight to the death. Then brag to Asuna that he'll kill thousands of beings, including her, their allied forces, and every other human and monster down there, [[TheStarscream including the foreign players he just summoned and the demon army under his and Gabriel's command]] [[ForTheEvulz just to get a comatose Kirito to wake up and fight him]]. His threat to Kirito about [[AndShowItToYou ripping out his and Asuna's hearts out]] and slitting their throats carries the implication that he'll do so knowing that their friends or family ''will'' find out, and will take them out in much the same way.

** To a lesser extent Asuna and the rest 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 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.

* AxCrazy: Easily the craziest below Gabriel Miller. However, he's at least calculated in his insanity. Vassago emphatically isn't.

** [[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, [[KickTheMoralityPet who killed Alicia out of]] [[EntitledToHaveYou misplaced sense of entitlement to her soul]] [[YourSoulIsMine and deluded that he could take it for himself]], ultimately lacking any kind of FreudianExcuse. Vassago on other hand grew up being shifted from negative environment to negative environment, living in shitty neighborhood selling drugs with a [[AbusiveParents verbally and maybe even physically abusive mother who literally named him after a 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.

* 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 and continually threatens to kill them, their friends and allies, [[OmnicidalManiac and everyone else in Underworld, including Gabriel's demon army, the humans and monsters native to the land, and the summoned American and Asian players multiple times]], leading to Kirito trapping him in the Underworld so he will ''never'' log out.]]

* 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 alters this by having him say this near Asuna and the rest of the group while the two are fighting, with the implication of him planning to [[KillEmAll target the others at some point as well]].]]

* 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. If it weren't for [[BigDamnHeroes Moonphase's intervention in the Light Novel or Eiji and Yuna's in the anime]], [=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.]]

** [[spoiler: Even as a Dark Knight in the Underworld that comes with a high priority sword, he instead opts for a dagger in combat.]]

* 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.]]
* LeaveNoSurvivors: [[spoiler:Ultimately his intentions in Underworld is to do this to [[OmnicidalManiac everyone]], including [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder the Chinese and Korean players he personally summoned, Gabriel]], and all the humans, demons and monsters of Underworld itself, [[ForTheEvulz 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, he says this to Kirito in front of their allies as the two of them fight for the last time. Heavily implying that he won't just stop at the two of them.]]

* 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.

* 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.]]

* OmnicidalManiac: He has zero regard for the lives of anyone, including his fellow teammates in Laughing Coffin or would-be boss Gabriel later on. [[spoiler:His plan in Underworld is to 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. Even telling Asuna that he'll kill thousands of beings, including her, their allied forces and every other human and monster down there, [[TheStarscream including the army of foreign players he summoned and the demon army under his and Gabriel's command]], [[ForTheEvulz all to get a comatose Kirito to wake up and fight him]]; and during his various threats to murder the two both in the Underworld and in real life, he similarly threatens to target, and even nearly kills, their friends and allies as well.]]

* PracticallyJoker: [=PoH=] is an AxCrazy ManipulativeBastard SerialKiller who's default expression appears to be a SlasherSmile, generally has a jovial attitude, derives a good deal of pleasure from his murderous actions, and is hinted to have a twisted sense of showmanship with his "It's Showtime" {{Catchphrase}}. He also delights in his ArchEnemy relationship with Kirito, constantly expressing a desire to break him and [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou wants to be the one to kill him personally]], and acts as an agent of chaos by corrupting people into killing each other, as shown with the Laughing Coffin guild and what he does with [[spoiler:the Chinese and Korean players he invites]]. Furthermore, his two CoDragons [=XaXa=] and Johnny Black are basically his Harley Quinns, with them being otherwise loyal followers who he [[BadBoss honestly couldn't care less about.]] The only things different from the other examples are that his backstory is shown and he lacks the clown aesthetic completely (though he does wear purple as his Dark Knight avatar in ''Alicization'').

* SlashedThroat: [[spoiler:Attempts to do this on both Kirito and Asuna should he get kicked out from UW, with the anime adding in the implication that he won't stop there. Kirito kills him for this shortly afterwards (via [[FateWorseThanDeath a cruel and unusual method]]).]]

* 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 (by having eveyone else regardless of affiliation be killed) and restore him to his former state... and then kill him.
* 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, and presumibly their family and friends as well, 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.]]

* {{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.

* 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, not knowing where it went. Leaving it uncertain if he somehow managed to make good of his threat to leave Underworld and go after Kirto and his allies in real life, or if the spell made it so that his real body was erased from existance the same time it was cast.]]
* 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.

** [[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 (and presumably their friends, which include both Leefa and Sinon, [[LeaveNoSurvivors to tie up any loose ends]]), if it weren't for the latter's interference putting a [[SpannerInTheWorks Spanner in His Works]]. By that token, his threats to kill everyone in Underworld to awaken Kirito from his coma also has him threaten her life first before moving on to [[OmnicidalManiac every other human, monster, and demon in the area]]]].