Tallyn

Hikoboshi Satoru (彦星 悟る, Hikoboshi Satoru), better known by his character name, Tallyn (テーリン, Tērin) is a supporting character of the Sword Art Online series and a protagonist of the Unknown Mask Arc. He was chosen as one of the 1,000 beta testers for the closed beta of <>, the first ever VRMMORPG for the NerveGear.

Real World / Sword Art Online Avatar
During the Beta Test, his first account <> was originally a strong jawed man of a slightly shorter height than he really is. He has short, straight blonde hair and small maroon eyes. His friends described it as a little bit pudgy as well. The avatar was meant to look less like himself as possible for his own reasons.

In the beginning of SAO, he created a new avatar, <> who looked closer to his real appearance, with mid-length, wavy, brown hair, and matching dark brown, small eyes. Unlike his first account, he was fairly tall and somewhat thin, with an average build. His face made him look older with a fetching amount of facial stubble.

In the full version of the game, during Kayaba Akihiko's tutorial, all player avatars were changed to reflect their real life appearances. Tallyn changed little except his hair was cut shorter, his eyes larger, loss of stubble and age around his face, and his build was broader. He wore a variety of coats with scarfs to hide his face and conceal his breath when spying, ranging from steel blue to dark green.

He initially wielded a <> with a <> as a spare weapon, but after the death game started, he abandoned raising his sword skill and focused on his dagger skill instead. He later obtains the <>, and later obtained the <>. After completing a task for Lisbeth, she paid him with a newly forged blade, named <>. He also uses <> as a hunting tool or for distraction.

In the real world, he wears a selection of blue, green, black, red and white shirts underneath the same black hooded jackets.

ALfheim Online Avatar
After logging into ALO, Tallyn chose to be a Imp, due to their advantages of using dark related spells and the ability to flying in caves. He had wild sharp dark violet hair and eyes. his face was more child-like with round cheeks, but strong cheek bones and a square chin. Like all races in ALO, his ears become pointed. He originally wore default Imp clothing, but later obtained a burgundy hooded coat, and a lighter tan leather shoes for creeping.

After being able to transfer his old SAO data over, he retained more of his original appearance, but kept his dark violet hair and eyes. He also retained his clothes and equipment from ALO.

For weapons, he uses a <>, but also began relearning to use a sword, utilizing a simple <>. He also wields a selection of <> on his person. He utilizes his Imp abilities to run up walls, flying in caves, and to project dark magic for combat and night vision. When the new patch installed, he began testing with gravity magic.

His second main account <>, an Undine, which retained a lot of the same appearances to Tallyn, but had somewhat small, blue eyes and platinum, almost graying, mid-length hair. He was also slightly pudgy, but retained his broad build. All players of ALO know that if Kengyu is logged in, then he's available for hire, where as Tallyn would be logged in when he is currently hired or distracted for other reasons.

Unlike Tallyn, Kengyu specializes in healing rather than combat. Kengyu doesn't wield any weapons, say for the <> which is capable of freezing anything it strikes, but does little damage wise.

Gun Gale Online Avatar
When he converted his account over to GGO, he retained his features, but his stature was short to the point he was half his usual height, which made it easier for him to sneak around, but it meant he couldn't store as many items as he wanted due to weight limits. He temporarily used the alias "Deneb" while working undercover.

He kept himself robed and fully covered up, and used a <> shotgun for close quarters, and a side arm of a <> for rapid fire. He also switches to a <<Ballistic Knife>> if he's targeting specific people.

Blade Craft Online Avatar
His BCO Avatar is closest to his SAO self, but retain his ALO colourings. He retains his preference for hooded coats, preferring dark colours, except black.

He starts with a simple <<Basic Dagger>>, but later upgrades into a <<Reforged Pugio>>. He also constructs a <<Retractable Blade>> along with a brazer to protect his wrist. He later upgrades his blade with two added functions; <<Pivot Blade>> allows him to hold the blade like a second knife to use backhanded attacks. And <<Chain Blade>> later allows him to fire the blade on a solid rope and retract it back. He had a <<Hook Blade>> function to enable grappling, but it was later damaged and remains unrepaired.

Personality
While not a cold person, Tallyn kept himself recluse because he had trouble interacting with crowds of people, and gave up by for several years before <<Sword Art Online>> (SAO). While he has no trouble speaking to people one-on-one, or even the possibility of a few people at the same time, his little interaction severely hindered his ability to speak to people without coming across as rude.

During the Beta Test, Tallyn was happy and enjoyed the game with his new allies and friends. They described him as extremely reliable and honest, two traits that carried over even during the death game.

Normally coming off as a calm and collected person, he has been known on small occasions to have completely lost himself in blind fits of rage when his emotional state is pushed past its limits, as evident when Lyra was killed in-game and he killed the players responsible in retaliation.

He has been criticized as what he calls a "perfectionist", lacking the drive to complete anything unless he's absolutely sure, or reluctant to take anything on he doesn't feel he would be interested in. But this quality also doubles to him making sure nothing is left untouched when exploring a new area, and stocking up as much as he can before taking anything on.

Background
Born September 24, 2006, the first born child of Hikoboshi Jirou and Takara. He had an older brother, Hikoboshi Seiji, from his father's first marriage, eight years older than himself, but after Seiji turned 16, he ceased all contact for unknown reasons. Satoru and his younger brother, Kenichi used to play a lot of co-op games together, but after Satoru turned 12 and started middle school, he had too much work, which lead to his brother playing more online games with his friends, which severed their game interests.

By the time the Beta test for <<Sword Art Online>> (SAO) was open, neither brothers had a played a game together for years, and both had changed their preferences towards what games they wanted to play; Satoru favoured story mode, single player, while Kenichi preferred online multi-player. When Satoru was selected for the Beta, he considered letting his brother play, but was hesitant and decided not to at the last minute, deciding to play himself.

Sword Art Online Closed Beta

 * Main Article: Stars of the Fourth Floor

Aincrad Arc

 * Main Article: Info Broken
 * Main Article: The Maiden in the Cowherd
 * Main Article: Titan's Chore
 * Main Article: The Magpie
 * Main Article: Payment
 * Main Article: Eye for an Eye
 * Main Article: Last Nights

Fairy Dance Arc

 * Main Article: Out and In
 * Main Article: Crossroads

Phantom Bullet Arc

 * Main Article: One Shot, One Kill
 * Main Article: Spies like I

Calibur

 * Main Article: All the Range
 * Main Article: The Murmur's Sword

Mother's Rosario

 * Main Article: Imps

Birch Rune

 * Main Article: Girls Ops - Birch Rune

Unknown Mask Arc

 * Main Article: SAO: Unknown Mask Arc

Thurmuth Forge

 * Main Article: Lucky Greens
 * Main Article: Thurmuth Forge
 * Main Article: Smith v. Smith

Hikoboshi Kenichi (Alshain)
Hikobishi Kenichi (彦星 研一), also known as Alshain (アルシャイン Arushain), is Tallyn's younger brother. The two of them get along, but do have their occasion falling outs. After the conclusion of the Aincrad Arc, the two meet up more often. His ALfheim race is a Salamander.

On the day of the launch, Kenichi downloads a pirate copy of <<Sword Art Online>> (SAO), and uses Tallyn's beta test account in order to log in successfully. When the Death Game begins, the system automatically logs him out, but a glitch in the system left a ghost code of his Player ID on the friend's list, which leads Tallyn to believe he is still trapped despite not a part of the 10,000 trapped players. Motivated by the deaths of his three friends, Tallyn spends the next two years with the intention of finding him.

When Satoru finally logs out, he finds out his brother had escaped the game the whole time. Having felt ashamed since the day everyone logged in, he allows Kenichi to keep his beta account, partially as a sorry and also because the account reminded him too much of his deceased friends.

After the SAO incident, the two started playing <<ALfheim Online>> (ALO). Kenichi chose the Salamnder race for fire magic, while Satoru chose Imps for flight inside caves. Both transferred their accounts, with their skills intact (despite losing all their items). They met up and started randomly completing quests together, and later went to complete Aincrad with a lot of other players when it was added.

They attempted the Excalibur quest together, but struggled to complete it, and later realizing they had accepted the <<Beast God Slaughter Quest>>, which would have rewarded them with the <<Fake Sword Caliburn>> rather than the real weapon and abandoned it.

The pair teamed up with Leafa and Sinon when they were asked to enter <<Blade Craft Online>> (BCO), despite that Alshain wasn't originally asked to go. Tallyn insisted, even offering half his wage for the job for his brother.

<<SPOILER MARK: NOTHING WILL BE ADDED UNTIL IT HAPPENS>>

As his younger brother, Tallyn feels responsibility for him, and his relationship towards him rekindled when he escaped SAO, renewing their partnership in clearing games. Alshain is the one person that Tallyn would never doubt to have his back or do anything he wasn't happy with.

Tanabata Orihime (Lyra)
Tanbata Orihime (七夕 織姫), also known as Lyra (ライラー Rairā), was Tallyn's first love interest. The relationship grew from mutual interaction to equated love before her eventual demise.

The two met in <<Sword Art Online>> (SAO), when Tallyn was looking for an items and wares shop to purchase more equipment from, and he came across Lyra who was looking for an item shop as well. After the both of them left Agil's Shop in Algade on the 50th Floor, Lyra mentioned she was going to attempt a quest on one of the lower floors since her level wasn't high and she wanted to do something with her time. Despite his usual take on paid accompaniment, he offered to help for half of the eventual reward and any drops he killed.

Because she never journeyed higher than the 50th Floor, and never left the cities higher than the 25th, Tallyn added her to his friends list, and the two would see each other frequently. Until the two of them encountered a Laughing Coffin ambush on a low leveled floors. Though only a group of five, the paralysis coated on their weapons led to her eventual death. Tallyn barely survived the attack. When he recovered he wiped his friend list clean and started spying on the Red Guild, eventually finding their hideout, which he gave to the Clearers.

When he created a secondary account in <<ALfheim Online>> (ALO), he named it Kengyu, after the lover of the mythological Orihime, in memory of her. He further respected her memory to never use his second avatar for combat.

As his first love, Tallyn never got over her death to the point it crushed his existence at it's lowest, and this left a bad impression on him with trusting people to not die. While he no longer had to worry too much about people dying permanently near him, the drive to accept people was severely hindered.

Kirigaya Kazuto (Kirito)
Kirigaya Kazuto (桐ヶ谷 和人), also known as Kirito (キリト Kirito) is the Hero of <<Aincrad>>, and the wielder of the <<Holy Sword Excalibur>>. His ALfheim race is a Spriggan.

Tallyn, playing as Alshain, was there in the beta test of <<Sword Art Online>> (SAO) along with Kirito, but the two never crossed paths that often and hardly interacted due to Kirito tending to play solo.

As Kirito was the second highest leveled player in SAO, Tallyn never wanted to befriend him for the reason that he was always going to throw himself in danger all the time. Nevertheless, as a fellow beta tester, he had high respects for Kirito, especially with him taking the fall as the <<Beater>>. Despite his stance on trying to avoid frontliners, Kirito would often hire Tallyn as a scout or a party member, which worked for his solo play at the same time. After the 50th floor massacre, Tallyn discontinued to aid in clearing floors, even as a paid mercenary.

The pair reunited in <<ALfheim Online>> (ALO) in <<Legrue>>, both were venturing to take on the first Grand Quest, <<Guardians of the World Tree>>. They only spoke briefly while Kirito waited for his party member, Leafa, to log back in.

They saw each other briefly when <<Aincrad>> was added into ALO, along with everyone who flew to clear the first floor.

Despite little contact existing between them, by his own design, Tallyn remains quite well known among Kirito and his friends if they need his assistance. He still holds high respect for Kirito, even as his exploits continue to drag him into situations considered very dangerous.

Asada Shino (Sinon)
Asada Shino (朝田 詩乃), also known as Sinon (シノン Shinon) is a sniper from <<Gun Gale Online>> and the co-winner of the third <<Bullet of Bullets Tournament>>. Her ALfheim race is a Cait Sith.

Tallyn first met Sinon in <<Gun Gale Online>> (GGO), after converting his avatar over in order to learn more about the "Death Gun Incident". He attempted to gather information by joining squadrons that had formally been under the command of the first victim, Usujio Tarako. With the third squadron, they were ambushed by Dyne's Squadron. Though Tallyn was quick to avoid getting shot, he attempted to take out the sniper (Sinon), but failed to see her <<H&K MP7>> in time before he was killed.

The next time they would meet would be in <<ALfheim Online>> (ALO), shortly after Sinon converted over. Since he was one of the few players in <<Yggdrasil City>> that used ranged weapons, he was recommended to her to learn about using them in ALO since she disliked magic. Only when he switched out from Kengyu to Tallyn to begin training did she recognize him, in spite of some character differences.

They would later team up, along with Leafa and Alshain to enter <<Blade Craft Online>> (BCO) to investigate the disappearing avatars.

<<SPOILER MARK: NOTHING WILL BE ADDED UNTIL IT HAPPENS>>

Sinon's commanding attitude and serious playing style paralleled Tallyn in some ways, which meant he could see where she was coming from a lot of the time. Tallyn once admitted that he found her attitude cute, which got him a black eye. Despite the bad first impressions, he is willing to help her, if she's willing to admit she needs help.

Kirigaya Suguha (Leafa)
Kirigaya Suguha (桐ヶ谷 直葉), also known as Leafa (リーファ Rīfa) is Kirito's younger sister/cousin, and her ALfheim race is a Sylph.

They first met in <<ALfheim Online>> (ALO), when Leafa, Kirito and Yui first arrived in <<Legrue>>, he along with Alshain were already in the city, hoping to hit the <<World Tree>> and the first Grand Quest, <<Guardians of the World Tree>>. Leafa logged out while Tallyn spoke to Kirito about the info they had on the quest. Tallyn and Alshain left before she logged back in.

They saw each other briefly when <<Aincrad>> was added into ALO, along with everyone who flew to clear the first floor.

Shortly after the Caliburn quest, Tallyn is hired by Leafa to accompany her, Lisbeth, Silica and Lux to join their party in order to complete the quest, <<Spawn of the Bjarken>>. They complete the quest by killing the two bosses, <<Fenrir the Beast King>> and <<Jormungand the World Serpent>>, before being confronted by <<Hel>>. Trapped they are forced to answer a riddle, that seemed impossible to answer, until Leafa realized the answer was "nothing", revealing the whole quest to be an illusion, and Hel transformed into <<Loki>>. Loki rewards them with a powerful illusion spell and a map with a second riddle.

They would later team up, along with Sinon and Alshain to enter <<Blade Craft Online>> (BCO) to investigate the disappearing avatars.

<<SPOILER MARK: NOTHING WILL BE ADDED UNTIL IT HAPPENS>>

Though Tallyn didn't interact with Leafa very much, he admitted he had fun when she asked him to join her group for a quest. She is slightly embarrassed by the respect he holds to her brother Kirito as a player, but interprets it as his own way of saying that he thinks he's a good guy.

Aligiri Izumi (Tarazu)
Aligiri Izumi (蟻ｷﾞ理 泉), also known as Tarazu (タラズ Tarazu) is a master inventor and visionary, and one of the conquerors of the <<Divine Trail Quest>>. Her ALfheim race is a Leprechaun.

Tarazu met Tallyn, alongside Sinon, Leafa and Alshain when they entered <<Blade Craft Online>> (BCO) for the first time when her party were raiding Amor. Since the four had recently entered, they were considered non-threats and were largely ignored.

<<SPOILER MARK: NOTHING WILL BE ADDED UNTIL IT HAPPENS>>

While the two never saw eye to eye, neither did they ever put a knife to each others throats, remaining neutral to each other. The only person who can make them talk like they're friends is Alshain, and only when he's around do either of them make any effort to do so. Both consider the other to be reliable and good at what each other do in-game.

MHCP001 (Yui)
Yui-MHCP001 (Mental Health Counseling Program Prototype - 001), also known as Yui (ユイ Yui) is an AI program ported from SAO, and serves as a <<Navigation Pixie>> in ALO. She is the in-game adoptive daughter of Kirito and Asuna.

Tallyn never interacted with nor heard of Yui before the "Hidden Realm Incident" in <<Blade Craft Online>> (BCO), which came as a huge shock to him when she was ported with Leafa's account, without being aware of her previous programming. She was a vital asset in gaining information on the game and the relative material related to the mythology of the game. She often scolded his attitude for being stone-like.

<<SPOILER MARK: NOTHING WILL BE ADDED UNTIL IT HAPPENS>>

Kikuoka Seijirou (Chrysheight)
Kikuoka Seijirou (菊岡 誠二郎), also known as Chrysheight (クリスハイト, Kurisuhaitois) a member of Second Separated Advanced Network Division, Technology Bureau, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. His ALfheim race is an Undine.

While Tallyn doesn't like Chrysheight, he doesn't despise him, knowing he's just doing his job. At the end of <<Sword Art Online>> (SAO), Chrysheight kept tabs on him, having monitored his playing style and gathered what information he new about him from other's accounts.

Before Kirito was hired to investigate "Death Gun" in <<Gun Gale Online>>, Tallyn was hired first to scout out the game and gather information on the first victim. The collected info was enough to create a player profile of "Death Gun" to deduce where he would stage his next kill after the second victim was killed.

Tallyn, along with Sinon and Leafa were later recruited to investigate <<Blade Craft Online>> (BCO), and find out who was behind the "Hidden Realm Incident". With Kirito out of action in Underworld, and Asuna unwilling to leave his side, Tallyn was a logical next choice. Tallyn used this to his advantage, getting his brother included in the team alongside them, which was reluctantly agreed on.

Denebola, Kekwan, and Merak
Denebola (ディーンボーラー Dīnbōrā), Kekwan (ケクァン Kekuan), and Merak (マーラック Mārakku) were close friends of Tallyn and fellow Beta testers for <<Sword Art Online>>. Tallyn played alongside them in the Beta under his original account, Alshain, but was the only one to create a new character for the official release. Before the Death Game began, all three of them were killed among the 213 players who where killed when their Nerve Gears were deliberately removed.

Every month, on the 6th, Tallyn visits the <<Monument of Life>> on Floor 1 and lays a flower under each of their names. Their deaths motivated him to both stay alive until the end, and to find out if his brother was still alive. He also opted to play solo and was reluctant to friend anyone should they later perish further into the game, especially front liners.

Their real names were Hideki Naho (秀樹 菜穂, Denebola), Kamata Hisamitsu (蒲田 久光, Kekwan), and Morioka Tomoaki (盛岡 智昭, Merak).

Sword Art Online

 * Level: 85
 * HP: 16400

Main Equipment

 * Default One-Handed Sword
 * Default One-Handed Dagger (formally)
 * Shadow Dagger (formally)
 * Sword Breaker
 * Mercury Edge
 * Throwing Picks

Alfheim Online

 * Level: 85
 * HP: 14000
 * MP: 1000

Main Equipment

 * Dark Steel Dagger
 * Svartalf's Bastard Sword
 * Throwing Blades
 * Nifl Staff (Kengyu)

Gun Gale Online
''*Note: As GGO was a game created using, it resembles in the way that there is no level system, but rather utilizes a person's abilities to determine to their in-game abilities.

Main Equipment

 * Ballistic Knife
 * Mini Uzi
 * Benelli Supernova

Blade Craft Online
''*Note: As BCO was a game created using, it resembles in the way that there is no level system, but rather utilizes a person's abilities to determine to their in-game abilities. The skill, <<Constructing>>, was originally an automatic skill acquired, but when a player achieves the skill, <<Divine Essence>>, the skill becomes default as recognition for this achievement.

Main Equipment

 * Basic Dagger (formally)
 * Reforged Pugio
 * Retractable Blade
 * Pivot Blade
 * Hook Blade (broken)
 * Chain Blade
 * Throwing Knives

Notable Achievements

 * Defeated the 4th Floor Boss of <<Aincrad>> (SAO Beta)
 * Cleared the 6th Floor of <<Aincrad>> (SAO)
 * Defeated the 19th Floor Boss of <<Aincrad>> (SAO)
 * Cleared the 25th Floor of <<Aincrad>> (SAO)
 * Defeated the 46th Floor Boss of <<Aincrad>> (SAO)
 * Cleared the 50th Floor of <<Aincrad>> (SAO)
 * Completed the <<Divine Trail Quest>> (BCO)
 * Cleared the 1st Floor of <<New Aincrad>> (ALO)
 * Defeated the 4th Floor Boss of <<New Aincrad>> (ALO)
 * Completed the <<Spawn of Bjarken Quest>> (ALO)
 * Completed the <<Thurmun Forge Quest>> (ALO)

Trivia

 * The names of Tallyn's friends and his original SAO Avatar were all named after stars of the constellation that have β Bayer designations, referring to their roles as Beta testers:
 * Alshain (β Aqu) is a star of Aqulia (The Eagle).
 * Denebola (β Leo) is a star of Leo (The Lion).
 * Kekwan (β Lup) is a star of Lupus (The Wolf).
 * Merak β UMa) is a star of Ursa Major (The Great Bear).
 * Tallyn's name originates from the Welsh words "Tal" and "Llyn" meaning "End Lake"
 * The word also sounds like "Talon", the name of a birds claw, referencing his preference of short blades.
 * Kengyu's name originate from the Legend of the "Weaving Princess and the Cow Herdsman", Kengyu being the mortal lover of the immortal princess, Tanabata.
 * Coincidently, their alternate names were Hikoboshi and Orihime.
 * Deneb, the alias used by Tallyn in <<Gun Gale Online>>, references all three of his accounts;
 * Deneb (α Cyg) is a star of Cygnus (The Swan), similar to Alshain.
 * It's name oriinates from Arabic, "Dhaneb" meaning "Tail" or "End", similar to Tallyn.
 * Cygnus is situated next to the constellation, Lyra, connecting it with Kengyu.