Derrick

“
The bandits are coming!
”

—Derrick, Episode 3

**Derrick** (デリック, *Derikku*) was an NPC of Sword Art Online. He was an unintentional member of the Moonlit Black Cats.

## Appearance

Derrick had brown, curly hair and green eyes. He was mostly dressed in light, green clothing with light metal armor plates on his chest and his left shoulder. Derrick also wore brown, leather gauntlets, dark boots and a blue cap. Derrick's weapon of choice was a spear.

## Personality

Not much is known about Derrick's personality, but he seemed a very easy-going and a cheerful person. He even seemed to be cheerful about dyer situations, as he said his quest alert, which was a cry for help, in a very happy manner.

When he wasn't being interacted with, Derrick would just stand or sit in silence with a big cheery smile on his face as the players interacted around him.

Like all the other NPCs, when his quests weren't being interacted with, Derrick would wait for approximately four seconds before shouting an order.

## Biography

### Aincrad Arc

#### Pre-Episode 3

Derrick was an NPC in the world of Aincrad with a quest that involved trying to stop a bandit invasion. One day, his quest was activated by a player named Keita. However, instead of listening to him, Keita deliberately ignored Derrick's quest, as he planned to use the NPC as an expendable soldier, effectively kidnapping him.

Because Derrick didn't have any boundary restrictions on his quest, he followed Keita throughout the game and was recruited into his Guild, the Moonlit Black Cats, which comprised of two more NPCs, named Gary and Charlie, and a girl named Sachi, who suffered from lag due to her bad internet connection from living "in the boonies".

#### Episode 3

On April 8, 2023, in the Floor 11 town of Taft, Derrick was present when Keita swindled Kirito into their Guild with his Charisma Hat. After Keita explains that most of the Guild's members are NPCs, Derrick shouted his quest reminder. He was also present when Sachi accidentally set the tavern on fire with her lag.

The Guild then went on many adventures, such when they killed a Killer Mantis together in the Sunshine Forest on Floor 20.

On May 16, 2023, Sachi ran away. Keita tried to run after her, but Derrick and the other NPCs ended up inadvertently blocking the door. Annoyed, Keita sends Kirito message explaining the situation, asking him to find Sachi for him.

On June 21, 2023, Keita announces to the Guild that they're now in debt to the game's Mafia, during which Derrick takes the opportunity to remind Keita that the bandits are coming, which Keita acknowledges is ironically an apt description of their predicament. After informing them that they must retrieve an item from a Dungeon on the Floor 27, Keita uses his Charisma Hat to talk his way out of going with them, teleporting away on Taft's Teleport Gate the next day.

During the expedition, Gary triggers a trap in the Dungeon, summoning a bunch of Slaughternauts and Murder-Golems. Gary then uses one of the Teleport Crystals he was carrying to teleport out of the trap, leaving the rest to die. Derrick was then killed by one of the Golems.

#### Post-Episode 3

It's unclear if Derrick respawned after he died, but if he did, he was deleted after the game got purged following Kayaba's defeat.

#### Legacy

Due to the deaths of Derrick and the other members of the Moonlit Black Cats, Kirito developed severe PTSD. Kirito tried to retrieve an item that he thought would revive his friends, but when was faced with the reality that there was no way to bring them back, he retreated into his sarcastic persona and became unwilling to make any more emotional connections, fearing that he'd lose them too. He was eventually brought out of his self-induced loneliness by Klein and Asuna about a year later.

At some point, Kirito fought the Mafia's leader, Don Fluffles, to avenge his fallen friends, which resulted in Fluffles falling off a cliff and losing his position as head of the Mafia. When Kirito reunited with Gary, he brutally murdered him out of revenge for Derrick and the other members, although he mostly did it in the name of Sachi.

## Differences from the Original

In the original he was called "Sasamaru", and he was a real player. He went to school with other members of the Moonlit Black Cats (except for Kirito) and they were all members of their school's computer club.

## Voice Actor

* In the Japanese dub, Sasamaru is voiced by Tsubasa Yonaga.
* In the English dub, Sasamaru is voiced by Bobby Thong.
* In the abridged series, Derrick is voiced by Hayabusa449.

## References

1. ↑ NPC's name
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Episode 3
3. ↑ Episode 11
4. ↑ Episode 8
5. ↑ Episode 9
6. ↑ Episode 5