[Wild Goose]

Originally Posted by kyp275

Because she'd shoot them full of holes, snap their necks, and then toss of them off the nearest skycraper

there's that. Or just hack them into submission.

also, o7 to Gunny Hathcock and Maj. Winters, and all the rest tbh, there were countless badasses in WW2

Oh, there were, it's just that those two have the most current recognition atm. Audie Murphy, most decorated US soldier ever, would be another case, and of course we cannot forget Marshall Zhukov, who had a coat LOADED with medals that he earned by being so badass. Particularly in a BT-2.

Regards being a sue, Kirito is the main character, therefore by default the title of Mary Sue/Gary Stu cannot apply, as that term refers to an author created character in a work of fan fiction.

Now, to address some factual errors:

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by Randomzx

He's so good that he becomes the best player in the game doing what other MMO addicts do. He's so good that he gets the best gear and clears the hardest quests that no one else can; solo.

Note that at that point he'd been playing for 2 years. Also, the game makes it clear that the hardest quests, clearing the level bosses, cannot be done alone. Every boss fight so far, except for St. Nicholas the Apostate (in which, might I add, he nearly died), was cleared as part of a group action. He isn't the highest leveled player in the game - the clearing group are a few hundred high level players who're just as good as he is.

I can solo Bronze with no problem, Silver with some difficulty, and Gold up to level 6 before real estate deals happen. In three weeks I went from being the lowest ranked player in malaysia to no. 651 out of 10,000 players. Am I a sue? (Mass Effect 3 MP).

He's so amazing that he gets the girl that's not only one of the rare hot ones that actually plays MMOs but is is also rich and fits into the otaku wish fulfillment wife. And Yet despite this, girls still flock to him with no end in sight.

probably because he was a more or less decent person when dealing to Asuna, and their relationship is based on mutual friendship, and he was her first friend ingame? And because he's not an asshole?

He's so great that his brain somehow processes faster than a normal human's, possibly he's more 'intelligent' as well (He's apparently now a mechatronics engineer with proficiency in mechanical, electrical, and computer software engineering able to create technology decades ahead of his time and basically able to fully emulate and copy consciousness to data. Yeah, he's starting to take over the real world as well. I wouldn't be surprised if he could suddenly fight in the real world as well.)

Yes, hooking up a couple of webcams to a laptop, and using servos to controll their movement is truly cutting edge stuff. Why, it's not as if the technology for yui's laptop rig hasn't existed for DECADES. And he IS studying mechatronics, y'know.

And there hasn't been any example of copying consciousness to data that he's done, that was Kayaba. And it didn't quite work. As for yui, she's an AI program. He was able to save her program to his NervGear's storage - he didn't copy anyone's ghost.

As for fighting in the real world, you apparently overlooked the bit about him having taken up kendo before, IRL. And i wonder how far you've read, because he's been in two irl fights, managed to survive the first from luck, and got his ass kicked in the second.

He's so epic that he manages to warp the laws of the game he's in and break the code. He's so undeniably hax that he can beat the GM and even people who have direct control over the game. He's just special that he can do the same and break the laws of any game that hes in and attain complete mastery instantly. He's so unique that he gets a job doing what he loves and lives a lavish life with super high pay.

hmmm. Any concrete examples of this? the only code breaking was Asuna running at 60km/h, which exceeds the system limits. Kirito hasn't done anything that.

Yes, he beat Kayaba, but only after Kayaba removed his GM protection for their final duel. Until Kayaba's ghost showed up, he wasn't able to touch Oberon at all, and had to use Kayaba's GM account to reset Oberon.

Also, people have killed GMs before - therre's an account of an Ultima player sucessfully killing Lord British. Who made the game.

As for the job with super high pay, no, his life isn't lavish at all - Caliber makes it clear that his payment for investigating Death Gun was wiped out from building Yui's rig, the party, and Suguha's christmas present. And note that all VRMMOs are using the Seed engine, aka SAO's engine, which was released by Kayaba as a posthumous pet thendog. Notice that all Unreal 3 games have their similarities?

If I didn't know any better, I'd think it was a parody from reading the summaries.

Since I have no way of knowing better, my only conclusion is that you skimmed through the books and didn't read them fully.

Much of my delivery is lost in the cold medium of text. I may need to record this as an audio file; In my mind I am speaking in the style all propesctive barristers learn.

Originally Posted by novalysis

Spoiler for For end of Aincrad Arc& Alicization:

I'd argue that Kirito is about as much a Sue as Kayaba/Heartcliff. In many ways, he is a genius on par with Heartcliff, only born a decade or so younger, and likely exposed to very different life experiences. In a way, mind you, Kirito at 14, at the beginning of SAO had certain Jerk like tendencies and tended to be more selfish. It's probably only after Sachi and the Red Nose Reindeer that that side of him was completely broken for good. Indeed, if not for the SAO incident, he would have likely entered Heartcliff/Obereon's world, and possibly went down the same path as these two villains.

What he experienced in Aincrad, and definitely, his relationship with Asuna now ensures he could plunge down and follow Heartcliff to the bottom of the Rabbit Hole, and retain his sense of morality, and of right and wrong which both Heartcliff and Oberon Lost sometime down the line.

Indeed, even by Alicization he more or less tells Asuna that he'd like to pursue down the road Heartcliff tread, and find out what drove such a brilliantly charismatic man down to commit that act of insanity that was SAO. He'd like to see the "new world" being born. More or less, he aims to be present, and one of the leading "mid-wifes" of the technological Singularity the world of SAO seems to be plunging towards.

I'd also argue that Kirito would sympathize with Emiya Kiritsugu's philosophy. He's surely not your Shounen hero of justice. Far from it. A Shounen hero of justice would have agreed to stay with Klein. Mind you, had he joined Klein's guild,the odds are high that

Spoiler for Red Nose Reindeer Spoiler:

Sachi and the Black cats would have

survived to the end of the game, ironically. Indeed, had he joined Klein's guild, I suspect he might have been able to stop the BEATER concept at it's inception.

Kirito is not a Sue. He's merely a highly talented young man with potential Anti-hero tendencies curbed by the unique circumstances and harsh life lessons Aincrad and what happened after taught him. One of the big themes of SAO is the coming of age story of a genius born on the verge of a technological singularity.

Agreed. QFT. I have nothing more to say, other than this is an excellent summation of the character...

... Even if I still must insist that strictly,speaking, as a main character, in the verse he originates from, the Mary Sue label should not apply.