Taking place in the last few months of 2022, Sword Art Online has particular significance this year, despite its release over a decade earlier. With the year the virtual MMORPG was released here, fans are ready to celebrate the day the game sent players spiraling into chaos when they discovered they were trapped within the game until they beat it or died.
Throughout Sword Art Online, Kirito, Asuna, and others encounter an a wide variety of villains, from simple annoyances to truly sadistic individuals, and even the creator of the game responsible for trapping them all. A great story has dynamic and impactful villains, and in this department Sword Art Online makes sure to impress.
Illfang The Kobold Lord
The first boss encountered by Sword Art Online players, Illfang The Kobold Lord is the beginning of a long line of boss fights for Kirito and the other players. This battle is the first real test of the resolve of all the players, who had previously been told that if they die in the game they will die in real life.
Illfang The Kobold Lord is a noble first test as well, with his three Sentinels as well as his surprise nodachi that he wields once his health reaches the red throwing the assault team into disarray. It is only when Kirito and Asuna team up for the first time that they are able to defeat him.
Kibaou
One of the first players that get on viewers' nerves, Kibaou is first met when he tries to blame the trapping of players and the lethalness of the game on beta testers. This is quickly shot down by Tiffany, who explains that everyone was given a guidebook with tips from the beta testers.
Despite this, Kibaou continues his annoyance and ends up becoming a bit more sinister, trapping a kind but aloof soldier, Thinker, in the secret first-floor dungeon. This, however, is also thwarted by Kirito and Asuna, though they almost lose their lives due to Kibaou's actions.
Johnny Black
One of the most sadistic and murderous minor anime villains is Johnny Black. Having joined the infamous guild the Laughing Coffin, he became known for liking to play with his victims before murdering them. He would often have multiple people fight to the death with a promise of life for the victor, only to kill them anyways.
Outside of Sword Art Online, Johnny Black also played a pivotal role in the illusion of Death Gun in Gun Gale Online. While the Shinkawa brothers would operate the avatar within the game to kill the player's avatar, Johnny Black would murder them in real life to complete the illusion, utilizing lethal drug concoctions.
Kuradeel
Kuradeel is, when first met by viewers, seemingly a good guy, acting as Asuna's personal bodyguard who only oversteps because he was tasked with protecting her. He even challenged Kirito to a duel, which he lost with a shattered sword, but displayed a hint of his villainy with comments wishing to kill Kirito.
Kuradeel's full-fledged villainy comes out on the way to the 55th-floor labyrinth, where he kills Godfree and another Knights of the Blood guild member, as well as attempting to kill Kirito. It is also here where he reveals himself to be a member of the infamous Laughing Coffin guild.
PoH
The leader of the Laughing Coffin guild, PoH is another sadistic killer who relishes in the vanquishing of others and heads the notorious player-killing guild. While he enjoys the thrill of the kill, he is also incredibly careful and logical, rationally approaching battles and retreating when it is of best interest.
PoH takes this rational approach to justify his killing as well. He is a steadfast believer that no one is responsible for deaths in the game, murders, or otherwise, except for the creator of the game. Killing is a part of the game to him, and any real-life deaths don't hang over PoH because of this mentality.
Subtilizer
Subtilizer is one villain who has an incredibly intriguing reason for committing the atrocious acts that he does. He is obsessed with finding and capturing the soul, and has no quarrels with the killing that he believes must take place in order to see and obtain it.
This severe lack of empathy for his victims is most vividly displayed when he first became obsessed with the human soul by murdering his close childhood friend. He also is a legend within Gun Gale Online, where he won the first and fourth Bullet of Bullets tournaments with minimal weaponry.
Quinella
Quinella's reign within the Underworld makes her one of the most impressive villains in the sprawling Sword Art Online scape. She is obsessed with power and successfully worked to create the Central Cathedral, Axiom Church, and the control structure within the entire Underworld, imitating a feudal system.
Quinella's obsession with power is only rivaled by her obsession with youthfulness. When on the brink of death, she was able to gain system control authority, restore her youth and life, and regulate the world. Here her thirst for power only grew, and she effectively took away any free will those within her world had.
Oberon
Fairy King Oberon is the main antagonist within the Fairy Dance arc, keeping Asuna locked away at the top of the World Tree. He is an extremely immoral individual consumed by greed and self-indulgence, kidnapping three hundred Sword Art Online players, including Asuna, one of SAO's most likable characters, in order to utilize in his twisted experiments.
Originally chosen by Asuna's father to marry her, Sugou Nobuyuki, Oberon's real-life counterpart, is incredibly terrible to Asuna, harassing her on several occasions. His brash and arrogant personality that shields his true cowardice makes him a true villain in the eyes of fans, who are sure to actively wish for his demise throughout the arc.
Death Gun
Death Gun is one of the most terrifying villains in the entirety of the Sword Art Online series. Looking to take advantage of the fear from the deaths of the original Sword Art Online game, he claims to be able to kill players in real life when he kills their avatar in Gun Gale Online. This is demonstrated on multiple occasions with the murders of gamers in low-security parts of Tokyo.
Death Gun consists of three individuals, founding brothers Shinkawa Shouichi and Shinkawa Kyouji, as well as Johnny Black, who they utilize to commit murders after the first two Death Gun instances. They would utilize a deadly muscle relaxant the brothers stole from their father's hospital to commit the murders, while one of them would play as the skull-masked avatar who killed within the game.
Heathcliff
Founder of the Knights of the Blood guild in the original Sword Art Online, Heathcliff acts as a player bent on beating the game and reaching the one-hundredth floor. In a shocking anime twist, however, his true identity is revealed to be that of Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Sword Art Online and the twisted individual who trapped the players within the death game.
Heathcliff's claim for best villain resides in his ability to be equal parts sinister and fair. While he trapped players within the game and has no regard for his life or anyone else's, he made sure to make the game be beatable. He even actively helped players try to beat the game while clearing floors with his guild. This humility within the atrocious acts he committed by making the game deadly and trapping players makes Heathcliff an extremely dynamic and intriguing archvillain.