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* KickTheSonOfABitch:
** [[spoiler: Kayaba gives Kirito the means to defeat Sugou, a man who's even more despicable than the SAO creator (you know, the one that caused thousands of deaths for a childish dream).]]
** [[spoiler:And then there's [[FateWorseThanDeath what Kirito did to [=PoH=]]] in the Alicization arc.]]
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** Kirito manages to match his sister in a kendo sparring match with his SAO skills (it should be noted that she's a national level competitor), dodging a blow that reportedly had never been successfully blocked by either her coaches or tournament opponents, and later beats a knife-wielding madman barehanded, though the latter is {{justified}} as the madman was currently suffering from phantom injures dealt by Kirito inside ALO, [[EyeScream particularly a bad case of depth perception]]. It's all but stated that Kirito would have lost had his opponent been in tip-top shape.

to:

** Kirito manages to match his sister in a kendo sparring match with his SAO skills (it should be noted that she's a national level competitor), dodging a blow that reportedly had never been successfully blocked by either her coaches or tournament opponents, and later beats a knife-wielding madman barehanded, though the latter is {{justified}} {{justified|Trope}} as the madman was currently suffering from phantom injures dealt by Kirito inside ALO, [[EyeScream particularly a bad case of depth perception]]. It's all but stated that Kirito would have lost had his opponent been in tip-top shape.
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SwordArtOnline/TropesAToB | SwordArtOnline/TropesCToD | SwordArtOnline/TropesEToH | '''Tropes I to M''' | SwordArtOnline/TropesNToR | SwordArtOnline/TropesSToT | SwordArtOnline/TropesUToZ | Back to the [[Literature/SwordArtOnline Main Page]]
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[[folder:I]]
* IBelieveICanFly: Alfheim Online's most famous feature is allowing players to fly through the air as a fairy race.
* IdiotBall: Sugou, running highly unethical human experiments on a ''public'' server -- no matter how ostensibly secretive those involved are -- which is ''still debugging'' from the transition from a previous incarnation, in which several characters get an OldSaveBonus when they transfer, was not your brightest move.
** Shino is able to load and fire a Colt M1911 (well, an airsoft copy) thanks to her experience in GGO.
** Kirito manages to match his sister in a kendo sparring match with his SAO skills (it should be noted that she's a national level competitor), dodging a blow that reportedly had never been successfully blocked by either her coaches or tournament opponents, and later beats a knife-wielding madman barehanded, though the latter is {{justified}} as the madman was currently suffering from phantom injures dealt by Kirito inside ALO, [[EyeScream particularly a bad case of depth perception]]. It's all but stated that Kirito would have lost had his opponent been in tip-top shape.
*** Another thing about the kendo match: despite it being a month after his escape from SAO, we still need to remember that it's ONLY a month, so his body is still both severely physically weakened from muscle atrophy and from malnutrition. They both pretty much come to the conclusion that had he been healthy at the time he would have won (the only real reason he lost is because his arms had atrophied so much that when he tried to block one of her strikes she just blew straight through and hit him. That, and he tried to use a [[DamnYouMuscleMemory Sword Skill with predictable results]].)
* ImageSong: Several for several of the major cast members.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice:
** One of the Salamanders ambushing Kirito and Leafa in the cave gets impaled on monster!Kirito's fingernails and hangs there in the air until he dies.
** In Episode 22 of Season 1, this happens to Kirito in a scene very, very reminiscent of Asuka's death in ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion The End of Evangelion]]''.[[note]]He gets run through near-simultaneously by several greatswords being shot as arrows from multiple directions.[[/note]]
** Two episodes later Kirito [[spoiler: kills Sugou's Oberon avatar]] by tossing him up and letting him fall onto Kirito's sword in a pose strikingly familiar to the iconic Last Shooting scene in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Gundam]]''.
** Moments before that, [[spoiler:Sugou impales Kirito with his own sword, just after altering the pain absorber to make the experience even worse for him.]]
** Kirito does this to the first opponent he fights in the Bullet of Bullets tournament in Episode 5 of Season 2 once he manages to get close enough to use his energy sword.
* ImplausibleFencingPowers: The entire skill system in SAO is based on swordsmanship. Not a single spell to be found. HandWaved as an attempt to raise immersion.
** Kirito can cut bullets in midair easily in Gun Gale Online. When he gets back to [=ALfheim Online=], he uses the same skill to cut ''magical spells''. Nobody, not even Asuna, Leafa, or Klein, who're the closest players to his skill level, can do that. (And also comments that even the fastest spell is slower than a particular kind of rifle, implying that those spells he cut apart were ''slow''.)
* ImpossibleTask: [[spoiler:The "Grand Quest" of ALO.]]
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Not an issue in SAO and ALO where swords are commonplace, but come Volume 5 of the light novel Kirito becomes the only character to wield a sword in a gun fight in a game that's all about shooting.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Shino scores a headshot on The Behemoth after jumping from a skyscraper while dodging a minigun ''in midair.''
* IncapableOfDisobeying:
** In the ''Alicization'' arc, the artificial souls that make up the population of Underworld live under a "Taboo Index" that enforces Underworld's FantasticCasteSystem with absolute authority. An example of its effect on its people is when Eugeo tries to stop [[spoiler:the attempted rape of two girls he and Kirito were mentoring]]. The act Eugeo wants to stop is not a violation of of the Taboo Index, but the fact that it's being performed by a noble, where Eugeo is a simple commoner, means that trying to stop it ''is''. As a result, Eugeo can, at first, only watch helplessly, unable to move or act in anyone's defense. When Eugeo manages enough HeroicResolve to resist the Taboo Index and fight back, the effort and backlash of doing so causes his eye to explode from its socket.
** From the same arc, while fighting their way through the Cathedral, Kirito and Eugeo meet Linel and Fizel, a pair of apprentice nuns who snuck out to see the intruders after all the non-Integrity Knights were ordered to lock themselves in their rooms. This trope is one of the factors in Kirito's realizing they weren't what they claimed to be, since if such an order had been given, then the girls could never have stepped outside their rooms. Because of this, Kirito is able to turn the tables on their sudden but inevitable betrayal.
%%* TheInformant: [[spoiler:Kirito come Volume 5, and he's now the informant for Public Safety.]]
%%* InventionalWisdom: [[spoiler:Spontaneously activated self-destruct capability for ALO.]]
* InsideAComputerSystem: The "partially attached" variety. [=VRMMOs=] use the "Full Dive" system to completely immerse the player in a virtual world, controlling all five senses.
* InvertedPortrait:
** Asuna in the ClosingCredits of the Aincrad arc.
** Shino in the ClosingCredits, and her in-game alter ego Sinon (along with Death Gun) in the TitleSequence, of the Phantom Bullet arc. Twice over in the former, in fact: once as her present self, then again as her 11-year­-old self, when she [[spoiler:shot and killed a would-be bank robber.]]
** Leafa in the Caliber arc's ClosingCredits.
* InvisibilityCloak: Death Gun uses one. It helps him sneak around on the battlefield and is also used to spy on people when they enter their real-life details, including home addresses, in order to register for tournaments in GGO.
* IronicEcho:
** Kirito starts chanting "hayaku"[[note]]''faster''[[/note]] whenever he's caught up in an intense fight, two of which has been against Heathcliff. Nearly every time he's done so it hasn't ended well for him.
** "[[YouShallNotPass Sorry, this area is currently off-limits.]]" Said by Kirito to a Jerkass guild member, echoing another guild member's words to the Sleeping Knights.
** Also in Episode 24 of Season 1, "Hurts, doesn't it?" Also said by Kirito to Sugou/Oberon when he slices his cheek after turning the situation in his favor, echoing Oberon's words when he was in control of the situation when he lowered the pain absorber on Kirito.
* ISurrenderSuckers: [[spoiler:Kuradeel]] tries this when Asuna beats him to within an inch of his life bar. He feigns asking for mercy/forgiveness, but then immediately tries to kill Asuna with a cheap shot before [[spoiler:being taken down by a recovered Kirito.]] He even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the fact that she fell for it!
* UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian: Yuuki's family, and Yuuki herself. This is apparently why Yuuki names her Original Sword Skill "Mother's Rosary."
* UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics: Most characters respectively use honorifics when addressing others.
** Asuna heavily uses these, which is unsurprising given her [[{{Ojou}} upper-class upbringing]]. She refers to everyone but her very closest friends with an honorific, even her husband/boyfriend Kirito is addressed as "Kirito-kun" and her daughter Yui as "Yui-chan". The only exceptions are Lisbeth and Sinon, who she refers to by nicknames "Liz" and "Sinonon", along with Yuuki who she addresses by a first name since the two are close enough to be [[CoolBigSis surrogate]] [[LittleSisterHeroine sisters]].
** Silica and Yui are known to use honorifics for everyone. Given how much younger they are in comparison virtually everyone gets addressed with a "-san", even Kirito who is usually addressed as "Kirito-kun" gets called "Kirito-san" by Silica, or Lisbeth who prefers going by a nickname gets called "Liz-san".
** Kirito averts this, rarely ever using honorifics and addressing his peers simply by their [[OnlineAlias gamer name]] or their [[FirstNameBasis first name]] if he knows it. He only appears to use honorifics when the situation requires him to be respectful such as when addressing his elders. Asuna once calls him out on how rude he was being before she gives him permission to only call her by name. Amusingly, Kirito will only ever call her "Asuna-san" whenever he knows he's in trouble with her. Surprisingly enough, he uses "-san" on [[ArcVillain Quinella]].
** Lisbeth, being very casual and carefree also generally avoids honorifics among her friends, calling Kirito, Asuna, and Silica by name. Kirito gets mildly annoyed that she starts off using yobisute on him, but generally tolerates it.
** Leafa/Suguha, unlike her brother, is quite adamant about addressing others respectfully with honorifics- "-san," in most cases, since said individuals are older than her. The one exception is Shinichi/Recon, which is attributed to her being [[HopelessSuitor annoyed by him]], and [[TheyCallMeMisterTibbs she's the one who keeps insisting he refer to her as "Kirigaya-san" and not as "Leafa-chan" or "Suguha-chan"]].
** Sinon seems to be a mix of this. She respectfully calls her OnlyFriend in real life (at the time) Kyoji as "Shinkawa-kun", but all of her in-game friends generally get addressed without an honorific.
** Yuuki being very informal by nature is virtually never seen using honorifics, with the exception of individuals she doesn't know and needs to show respect to. That said, she does start out using "-san" on Asuna, but stops when Asuna says she doesn't need to.
** Argo is an odd example given she loves to [[TheNicknamer nickname]] everyone. She does use honorifics, but very unorthodox ones that seem to make her peers seem younger, such as Kirito as "Kii-bou" or Asuna as "A-chan".
** Alice uses the extremely respectful "-dono" on senior Integrity knights, but uses yobisute on the people closest to her(Kirito, Eugeo, Eldrie and Selka). Asuna gets rather annoyed when she hears Alice using yobisute on Kirito.
* {{Jerkass}}: At least one in every arc.
** The ''Fairy Dance'' arc has Sugou as the primary jerkass, with practically no redeeming qualities, [[spoiler:unlike Kayaba from the first arc.]]
** To a lesser degree, there's Sigurd. He bosses Leafa around in spite of the fact that her agreement with him gives her flexibility as far as partying with him goes, and when Kirito sticks up for her, Sigurd tries to kill him, since Kirito's in an enemy race's capital and can't fight back. [[spoiler:He ultimately sells out his faction in hopes of rerolling as a race that he heard was going to be at an advantage in a later patch.]]
** Endou from Phantom Bullet. She's a bully who exploits Shino's trauma to steal her money, and it's revealed that Endou and her sidekicks were taking advantage of Shino the entire time they were "friends."
** In Mother's Rosario, a guild uses a spell to spy on Asuna and the Sleeping Knights' first attempt on the boss. When Asuna and her friends come back for another try, they find the other guild sitting in front of the door, not yet ready to face the boss but refusing to let anyone through.
** In Alicization, Raios and Humbert are two arrogant nobles who look down on Kirito and Eugeo and try to make their lives miserable, from cutting the buds off Kirito's flowers to [[spoiler:trying to rape Kirito and Eugeo's valets in order to provoke them into violating the Taboo Index.]]
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[[folder:J]]
* JokeWeapon: The Lightsaber is considered this in Gun Gale Online, which makes a certain kind of sense as it's an MMOFPS.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:K]]
* KarmaHoudini: Although they were all placed in a separate building from other SAO survivors for rehab/observation purposes, none of the players who committed murder in SAO are publicly revealed nor receive justice for their actions, as all blame is placed on Akihiko Kayaba. [[spoiler:This leads to repercussions in future arcs.]]
* KickTheSonOfABitch:
** [[spoiler: Kayaba gives Kirito the means to defeat Sugou, a man who's even more despicable than the SAO creator (you know, the one that caused thousands of deaths for a childish dream).]]
** [[spoiler:And then there's [[FateWorseThanDeath what Kirito did to [=PoH=]]] in the Alicization arc.]]
* KissingCousins: One-sided on Suguha's part. She slowly falls in love with her cousin Kirito ([[NotBloodSiblings who was raised as her brother]]); however, since he already has Asuna and Kirito isn't really into that stuff, he doesn't reciprocate. Suguha also knows her parents would never approve and tries to get over her feelings.
* KissingDiscretionShot: Sometimes when Kirito and Asuna kiss.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:L]]
* LadyOfWar: Sakuya, guild leader of the Sylphs, who wears a katana.
** Conceivably, Asuna counts as this, too. Comes from money, doesn't act "prissy" to any real degree but is even less considered a tomboy, uses a rapier, [[RoyalRapier a weapon most often used by royalty or those close to it in stories like this]].
* LampshadeHanging: In the Light Novels, at least, Kirito thinks that he looks like a typical manga protagonist. [[spoiler:Also, in the Light Novels, when Asuna [[HeroicWillpower breaks free from an unbreakable paralysis to save Kirito]], Akihiko Kayaba points out that "This is really surprising. Isn't it just like a standalone console RPG scenario? It should have been impossible for her to recover from the paralysis... So things like this really do happen..."]]
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: This franchise seems to like memory manipulation plots quite a bit. See also FakeMemories.
** In the "Fairy Dance" arc, Sugou threatens to erase Kirito and Asuna's memories; erasing her memory of Kirito would most likely help in brainwashing her to love only him (though how well it would actually work is another matter). He is also, more generally, working on experiments involving manipulating memories, which might include this trope.
** ''Ordinal Scale'' has the [[spoiler:Augma, which, while marketed as safer than even the [=AmuSphere=], is in reality a modified [=NerveGear=] that can even secretly do full dives, and helps the villain steal memories of ''SAO'' from its survivors, whenever they are defeated by the special event bosses]].
** In ''Alicization'', [[spoiler:the Soul Translator is programmed to block Kirito's memories of being in ''Underworld'' while he is in the real world, and ''vice versa''. Additionally, in ''Underworld'' itself, Integrity Knights have all of their life memories stolen away, being told they were called from the heavens, and that memories of ''that'' have been blocked. Administrator does a similar thing to Eugeo after he is captured]].
* LaserSight: In GGO, the Ballistic Prediction Line (Bullet Line) is an inverse example, as it appears only to opposing players, though sniper rifles don't project a line until they've fired a shot (and in which case the line disappears after a minute). Normally, this gives opposing players a chance to dodge incoming gunfire, but Kirito takes it up a notch by using these lines to deflect gunfire with his light saber. Not that he needed those lines to guess where the bullet was coming to anyway.
* LaserBlade: GGO has "Photon Saber" weapons.
* LethalJokeWeapon: The above mentioned weapon's damage output is incredibly high, but its short range and limited battery life relegates it to JokeWeapon status... but in the hand of a skilled player [[ParryingBullets it has the ability to block everything up to and including ''a sniper bullet'']][[NoSell and ''a sword made of the strongest material in the game'']]. Naturally, Kirito no-sold every shooter with it. [[spoiler:After he becomes the co-winner of the third GGO in-game tournament, more players begin trying to emulate him apparently to no success, as they lack Kirito's incredible reflex and his ability to guess bullet lines.]]
* LevelGrinding: In SAO, Kirito does a lot of this off-screen. In fact, in SAO it's not considered safe to explore a floor until you are at least 10+ levels higher. Kirito himself does a massive power leveling after [[spoiler:Sachi dies, in order to solo an event boss monster to obtain a rumored One-Time Revival item to bring her back to life.]]
* LightDarknessJuxtaposition: Kirito gains this dynamic with the first two {{Big Bad}}s, Heathcliff/Kayaba and Oberon/Sugou, with Kirito being DarkIsNotEvil while the villains being LightIsNotGood. Kirito is TheHero who always dresses in black, earning him the name the "Black Swordsman" and has swords named after dark themes like "Dark Repulsor" and "Night Sky Sword". Heathcliff is a [[ThePaladin paladin]] with his attacks including the "Holy Sword" and "Spiritual Light". Meanwhile Sugou made himself into the King of the Fairies and the God of Alfheim Online, giving himself a divine appearance with blonde hair and ornamented with gold.
* LighterAndSofter: The Calibur Arc serves as a bit of a [[BreatherEpisode Breather Arc]], following up on the previous arcs which all involved very high stakes such as death. This arc is more of a SliceOfLife away from immediate danger, with Kirito and friends having a lot of fooling around.
* LightheartedRematch: The SAO survivors who migrated to ALO treat [[spoiler:the return of Aincrad as this, intending to clear all hundred levels for fun, instead of a matter of life or death.]]
* LightIsNotGood:
** [[spoiler:Kuradeel of the holy-based guild Knights of The Blood Oath turns out to be working for Laughing Coffin.]]
** [[spoiler:Heathcliff, Leader of the Knights of The Blood Oath, has light-based skills and turns out to be the BigBad Kayaba.]]
** The Guardian Knights that guard Oberon's Fortress are all clad in white and have white wings, and they're preventing Kirito from reaching Asuna.
* LightningBruiser:
** Kirito is this no matter what game he is in due to having SuperReflexes.
** Asuna is this in SAO, doing less raw damage but attacking and moving more quickly. More than once she's taken down opponents who've given Kirito trouble.
* LittleBitBeastly: The Cait-Sith, one of the nine playable races in ALO, are basically an entire nation of cat-people.
* LockAndLoadMontage: There's a short one in ''Caliber'', just before the heroes set out to challenge the quest and grab Excalibur.
* LockedRoomMystery: The short story "Murder Case in the Area" is about figuring out how someone was killed in a town -- a safe zone, in which players are normally immune to damage.
* LogicalWeakness: Kirito's fighting style in ''Gun Gale Online'', in particular using his lightsaber to deflect incoming fire, relies entirely on being able to see bullet lines, and even predict when they'll appear, in order to figure out where and when to put his blade into position to allow him to deflect incoming fire. This of course means it can be countered, for example, by players firing sniper rifles from concealment at range, as they don't generate a bullet line if the weapon had not been fired for the past 60 seconds. But what about for weapons that don't get a free first shot from concealment, or for snipers who've already fired and are either still waiting on the 60-second timer to expire before they can get the free shot again, or are forced to continue engaging the enemy and unable to break contact? Head over to the ''Literature/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnline'' page for more details on a method for those types of scenarios.
* LonersAreFreaks: Kirito and the few other solo players are seen as unusual for not joining guilds and going out to battle alone, something that is likely to get them killed. On the other hand, it's the reason Kirito is so skilled, and presumably the other solo players as well.
** In ''Progressive'', the leaders of the rival factions ALS and DKB spend a great deal of time trying to pressure Kirito and Asuna into joining their guilds (one for each, as a compromise of sorts).
* LookBehindYou: In ''Intermission: Reason for the Whiskers''[[note]]previously known as ''Continuation: Aria in the Starless Night''[[/note]], Kirito says this to Kotarou and Isuke from the FÅ«maningun guild who cornered both Argo and himself. They don't believe him at first, thinking it's a trick, but it isn't because a Trembling Ox just spawned behind them.
* LoopholeAbuse:
** Towns are safe zones, where players cannot be killed except in a duel. [=PKers=] discover that if you challenge someone to a duel while they're asleep, you can manually move their hand to accept, and then kill them without retaliation.
** Several people are killed in a town, without anyone seeing the duel victory symbol appearing, so everyone is confused as to how it's being done. Some of the victims think it's a ghost of vengeance, but Kirito and Asuna assume it's just a system exploit. [[spoiler:It turns out to be neither. The "victims" were faking their deaths to terrorize the man who murdered their guild leader. They took advantage of the fact that players can't be harmed in cities, but items (including armor) ''can'', and a destroyed item DisappearsIntoLight in the same way a dead player does. So they just stabbed themselves, faked being in pain, and when their armor was destroyed, teleported away.]]
* LooseCanon: The ''Girls Ops'' manga spinoff. Given that it isn't written by Reki Kawahara, it's never really acknowledged in the main storyline but for the most does nothing to contradict it either. Though issues of ''Unital Ring'' have created continuity errors with [[spoiler:Argo being revealed to have never played Alfheim Online like she's shown doing in the spinoff.]] Though it's still up in the air if ''Girls Ops'' is outright non-canon or not.
* LootDrama: InUniverse example, played seriously. One early episode revolves around a younger character being bullied by a crooked guild trying to rob her of a rare item [[spoiler:that could revive her familiar]], and later in the season, several PlayerKilling incidents revolve around a guild that crumbled after a disagreement over how to use a rare ring that dropped from a mob.
* LordBritishPostulate: There are a number of areas in ALO that are locked simply by placing enough powerful enemies that no one should be able to pass. [[spoiler:The quest to enter the World Tree is this. The enemies themselves are on the low-end of the power scale, but they spawn infinitely. And if you ''do'' manage to get past them, the door will not open for anyone but a GM.]]
* LoveConfession: Recon gives an awkward one to Leafa in episode 23. She seems to reject it with a MegatonPunch, but it also seems to snap her out of her funk.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler:Kyouji became part of Death Gun because of his crush on Sinon.]]
* LuminescentBlush: Kirito has a tendency to provoke these unintentionally.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:M]]
* MagicSkirt: Averted, thanks to the physics engine which simulates gravity. Silica learns this the hard way.
* MaleGaze: Unsurprising considering the {{Shounen}} demographic this franchise was intially catered to; two or three lingering camera angles on backsides in the first and second season notwithstanding, onscreen nudity is usually minimal and tasteful to accentuate a character's emotional vulnerability during heartwarming moments; the modesty of the girl in question is preserved with long-and-beautiful GodivaHair, the conveniently present ModestyBedsheet, or a generous amount of CensorSteam and opaque water in bath sequences.
** When sexual-violence and cruelty is enters the equation, such as Asuna/Royen/Tiese's infamous AttemptedRape scenes, and Quinella's inhuman indifference to her own nudity, however, this trope is '''always''' PlayedForHorror.
** As the demographic eventually expands to a growing female audience, equal loving attention is paid upon muscular masculity of handsome men such as Buercoli, Klein, Aegil and once in a blue moon even Kirito and Eugeo.
* ManlyTears: Happen from time to time, usually from [[HotBlooded Klein]].
* MarryThemAll: In the Noncanon Gaiden X2, which takes place at the end of the Underworld arc, basically all of Kirito's somewhat UnwantedHarem decide to just marry him in-game, and both [[OfficialCouple Kirito & Asuna]] agree, making the BattleHarem "official", at least for around 5 years of accelerated time. Non-canonical, since WordOfGod confirms it, and [[spoiler:Ronye wasn't part of the harem (though Alice was).]]
* MassiveRaceSelection: There are nine playable [[OurFairiesAreDifferent fairy]] tribes in ALO. Four of them are based on the AlchemicElementals:
** Sylphs, [[BlowYouAway wind-class]] fairies, who excel in {{flight}} and have [[SuperSenses acute hearing]].
** Salamanders, [[PlayingWithFire fire-class]] fairies, who excel in [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy fighting]].
** Undines, [[MakingASplash water-class]] fairies, who excel in [[TheMedic healing]] and underwater tactics.
** [[OurGnomesAreWeirder Gnomes]], [[DishingOutDirt earth-class]] fairies, who excel in defense and [[{{Prospector}} mining]].
** Cait-Siths, [[CatGirl cat]][[LittleBitBeastly -class]] fairies, who excel in [[TheBeastmaster beast taming]], [[SuperReflexes agility]], and intelligence.
** Spriggans, [[CastingAShadow shadow-class]] fairies, who excel in {{treasure hunt|er}}ing and [[MasterOfIllusion illusions]].
** Pucas, [[MagicMusic musical-class]] fairies, who excel in playing musical instruments and singing.
** {{Leprechaun}}s, [[TheBlacksmith blacksmith-class]] fairies, who excel in [[DesignItYourselfEquipment weapons manufacturing]] and [[ItemCrafting crafting]].
** Imps, [[CastingAShadow dark-class]] fairies, who excel in [[{{Flight}} night flight]] and [[InnateNightVision night vision]].
* MassMonsterSlaughterSidequest: In ALO [[spoiler:Archduke Þjazi gives one to kill beast-type Evil Gods in order for players to receive Excaliber but in actuality the prize is Caliburn and for Jötunheimr to spread to Alfheim.]]
* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler: "Unital Ring" also refer to how the game is basically all the Seed-based VRMMO forcibly united into one single game by an unknown force.]]
* MeaninglessVillainVictory: [[spoiler:During the aftermath of ''Fairy Dance'', it is discovered that even if Sugou had managed to perfect his MindControl research, it would have only worked with the (now-defunct) first-generation [=NERVgears=].]]
* MechanicalHorse: One of the modes of transportation in GGO.
* MeditationPowerup: In SAO, Meditation is a mental concentration skill that increases the rate of HP recovery and reduces the remaining time of negative statuses. However, due to its low efficiency and lame pose, not many players use it.
* MercyReward: Naratively it could be said that Yui is this to Kirito for doing his best at invoking VideoGameCaringPotential within the Death Game even going so far as to duel Asuna to prevent her from invoking VideoGameCrueltyPotential against the [=NPCs=], however since by the time Yui shows up Asuna is firmly on Kirito's side but still in need of a lesson on the humanity of AI's resulting in Asuna bonding with the AI who calls her mommy only to watch helplessly in anguish as she's nearly deleted only for Kirito to get this trope again with him having just enough time to save her, albiet as an in-game object attached to his nearvgear.
* MetalSlime: The Ragout Rabbit in SAO. They are very hard to find, and though it doesn't offer high EXP, their meat can be sold for a somewhat high mount and they make for some of the best meals for anyone with a high enough Cooking skill to prepare it.
* MillionMookMarch: When they first reach the inside of the World Tree, it doesn't seem to be very well-guarded. However, once Kirito attempts to break through, they start showing up en masse. After Leafa and Recon try to help, the numbers grow even bigger, to the point that all you can see up there is a wall of guardians.
* TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf: Kayaba gives every player of SAO an item called "hand mirror", which forces the player avatars into the players' real-world appearance.
* ModestyBedsheet: [[spoiler:Asuna uses one after the RelationshipUpgrade.]]
* MoodWhiplash:
** In-universe. [[spoiler:Kirito and Asuna's RelationshipUpgrade. Asuna prepares to go all the way... and Kirito explains that he meant they should [[BackToBackBadasses stick together to watch out for assassins]]. It's a while before he can placate an embarrassed, raging Asuna, and the romantic mood is ''completely'' destroyed. Not that they let that stop them...]]
** Kirito's first meeting with Leafa and first [=ALO=] [=PvP=] encounter keeps jumping between "Laugh out Loud" and "LetsGetDangerous."
** Episode 21 of the anime has [[spoiler:Asuna sneaking around the top of the World Tree]] interspersed with scenes of Kazuto and Suguha... well, being brother and sister, which itself alternates between funny and heartwarming.
** In the first episode of the anime, OminousLatinChanting accompanies Kirito's departure from the Starting City, his mind in turmoil and anguish... and then the [[EarnYourHappyEnding hopeful determination]] of the OP kicks in.
* MookHorrorShow: Episode 19 has Kirito transforming into an appearance very similar to [[CallBack The Gleam Eyes]] and summarily wiping out a group of Salamanders pursuing him and Leafa. One gets impaled on his fingernails, one gets eaten by Kirito, one gets eaten by underwater high-level monsters when attempting to escape...
* MoralityKitchenSink: The Alicization arc. Once again, Kirito and his friends are the heroes, starting out trying to make sense of the situation, and eventually fighting to defend Alice and the Underworld. Kikuoka is morally gray, [[spoiler:with him running an experiment to create AIs that can fight in wars, while the U.S., with cooperation from the JSDF, wants to stop him in order to maintain the East Asian power balance]]. The Integrity Knights start off as antagonists while fighting for the Pontifex, but are ultimately trying to defend the human realms against the forces of darkness. The inhabitants of the Dark Territory avert AlwaysChaoticEvil, since they're composed of several different factions, some evil and others not so much. [[spoiler:The human players who fight for them are {{Unwitting Pawn}}s who got tricked by the main villains]]. The main antagonists of the arc- [[spoiler:Quinella, [=PoH=], and Gabriel Miller]], as well as lesser antagonists Raios, Humbert and Chudelkin, are all truly despicable and have no redeeming characteristics.
* TheMostDangerousVideoGame: This is the entire premise of the Aincrad arc [[spoiler:and, for 300 people, the Fairy Dance arc.]]
* MostGamersAreMale: Demonstrated a few times in group shots, particularly in the opening and during raids, but it's most obvious when Akihara scrolls down a list of players and only one of around 15 is female. Particularly interesting because this trope is {{averted}} in Japan.
* MundaneUtility: Some players use [=VRMMO=]s to do homework, as it can display a lot more screen data than would be possible at home and allows for players to gather despite real world distances.
* MusclesAreMeaningless: Occurs a lot in VR worlds. It's discussed often, as well as in spin-offs like ''Literature/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnline'', that there can be some weird dissonance between the appearance of a player's avatar and what their stats dictate they're capable of. A prime example of this would be Kirito, who like looks like a skinny teenager both in-game and IRL, but also focuses on STR for his stat build, giving him a good deal of strength in-game to lift heavy swords effortlessly.
** This generally also applies in the Underworld, as in most cases strength is largely about your self-image manifesting as your strength[[note]] though in some cases, this could be MusclesAreMeaningful in cases where a warrior bases their strength and Incarnation on their muscles and the training to make them big and visible, such as Golgorosso Balto[[/note]]. [[spoiler: In ''Moon Cradle'', it's stated that Ronye was able to effortlessly beat her younger brother in an arm wrestle, with him not even moving her arm half a cen, despite her not being depicted as particularly muscular.]]
* MusicalThemeNaming: Each story arc in the ''Progressive'' light novel series is named after a musical composition style (with the only exception being the Interlude chapter in the first volume):
** '''''Aria''' of a Starless Night''
** '''''Rondo''' of a Fragile Blade''
** '''''Concerto''' of Black-and-White''
** '''''Barcarolle''' of Froth''
** '''''Canon''' of the Golden Rule''
** '''''Rhapsody''' of the Red Blaze''
* MutualKill:
** [[spoiler:Kayaba deals Kirito a mortal blow, but he lasts long enough to return the favor.]]
** [[spoiler:How Shino and Kirito end up as co-winners of the [=BoB=] tournament.]]
* MythologyGag: In one of the side stories, Kirito is called to test a new 4th Generation Full Dive Unit, and finds himself stuck in another virtual world battling [[Literature/AccelWorld Silver Crow]].
[[/folder]]

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