Haseo

Haseo (ハセヲ) is a fictional character in the .hack franchise first introduced as the main character from the video game trilogy .hack//G.U. and the TV anime series .hack//Roots. Haseo is a player character from the fictional massively multiplayer online role-playing game "The World" and is controlled by the player. He is voiced by Takahiro Sakurai in Japanese. In the English version, Haseo is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal in the games and Andrew Francis in the anime.

In .hack//G.U. Haseo is introduced as a loner who is searching for the mysterious player killer Tri-Edge who defeated his friend Shino and left her on a coma in real life. He comes into contact with the guild G.U. who is also searching for him and also becomes involved in the quest to destroy AIDA, a computer anomaly responsible for leaving players in coma. Haseo's appearances in .hack//Roots depicts his early days in The World as a member of the Twilight Brigade guild led by Ovan, where he first meets Shino. He has also appeared in other adaptations from the .hack//G.U. games that give different focus on the character as well as the player controlling him.

Video game publications have given both positive and negative response to Haseo's character, with most criticism being aimed towards his rude personality. On the other hand, his development across the games and the improvement to his PC resulted in positive responses.

Characteristics
Haseo is depicted as an "Adept Rogue" type of character in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game The World. He is silver-haired and wears a black leather wardrobe with red marks. While initially able to use only dual swords as weapons, he can undergo upgrades called "Job Extensions" that allow him to use other weapons. The Job Extensions are also notable for changing Haseo's appearance: he gains more clothes in the first one and armor in the third one. In most types of media, Haseo gains an illegal Job Extension called the Xth Form distinguished by white clothes and the use of guns. The player controlling Haseo, Ryou Misaki (三崎亮), only appears in the manga and the novels and is shown as Japanese teenager.

Haseo is a cold person who has trouble getting close to people. As a result of his friend Shino falling comatose, Haseo develops a lust for power in order to get his revenge on the culprit, Tri-Edge. He socializes with players from The World but states he just uses them in his quest for power. During the .hack//G.U. games Haseo becomes a friendly person and learns to depend on others, coming to terms with his dark past.

.hack//G.U. games
Haseo is introduced in the .hack//G.U. games as a famous player from "The World" who several player killers and is known as "The Terror of Death" (死の恐怖). He is in a search for the legendary player killer Tri-Edge, who left his friend Shino in a coma in real life after killing her character. He is guided by his former comrade, Ovan, to fight the AI Azure Kite under the assumption he is Tri-Edge, though he is completely reset after being defeated. As he recovers, Haseo is mistaken for a new player by Gaspard and Silabus, who ask him to become their guildmaster. Haseo also agrees to join the guild G.U. led by Yata, a System Administrator in The World R:2, to discover the reason behind a sudden increase in AIDA activity and Tri-Edge using it to leave players in coma. Haseo gains an "Avatar", Skeith, The Terror of Death, hidden within his PC, that has the ability to destroy AIDA. Although initially cold and antisocial, Haseo comes to appreciate the friendships he makes across the trilogy. He also starts developing feelings for Atoli, a fellow player who encourages him to appreciate his time in The World, but is not until late part of the trilogy that Haseo understands his feelings.

Using Skeith, Haseo defeats Azure Kite but none of Tri-Edge's victims recover. He then continues working with G.U. to eliminate the AIDA that has been infecting other players and learn more about Tri-Edge. He eventually learns that the real Tri-Edge is Ovan. Ovan has been planning on Haseo to develop his Avatar abilities by fighting against multiple enemies so that he would gain enough power to completely destroy Ovan's own Avatar. In their final fight, an overwhelmed Ovan uses his Avatar's abilities to delete AIDA across the network, awakening most of the comatose players. Following this a being called Cubia awakens and starts devouring The World; its destruction would result in the death of all the players who have yet to recover. Since the Avatars are Cubia's counterpart, Haseo and G.U. join forces to destroy their enemy using Skeith.

G.U. related series and adaptations
Haseo has also appeared in the TV anime series .hack//Roots, where he is depicted as a new player who is invited to join Ovan's Twilight Brigade and search for a legendary item known as the Key of Twilight. While dealing with a rival guild, TaN, Ovan disappears, and the other members abandon the guild, leaving only Shino and Haseo. When Shino ends up in a coma after being attacked by Tri-Edge, Haseo becomes depressed and searches for revenge. In his quest for power, Haseo meets the AI of The World's creator, Harald Hoerwick, who highly upgrades Haseo's PC. In the following months, he becomes known as "The Terror of Death" after defeating one hundred player killers, and meets Ovan again, who directs him to Azure Kite. This leads to the events of the .hack//G.U. games as a weakened Haseo continues his journey. An original video animation titled .hack//Returner shows Haseo reuniting with his former comrades from G.U. and the Twilight Brigade following the events of the trilogy after receiving an email from the disappeared Ovan.

In the manga adaptation of the games, .hack//G.U.+, Haseo is confronted by Ovan shortly after defeating Azure Kite. When Ovan disappears while awakening the comatose players, the player behind Haseo, Ryou Misaki, temporarily quits The World until receiving an e-mail from Ovan's sister, Aina. He returns to The World to investigate what happened to Ovan, but loses his Avatar after being attacked by Kazumi, a member from CC Corp. As Kazumi tries to use Cubia to control The World, Haseo rejoins G.U. to defeat Kazumi. In the novel series, Haseo learns that he has amnesia and that seven years before the events of .hack//G.U. he was a character named Sora who was left in a coma by Skeith until the monster's defeat. After accepting his past, Haseo gains a new form that replaces his Xth Form.

The CGI film adaptation of the games, .hack//G.U. Trilogy, shows Haseo healing the AIDA-infected Atoli by combining their PCs. When Ovan leaves Atoli and all of G.U. members in coma, Haseo is consumed by rage and attacks Ovan in the new B-st Form. With help from Atoli's PC, Haseo gains the stronger Xth Form, which he uses to defeat Ovan and save him from dying as he uses his last forces to wake up the comatose players.

Other appearances
In the video game .hack//Link, Haseo's time with the Twilight Brigade and G.U. during Tokio's journey in the 2017 timeline is shown. However, during his search for Tri-Edge, Haseo becomes infected with AIDA and it is not until defeating Atoli infected with AIDA that he regains his senses. After Cubia's defeat, Haseo indirectly confesses his feelings to Atoli and later appears in a future timeline as a member of the Twilight Knights. In the manga version, Haseo's story is different as his memories have been tampered with to make him believe he is still searching for Tri-Edge to avenge Shino. The .hack//Link Special DVD shows a sidestory in which Haseo teams up with Aspel from Tales of Graces as both are voiced by Takahiro Sakurai.

In the novel .hack//Cell, Haseo appears in his quest for Tri-Edge. The .hack//4Koma manga features a series of omakes where Haseo has a rivalry with Kite regarding who is the best protagonist from the franchise. Additionally, a sidestory focuses on Haseo and Atoli's relationship, with the latter having doubts whether the former feels good with her. He is also a playable character in the fighting game .hack//Versus.

Outside the .hack franchise, Haseo's Xth Form outfit has appeared as downloadable content in the video game Tales of Graces F.

Creation and design
Haseo was designed to have a darker design than previous .hack characters to reflect the more mature storyline from the .hack//G.U. games. As one of the themes of the series is "Grow Up", Haseo gradually matures across .hack//G.U..

In the Japanese versions of the games, Haseo has been solely voiced by Takahiro Sakurai. In the English version Yuri Lowenthal was first cast to voice Haseo in the games. However, since the dub of .hack//Roots was produced separately from that of .hack//G.U., Haseo was instead voiced by Andrew Francis for the anime series.

Reception
Haseo's character received a mixed reception, with opinions differing in the different types of media he appears in. He has been popular within the .hack//G.U. games, ranking as the most popular character and then as the most popular one from the CGI film. In another poll made in conmemoration of the .hack franchise's 10th anniversary Haseo was voted as its most popular character. IGN compared his character with multiple anime heroes, but stated that his sword awe-inspiring distinguished him from others, giving him a darker tone. Patrick Gann from RPGFan referred to Haseo as a "jerk" due to his personality and thus noted how much of the plot from Rebirth revolves around him starting to behave better. Despite calling him a "ruthless fighter", Carlo Santos from Anime News Network commented that Haseo's wish to save Shino make him an appealing character. Moreover, RPGamer writer Adriaan den Ouden commented that in Reminisce, Haseo's character development is "phenomenal", citing his interactions with Atoli and Alkaid that help him to "take his first steps away" from his dark past.

The evolution of Haseo's PC in following titles was praised by Gann due to the weapons he obtains that help to improve the gameplay. Ouden, however, criticized Haseo's second Job Extension design for featuring unnecessary accessories. His Xth Form was noted by Gann for the inclusion of guns that make the fights more entertaining. This also included the evolution from his Avatar, Skeith, although it was lamented that Haseo could only use it in the game's final battle. Ouden agreed with Gann, commenting on how the use of Haseo's guns allows the player to perform different types of combos. Ben Leary from Mania Entertainment noted that while the game's novelization "takes the trouble to really get inside Haseo's head", the result is appealing considering Haseo's motivation and his development across the story as he is initially a loner who realizes he needs friends. Carl Kimlinger from Anime News Network referred to Haseo's and Atoli's relationship as one of the best parts from the film .hack//G.U. Trilogy, pointing to the scene in which the former confronts the latter's AIDA-infected. He praised Takahiro Sakurai's work voicing the character but still called Haseo an "unsympathetic bastard of a lead." In the first Seiyu Awards, Sakurai was a nominee in the category "Best Leading Actor" for his role as Haseo in .hack//Roots but lost to Jun Fukuyama. Yuri Lowenthal's performance as Haseo was also well received by Ouden "nail[s] the lead voice role."