Kayaba Akihiko (茅場晶彦) is the development director and Game Master (GM) of the VRMMORPG Sword Art Online. The designer of the NerveGear , the Cardinal System , and the Seeds of the World None

The founder of the Knights of the Blood guild in SAO , owner of the first unique skill, "Holy Sword," he was considered the strongest player. He possessed the sword and shield equipment set called Liberator. He continued to face the floor 50 boss alone for ten minutes, earning the title of Man of Legend. His health never reached the yellow zone, meaning less than half damage.

The main antagonist of the Aincrad Arc 1/2 . Mentioned in the Fairy Dance Arc 1/2 and Alicization Arc 1/2. None

Biography

SAO Player Character

Kayaba Akihiko's avatar was the only one that differed from his real appearance: muscular, tall, physically strong, with steel-gray hair. He wore guild armor (with the primary and secondary colors reversed) most of the time.

On the official launch day of SAO, Akihiko as GM resembled a faceless, masked and hooded figure of enormous size.

Personality

During the few times he appeared in SAO, Kayaba Akihiko was calm, gentle, and seemingly distant, though Heathcliff was seen as fair and warm-hearted. After his defeat by Kirito, Akihiko accepted it with grace. Appearing after the battle with Oberon, he seemed pleased with Kirito's hard-earned victory, and he had helped him in important ways.

Akihiko is a highly motivated and sincere man; when he spoke to Kirito about Aincrad, it was evident that he was capable of making his childhood dream, the aerial metal castle, a tangible reality, a reality in the true sense of the word "virtual"—overcoming all the physical, technical, and moral implications.

Indeed, Akihiko has shown himself to be aloof from the morals and concerns of others. He was the one who thought of the game world that killed thousands of people in the few moments following his declaration regarding the dark nature of SAO and thousands more as he pulled the trigger, trapping tens of thousands of people for years, and he treated the first deaths with a phrase equivalent to: "Their spirits have disappeared from both worlds." During the final duel, when he finally struck Asuna instead of Kirito, he seemed amused, not mortified.

Despite his cruelty, Akihiko did his best to make SAO a just world. He even personally helped his guild clear dungeons, though this could be attributed to his vain desire for fame and a pure desire to have fun playing with everyone. He wouldn't officially become the final boss until players had completed Floor 95, but Kirito discovered this early on. He seemed to genuinely want to see his game over, as he had made his own character immortal with a trick that would conceal this truth.

It can be concluded that he was psychopathic and immature, which is the majority of mental portraits of real-life criminals, but he also had a strong sense of justice and loved and respected Kirito as a person.

Background

As a child, Kiyaba Akihiko spent his free time reading. He wasn't a big gamer, but he was part of the math club in high school. In college, he worked in various labs.

When Akihiko began developing SAO, he spent years programming it. He managed to make Aincrad float exactly as he had dreamed, and suddenly found himself without a dream to continue.

He was in love with Kōjiro Rinko, who had helped him develop his game for years, and who was the one who took care of his body during his FullDive into SAO.

Related Sword Art Online Events

Canon

November 6, 2022 None Sword Art Online launches, GM explains the situation.
April 23, 2024 : Asuna and Kirito invite Heathcliff to discuss a murder in the Safe-Zone. Heathcliff debunks Kirito's theories and suggests cleaning up their sources of information.
October 2024 : Heathcliff is known for being the guild leader who doesn't really lead but leaves the judgment on matters to the sub-leaders. He only intervenes when Asuna wants to leave the guild and challenges Kirito to a duel, after which Kirito loses due to a strange quirk in the game engine and becomes a member of the guild himself.
November 2024 : After Heathcliff and thus SAO are defeated, Akihiko wants to be erased like the game erases itself, and reveals that this has been part of his plan all along. He uses his special FullDive machine to scan his mind and transfer it into the virtual world. His brain cells burn out and his body dies.
Fairy Dance Arc : The brain scan succeeded with a 1 in 1000 chance, and Kirito's voice during his fight against Oberon causes his virtual self's main routine to activate. He then speaks to Kirito, who is depressed and about to give up, and reminds Kirito that he won and taught Heathcliff that willpower overrides machine. Kirito rises to fight, and Akihiko gives him the administrative information, which Kirito uses to resolve the situation and get his rather brutal revenge on Sugou Nobuyuki. Akihiko gives Kirito a World Seed to use elsewhere in exchange for his help, then disappears.

Non-canon

Moment of Infinity None Hollow Fragment

During the duel on the 75th floor with Kirito, a software glitch occurs on Heathcliff's arm, surprising both players. Kirito attacks him again, and more glitches appear on Heathcliff and his equipment, ending with Kirito piercing him with a Dark Repulser and Heathcliff disappearing in a large glitch.

Heathcliff reappears after Hollow Strea's defeat, congratulates the Clearers, and explains that the problem was caused by the accumulation of player distress—which overloaded the Mental Health Counseling Program's Prototype 002, codenamed Strea, and had repercussions reaching deep into the Cardinal System; at the same time, Sugou Nobuyuki's interference diverted the system's resources to another problem, and Akihiko was called in to take administrative action.

Heathcliff declares the game over and brings back the disconnect button. He and Kirito are about to resume the duel alone in the world, but the other players refuse to leave and want to fight together. Akihiko wonders if his true goal in making SAO was to see people unite for a common cause.

Heathcliff is defeated and declares that he will remain alone in Aincrad, following his own rules. He thanks the players for giving him perspective, then disappears.

They later learn that Akihiko committed suicide via brain scan shortly after the initial duel on Floor 75.

References

Kayaba Akihiko - Fan Wiki