| Asuka Shizuka | |
|---|---|
| Personal Info | |
| Kanji | ハセヲ 明日香 |
| Romanji | Shizuka Asuka |
| Birthday | December 21, 2006 |
| Age | 16 (SAO)
18 (End Game) 38 (End War Online) |
| Gender | Female |
| Height | 5'6" |
| Weight | 120 lbs |
| Eyes | Red |
| Hair | Red |
| Unusual Features | Left handed |
| Place of Residence | Tokyo, Japan |
| Family | Ishi Haseo - Husband Yamato Haseo - Son |
| Player Profile | |
| VRMMORPGs Played | Sword Art Online |
| Partner | Ishi Haseo Yamato Ovan |
| Status | Alive |
| Skills | |
| Unique Weapon | Crimson Strike |
| Media | |
Asuka Shizuka was a player of Sword Art Online and a main character in Sword Art Online: Blade Master.
Appearance[]
Asuka wore a white and red short sleeved top with a black skirt and red leggings, along with black boots that reach just past her ankles. She wore black gloves accentuated with two gold bracelets that extend with red wearable sleeves that reached past her elbows. She had her hair tied up with a black ribbon in a ponytail.
Later in the game, she changed her outfit to a long white two-tailed overcoat with red hem and trim with a popped collar on top of a black top with white accents. She had her midriff exposed and wears black long pants with two red and gold belts crossed over each other. Further with black boots that reached up to her knees that were accentuated with gold inlays. At this point in time her hair was still tied up in a ponytail, but the tail was much fuller and longer. The top of her ponytail was spiked like the hair on her head.
Background[]
Asuka Shizuka began her SAO career as an aspiring Clearer, wishing to help other players to progress through the game quicker. Not long into this, however, Asuka displayed a clear lack of skill with a sword, and was almost killed on the Floor 6 boss fight, having to be saved by another player who lost his life in the process. It was after this that Asuka abandoned her aspirations as a Clearer and attempted to become better on her own, often getting into situations beyond her skills in an attempt to prove herself.
It was during one of these instances where she would meet Ishi Haseo. On a quest to find the rare high level sword, Crimson Strike, she was set upon by two player killers, who were also searching for the sword. When assaulted by the two, she was saved by Ishi who intervened and easily defeated the two player killers, though he decided to spare their lives. Ishi immediately turned and berated Asuka on her recklessness, and further pointed out her lack of skill with a sword. Asuka, however, was inspired by watching Ishi fight, and requested that he train her. Ishi rejected the request outright and told her to go home, but Asuka told Ishi that she planned on continuing with her mission. Ishi reluctantly agreed to help her just to make sure she didn't get herself killed, though made the point that it was only for his own sake as if he let her go alone and she got hurt or killed then he'd never hear the end of it from his friend Adeline. The two would succeed in the quest whereupon Asuka would receive the rare boss drop the Crimson Strike.
Ishi and Asuka would begin to form an acquantance that would over time evolve into more of a friendship as Asuka began to work past Ishi's cold exterior, and would even come to learn to hone her skills with a blade by watching him in action or by fighting alongside him, finding his unique style of fighting remarkably suited to her own fiery personality.
After the death of Ishi's lover Misaki, Ishi was nearly consumed entirely by Skeith and left in a coma. Asuka at this point had developed a romantic attachment to Ishi, and was distraught at the situation. Yamato Ovan, who had saved Ishi's life at the last minute with Corbenik, requested her assistance in hunting down Hao, who now possessed a copy of Skeith. Asuka accepted and partnered with him in order to track down Hao with the assistance of Pendragon Court in order to find out what his true goals were as well as to stop him from using Skeith for his ends.
Once Ishi awakened from his coma, he fell into a deep depression from the loss of Misaki, becoming extremely cold and barely repsonsive. Asuka would come to save Ishi from himself in a suicide attempt, and in the moment pledged to Ishi that she would never leave him. Asuka embraced him as Ishi broke down into tears for the first time in his life, filled with remorse and regret for not only Misaki's death, but for everyone who he had left dead in his wake. Asuka would then become Ishi's new stablizing force, and as Asuka helped improve Ishi's condition over time, he would begin to reciprocate Asuka's feelings for him.
Asuka joined Ishi as Yamato trained him in the Kyosho Style of kenjutsu. She would also develop a more refined and masterful sword style along with Ishi, and though she wouldn't reach the levels of skill and mastery Ishi would, she still proved herself to be a gifted swordsman that could easily best most players in the game. By the end of her and Ishi's training, she had proven herself as a high-level user of the Kyosho Style and surpassed even Sakura Katsuragi despite the latter's many more years experience in the art.
Asuka would take part in the final battle between Pendragon Court and Hao's Army, where she showed remarkable skill in combat and went toe-to-toe with some of Hao's most elite soldiers, and even battled and defeated Mordread. She personally saw to it along with Knight that Ishi would reach Hao in order to face him one-on-one.
After the victory over Hao and his forces, Asuka joined Ishi in enjoying the remaining time in the game in peace along with Adeline, as well as assist him in hunting down the remaining fragments of Skeith.
Asuka would also assist Ishi in his confrontation with the remnants of Hao's army, led by [REDACTED]. Through Ishi, she would meet [REDACTED], with whom she quickly formed a sisterly bond. While Ishi remained somewhat distanced from [REDACTED] due to her hesitancy around him, Asuka would always defend him and attempted to explain to [REDACTED] that Ishi was not the monster she was led to believe him to be, and that he had changed from who he was.
While out with Adeline, Adeline's inn was assaulted by [REDACTED], who managed to capture Ishi in the ensuing encounter. [REDACTED] managed to find the two to warn them about the danger and that Ishi had helped her escape. Asuka immediately rushed back to the inn, only to find its charred remains and Ishi nowhere to be seen. Ishi had left his sword within the remains of the inn as a signal to Asuka that he had been captured, and thus Asuka immediately set out to search for him.
Asuka cooperated closely with Pendragon Court to locate Ishi, and eventually encountered Mordread for a second time. Freed earlier by [REDACTED], Mordread had been sent to find and recapture [REDACTED]. The second battle between Asuka and Mordread resulted in a stalemate when Trinity arrived to back up Asuka, and Mordread managed to escape. With Pendragon Court's help, Asuka discovered Ishi's location underneath the starting town on the first floor, and set out to find him. [REDACTED] requested to go with her, and while Asuka initially denied her, she eventually relented when [REDACTED] displayed a higher control over her fragment of Skeith; a result of her time observing and being mentored by Ishi.
With [REDACTED]'s help, Asuka broke into the dungeons underneath the starting town, battling her way through the remnants of Hao's army and finding Ishi. Her battle with [REDACTED] ended with her victory, and while Pendragon Court took him and the surviving members of Hao's army into custody, Asuka recovered the antidote to Ishi's slow-acting poison and administered it to him, saving his life. She would then continue her efforts to assist Ishi in hunting down the Skeith fragments, and would form a stronger bond with [REDACTED], who decided to stay with the three of them in Adeline's restored inn for the remainder of the game.
Shortly after the end of SAO, Asuka would meet Ishi in real life and the two would marry, eventually having a son together, Yamato Haseo.
Personality[]
Asuka had a fiery personality and was brave to the point of recklessness. She was extremely eager to prove herself by whatever means she could, even taking on challenges beyond her abilities just to prove that she could, even if it meant risking her life. This was mainly due to her past experience of nearly dying at the hands of the Floor 6 boss, having her life saved at the cost of another. Asuka never wanted to feel helpless and have someone else die in her place, so she worked hard every day thereafter to become a better fighter.
Asuka was, to this end, determined and stubborn to a fault. She refused to give up on what she sets her mind to, and this was shown in more ways than one, such as how she convinced Ishi to stick with her through sheer stubbornness alone.
Asuka was kind by nature, and was always willing to help someone in need. However, she despised having her kind nature be taken advantage of. Somewhat short-temptered, she could easily be set off on a roaring tangent if she feels wronged in any way.
Over time, interacting with Ishi and especially with Yamato when the former falls into a coma, Asuka becomes much more calm and tempered. Initially when Ishi falls into his coma, she is distraught and devastated that she couldn't protect someone she loved, feeling helpless once again. Through journeying with Yamato as well as her interactions with Sakura Katsuragi and Kirei Kyosho, she comes to understand that accepting help from others isn't a weakness, and she learns to let go of the things she cannot help and instead focus on the things she can.
Abilities[]
Asuka's abilities with the blade were amateurish at best by the time Ishi met her. However, through stubborn tenacity and by watching and fighting alongside Ishi, she began to hone her skills, forming a unique fighting style that was just as tenacious and fiery as herself.
Under training by Yamato Ovan, Asuka further refined her fighting style alongside Ishi to become a competent user of the Kyosho Style of kenjutsu. Her fighting style at this point mainly focused on extremely quick and seemingly random blade sequences, not unlike Ishi's, but with a slightly greater emphasis on trickery. While Ishi would simply bash his way through an enemy's defense to create an opening, Asuka would unleash a quick flurry of random sequences to trick an enemy into moving the way she wanted them to, opening them up to be struck by her blade. It is with this unique style that Asuka would surpass even Sakura Katsuragi, who possessed many more years experience in the art than Asuka did.
Trivia[]
- Asuka is left-handed.