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This character, Ishi Haseo, is property of Ishimura_Elite. |
This is the character featured in Sword Art Online: Blade Master. For the original character from Clashing Blades, see Ishi.
| Ishi Haseo | |
|---|---|
| Personal Info | |
| Name | Ishi Haseo |
| Kanji | ハセオ イシ |
| Romanji | Haseo Ishi |
| Birthday | June 14, 2004 |
| Age | 18 (Start of SAO) 20 (End game) |
| Gender | Male |
| Height | 5'9" |
| Weight | 134 lbs |
| Eyes | Yellow |
| Hair | Black |
| Unusual Features | Permanent scars on his right cheek and over his left eye Scars on his right arm |
| Place of Residence | Nagoya, Japan |
| Occupation | Student |
| Family | Aunt and Uncle Asuka Shizuka - Wife |
| Player Profile | |
| Display Name | Ishi |
| Kanji | イシ |
| Epithet | Blade Master Second Wandering Swordsman |
| VRMMORPGs Played | Sword Art Online REDACTED |
| Occupation | Blade Master Player Killer |
| Affiliation | None |
| Partner | Misaki Akimi |
| Base of Operations | Adeline's |
| Status | Alive |
| Skills | |
| Unique Skill | Zero Shift |
| Unique Weapon | Arondight |
| Media | |
| Voice Actor | Mamoru Miyano |
| First Appearance | Sword Art Online: Blade Master |
Ishi Haseo is a player of Sword Art Online, and is the main character of Sword Art Online: Blade Master.
Appearance
Ishi wears a black long sleeved vest with black pants and black knee high boots with metal plating. He wears a white two tailed sleeveless overcoat with black trim and gray fur lining the shoulders. He wears Arondight on his back, diagonally up to his left shoulder, and Gilgamesh on his left forearm.
He bears multiple scars on his right arm, in addition two the two scars on his face, which is why he tends to keep the arm covered by his jacket sleeve.
In real life, he wears the normal uniform of his high school, being a white collared shirt with a black blazer, with black slacks and black shoes.
Background
Ishi's mother died during childbirth, and his father drank himself to death when he was 5. After that, he was taken in by his grandparents, who cared for him until they died when Ishi was 13 and 14. After that, Ishi inherited his grandparent's house and is now living off the money his wealthy aunt and uncle send him monthly. It was with this money that he was able to acquire a NerveGear.
Ishi's childhood was mostly spent in deep and suicidal depression, with emotional and physical abuse from his peers. This is how he gained the scars on his right arm, as well as on his face, after he was cut multiple times by a sword one of his bullies possessed in a kenjutsu class he used to take. After the incident, Ishi began teaching himself in his own way of handling a blade, quickly developing his own personal style. In a short amount of time, he gained skill enough to directly confront the same bully with a blade of his own, managing to deliver a swift and powerful slash to the face and stomach, causing the bully to lose an eye as well as nearly be disemboweled. Ishi was able to claim self-defense with the incident.
This incident was the catalyst that gave Ishi his insatiable bloodlust, which is the reason why he has repressed the memory. The years of childhood trauma has lead Ishi to have a natural distrust of people, and he has just a few friends, and almost no close friends because of this.
Sword Art Online Incident
Ishi was a prominent player during the two years of the Sword Art Online incident, becoming renown for his skill and ability with the blade. He became infamous due to his player kills. Though they were few in number, his underlying violent nature was laid bare more than once, and rumors of his player kills spread quickly, his title of Blade Master becoming associated with the player killer instead of the actual person. Due to this, he would isolate himself from others, training alone most of the time, hardly caring for the situation he was in as a whole. His only real connection to others was in his childhood friend, Misaki Akimi, and her allies in Pendragon Court, though Ishi would never become an official member of the guild, despite cooperating with them on many occasions. Ishi meets Asuka Shizuka during a dangerous mission she had decided to undertake on her own, being coerced by his friend and housemate Adeline to chase after her in order to make sure she didn't get herself hurt or worse, Ishi reluctantly agreeing to do so. He would save her from two player killers, but would then immediately turn around and ridicule her over her foolishness in undertaking such a dangerous mission alone, pointing out her sloppy bladework and unrefined skills. Asuka would take the verbal abuse in stride, however, insiting that she and Ishi start to work together. It would take a great amount of insistance on Asuka's part in order for Ishi to accept her as just an acquaintance, though in time the two would become allies and friends.
Ishi would eventually come into contact with Skeith, which would exacerbate his dark nature, his reputation as a player killer becoming more and more widespread as he would struggle greatly in containing both it and his violent nature. It was also around this time that Ishi met Hao for the first time, with him providing Pendragon Court, and especially Ishi, with information regarding the whereabouts of Corbenik, which he claimed held the same potential as Skeith, and would need to be contained in order to secure Aincrad's safety. He and Ishi would form a tentative alliance to reach the same goal.
After Misaki's death, however, the only stabilizing force in his life was removed, and he became outwardly violent and began to kill other players much more frequently, resulting in Pendragon Court stepping in to try to stop him and Skeith, which had begun to manifest and take control of Ishi. It was only with the help of Yamato, who, unbeknownst to Hao, still possessed Corbenik, that Skeith was contained and Ishi returned to normal, though burdened greatly by the loss of life left in his wake. Asuka would be the one to intervene during a suicide attempt, pledging to Ishi that she wouldn't leave him, and would slowly become Ishi's new stabilizing force.
It would eventually come to light that Hao had orchestrated Misaki's death in order to draw Skeith out of Ishi so that he could claim it for himself, succeeding in drawing power from it. Met with a new threat, Ishi swore to kill Hao in revenge for Misaki. It is at this point that Yamato began to train Ishi in the art of Kyosho Style kenjutsu, hoping to temper his inner demons as well as to supress Skeith within him, so that Ishi would be able to utilize both as powerful weapons against Hao and his amassing forces. With this process, Ishi would learn to become his own stabilizing force, becoming much calmer and more collected, using his dark nature as deadly tools in the coming fight. Ishi would also come to learn of Yamato's own past, as well as his dark nature, the two coming to a deep mutual understanding of each other. He would also become close friends with Yamato's own childhood friend, Sakura Naoto.
His final test with Yamato would be to face him in one final duel to the death. A battle of wills to determine if Ishi would be truly ready to accept himself and go on to defeat Hao. He would battle Yamato one more time, clashing blades with him throughout a long and strenuous duel that pushed the two past their limits, the two utilizing Skeith and Corbenik as well as their own dark natures in order to battle each other. In the end, Ishi would narrowly defeat Yamato, with the latter in his final moments thanking Ishi for allowing him to finally reveal his true self for the very first time and hold absolutely nothing back, and that he was finally at peace with himself, passing away shortly after. Ishi would take Yamato's katana as his own to challenge Hao, not as the Blade Master, but as the Second Wandering Swordsman.
Ishi would confront Hao with both Skeith and Corbenik in his possession, and would fight against Hao in a final climactic battle. Ishi would defeat Hao after a long and grueling fight. Ishi planned on ending Hao's life, unable to tolerate such a dangerous force in the world, and allowing himself just one last kill. However, just as Ishi struck the death blow, Sword Art Online ended, and Ishi would abruptly wake up in a hospital bed, back in the real world, not knowing if he succeeded in killing Hao or not. Either way, it no longer mattered, as Sword Art Online was finally over, and despite everything, he was still very much alive.
He and Asuka would soon after meet in real life and marry each other, some time after having a son together. Ishi would name his son after the man who changed his life forever.
Ishi would later open a dojo to carry on Kyosho Style kenjutsu, with he and Sakura Naoto being the only remaining true practitioners of the form, and Ishi being the only master. Despite being carried on through a different bloodline, Ishi would continue to use the Kyosho name for his dojo.
Personality
Ishi is extremely quiet and reserved, and tends to stick to himself on all things. He prefers to be alone in most situations, seeing other people as useless, and has gone so far as to say he hates other people. He rarely lets anyone get close to him as he tends to expect the worst in people. Despite this, he is normally not outright malicious to others.
Despite this, the years of emotional and physical abuse have indeed made Ishi a kind and caring person at heart to those who manage to get past his cold exterior. To this end, he can be very loyal, compassionate, and empathetic, despite what first impressions may tell, and despite his underlying nature.
He is often left confused and uncertain about some situations because of this duality between his dislike of people and his knowledge of humanity's ability to be cruel to one another, and his sense of empathy and compassion telling him that people are worth more, exacerbated by the fact that he sees both of these aspects within himself. He is unsure of which side to believe.
Ishi's mental duality is sometimes problematic, and though for the most part he keeps himself under control, there are certain times when he can become irrational or impulsive, even confused and hesitant, being highly succeptible to his emotions. Misaki is the one who keeps this in check, able to moderate his mood and his conflicted beliefs and feelings.
After the SAO Incident, Ishi has become even more wise in his age, taking his time to look deep inward over the years and completely process his experiences and changes in Sword Art Online, coming to a deep understanding of himself and the world. Ishi, would find his true purpose as a grand master of the Kyosho Style Traditional Martial Arts, and would impart upon others his wisdom, not just for kenjutsu, but for worldly knowledge and self-actualization, utilizing the art of the blade to show others the path he himself undertook in order to become much more than he ever thought he could be.
Ishi's dark nature would continue to live on within him, but would never again control his life as it once had.
Relationships
Misaki Akimi - Misaki was Ishi's only childhood friend, and is also his closest friend, helping him through his depression during childhood. It is due to their close bond through the years that they formed a romantic relationship, and ended up sleeping with each other not long before SAO. Ishi cares for Misaki deeply, and has even thought about proposing to her in a few years. Misaki is a stabilizing force in his life, constantly at his side and keeping his more violent side in check.
Yamato Ovan - From their first encounter, Yamato and Ishi shared a strong rivalry. The two are master swordsmen, and the two test each other's skills often. The two, however, share a fateful bond. The two are truly opposite sides of the same coin, resembling each other, but in the end never facing the same direction. Yamato sees Ishi's potential to either break through his past and become what he couldn't, or fall in the same way he had. Yamato works to make sure the latter does not happen, and he would succeed at the cost of his own life by Ishi's blade.
Asuka Shizuka - Ishi's second lover and eventual wife. The two met during the SAO incident, a few months in, when Ishi overheard her speaking of a dangerous mission she was going to undertake alone. Understanding how foolish it would be to go alone, Ishi reluctantly tailed her, coming to her rescue during an encounter with several dangerous enemies. He would chastize her harshly for being so reckless, pointing out her lack of skill with a blade and making a note to her that she wouldn't be long for this world if she continued being as foolish and underprepared as she was then. Instead of being entirely discouraged, Asuka instead tried to befriend Ishi and learn more about him, sensing his good heart but also the pain he was suffering. After Misaki's death, Asuka would be there for Ishi, the two eventually becoming romantically involved shortly before SAO's end. Ishi would propose to Asuka not long after meeting her in real life after the SAO incident. The two would have a son two years later, Yamato Haseo.
Hao - Ishi originally worked with Hao as the representative of Pendragon Court, as Hao had claimed he had valuable information on Corbenik, explaining to Ishi that it was the equal of Skeith, and was extremely dangerous. In truth, Hao didn't know where Corbenik was, but worked secretly to slowly bring out Skeith within Ishi. He was indirectly responsible for Misaki's death, thereby bringing Skeith's full power out of Ishi, managing to claim some of it for himself. Hao expected Ishi to be killed by Skeith in the process, but he was unaware that Yamato Ovan still possessed Corbenik, which he used to stop Ishi and Skeith.. Ishi would survive the ordeal and work to hunt down and kill Hao for his betrayal. The two end up as bitter enemies, and Ishi would come to have conflicting ideals to Hao's.
Abilities
Ishi is a naturally skilled swordsman, utilizing his single-handed blade, Arondight, and his clawed gauntlet, Avalon, to an extreme level of ability. He is near undefeatable in close quarters, as his special self-taught fighting style is both deadly and unpredictable, with varying techniques that Ishi can switch between mid-combat to keep an enemy on their toes. His unique skill, Zero Shift, allows him to achieve ultimate speed and agility in combat, allowing him to evade and close distance near instantaneously in a single step. Ishi possesses no other combat skills, refusing to learn any others and prefering to use his own self-taught techniques unassisted.
Ishi employs an unorthodox reverse grip with Arondight, providing extremely quick and rapid strikes to bring his enemies down. Though he commonly switches back and forth between frontward and reverse grip with his blade mid-combat, he mainly favors a reverse grip in combat. He also incorporates an unusual position of his sword on his back, being diagonally up to his left shoulder instead of his right, requiring him to reach his arm across his body in order to grab his sword, but also allowing for an immediate powerful first strike while unsheathing the blade. Ishi is well known for his frightening tendency to immediately appear in an enemy's blind spot, being able to maneuver his way into any guard from any angle and strike even from awkward positions with pinpoint precision.
He eventually adopts Kura-Okami as his primary weapon after Arondight was destroyed in his final fight with Yamato. He continues to employ a reverse grip with the blade, though he also makes use of quickdraws and precision strikes as Yamato had before him. It is a this point that he becomes a true master of the blade.
Ishi is the only player of the game compatible with both Skeith and Corbenik, coming to utilize both together in his final battle with Hao. Capable of utilizing both to their fullest, Ishi essentially becomes the most capable and powerful player in the entirety of Sword Art Online by far, even just for a small time.
Trivia
- Though spiteful towards a lot of things, his mood lightens significantly when around cats.