The first Sword Art Online (SAO) Progressive movie successfully brings back the fans' excitement over the franchise that has been growing quite stale in recent years. The fact that SAO Progressive is not only an extended version of the original Aincrad Arc, but it is also expanding it into a much bigger and denser arc by introducing new characters, new places, and new gameplay mechanics, makes it so much more interesting to see.
One of the new characters that only exist in the Progressive version of Aincrad arc is a girl named Argo. Her name is mentioned several times in the first movie, but we never really get the chance to see her. That being said, Argo is said to take a more central role in the second movie that is scheduled to be released in September 2022. So before watching that movie, here are some of the things that you should know about Argo.
Who Is Argo the Rat?
Hosaka Karina Tomo, or better known in the world of Sword Art Online as Argo the Rat is someone who holds an important and highly influential role to the game. It’s even safe to say that without her contribution, lots of players will lose their lives, and it will be harder for them all to finish the game. We’ll talk about the different roles that she has in the subsequent sections.
She earned the nickname "The Rat" due to the whisker-like mark on her cheek. This mark actually comes from one of the quests in SAO that she hadn't completed at the time, but later on she decided to keep it because it has become her trademark look.
The Beta Tester
Argo is one of the few players that join as a Beta Tester prior to the official launch of Sword Art Online, just like Kirito. It’s unclear how far she managed to climb the Aincrad tower during her days as a Beta Tester, but one thing for sure, this experience gave her a much better preparation than the average players.
One of the things that Argo learns during her Beta Testing days is the fact that she is not suited to be a frontline fighter. That is why this time around, she approached her in-game character to not focus on fighting. Make no mistake, Argo is a highly capable fighter, but she is actually more akin to a Thief/Scout in terms of regular RPG games. That is why she might not excel in terms of strength, but her agility and speed is among the best in the game.
The Information Broker
Argo is one of the few characters in SAO that manage to leverage her knowledge as a Beta Tester and her scout-like ability to create an original profession that does not exist in SAO, an Information Broker. Because although there are some differences here and there between the Beta and the final version of Sword Art Online, the similarities are still quite uncanny.
That means her knowledge about the game, such as the location of important quests, items, and places is still very much relevant, and valuable. So she decided to sell that information to earn some money, influence, and connections. A lot of high-rank players, including Kirito and Asuna, are her loyal customers. Which means she also knows a lot of things about them, such as their current level, items, objective, location, etc. So she sells that information too. Incidentally, one of the most popular pieces of information that people always requested from her is everything related to Asuna.
The Guide Books
Now we finally come to the biggest contribution that Argo made to the betterment of her fellow SAO players. The Strategy Guides. Once she has enough information about any floor of the Aincrad tower, from the most basic layout of the floor to how to fight the boss, she would publish Strategy Guides that can be purchased by every player for a relatively low cost.
These books prove to be extremely crucial to the life and death of countless players. After all, information such as monsters that can be found on a certain floor and what kind of attacks that they have, makes it possible for low-level players to have better preparation that can ultimately save their lives.
Nobody forced Argo to create these Guide Books. And if we consider the time/profit ratio, it is actually more beneficial for her to simply sell this kind of life-saving information to select players at a high price, rather than compiling it into books and selling it at a cheap price. But Argo didn’t do it out of her desire to make money. This is her way to help the other players that are trapped in this world, just like her.
That is why while Kirito, Asuna, and other frontline players are the ones who always fight the boss first and open up the gate to the next floor, Argo is the one who always looks out for those who have to stay in the back.