Character from Sword Art Online by Reki Kawahara
The government agent who sees virtual worlds as national security assets — he saved SAO survivors, created the Underworld project, and views artificial intelligence as a weapons program.
Kikuoka is the series' most morally ambiguous non-villain. He genuinely cares about SAO survivors and helped Kirito readjust to real life after the death game. He also created Project Alicization — the program that built the Underworld and its Fluctlight inhabitants — as a military project to develop AI soldiers. He is the person who builds something beautiful and immediately calculates its tactical applications. He recruited Kirito as a test subject for the Underworld, put him in danger, and feels conflicted about it in a way that doesn't stop him from doing it again. He is a pragmatist in a world that keeps demanding moral clarity.
Thin and bespectacled with a disarming smile and the mild-mannered appearance of a bureaucrat. He wears suits and carries himself with the deliberate harmlessness of someone who wants you to underestimate him. His glasses reflect light at convenient moments.
Also known as: Kikuoka, Chrysheight, Lieutenant Colonel Kikuoka