Death Gun

"Whether you're a fake using his name or the real one... Someday, I'll kill you"

- Death Gun to Kirito

"It's showtime."

- Death Gun immitating PoH's famous quote

Death Gun is the main antagonist on the second season of the anime Sword Art Online.

Death Gun is the avatar of Shoichi Shinkawa and his followers to have the ability to kill a player in real life in a virtual world, Death Gun was feared among the players GGO as serial killer after killing a veteran player while recording the live within the GGO, the indentity of Gun Death is unknown and the objectives and goals are also still unknown.

The name of his weapon is Death Pistol, a Type 54 "Black Star". His gun is supposed to have the hability to kill a player in real life when a bullet from this pistol hits the players avatar, but later is revealed that it's physically impossible to do that, and actually they were using a method: an accomplice of Death Gun broke into the player's house and injected a drug in the player's body when he gets shot in the virtual world, shortly after the drug is inserted, the player dies of cardiac arrest.

Storyline
Death Gun made his first appearance in the first episode of Sword Art Online II, in a VRMMORPG known as Gun Gale Online. As a top ranked player named XeXeeD appears on a streamed broadcast via his avatar, "Death Gun" fires a bullet at XeXeeD's avatar through a video screen, causing XeXeeD to suddenly convulse and disconnect. Later, is revealed that XeXeeD's user was found dead of acute heart failure a few days after his avatar was shot, also showing evidence of a similar case involving the death of a GGO user.

He appears again at the end of episode 3, grinning hungrily while overhearing an online voice-chat discussing about him and looking at a photo of Sinon.

In episode 5, Death Gun confronts Kazuto Kirigaya, alias Kirito, in the preliminary waiting area, after he won the qualyifing phrase for Bullet of Bullets (BoB) tournament. Death Gun seems to recognize his name and asks Kirito if he is the "real deal". Kirito then catches a glimpse of a tattoo on Death Gun's wrist and recognizes it as the mark of the SAO Red Player criminal guild Laughing Coffin. Then, Death Gun states that he will kill him whether or not he is the real Kirito and leaves.

To prove his "true" killing ability to the rest of the world Death Gun sings into BoB tournament as "Sterben", which means "death" in German. He appears at the end of episode 8, shooting Pale Rider with a silenced stun bullet and is about to finish him, when Sinon shoots at him. However, he easily dodges the bullet and then kills Pale Rider. After killing him, Death Gun then introduces himself and his gun to the spectators, finishing his monologue with a catchphrase used by PoH, the founder of Laughing Coffin and disappearing. As Kirito and Sinon follow Gunner X to the stadium, mistaking him to be Death Gun due to the simillarities between the names, Death Gun, who is actually Sterben, appears and proclaims that he is going to kill Sinon. She tries to defend herself, but then sees that Death Gun is carrying the Type 54 Black Star, the same weapon she used to kill the robber at the post office. However, before Death Gun could shoot Sinon, he is interrupted by Kirito, who shoots him in the shoulder with a sniper rifle and then throws a smoke grenade, forcing him to retreat. Death Gun eventually takes control of a mechanical horse and chases up the two. During the subsequent chase, Death Gun fires at Kirito and Sinon with his pistol, terrifying the latter. Then, Sinon shoots at him and, though the shoot miss Death Gun, it hits the fuel tank of a truck, which explodes and forces Death Gun to abandon his horse, allowing Kirito and Sinon to escape.

Then, while the two were hiding in a cave to avoid the next satellite scan, Kirito reveals Death Gun's killing method: he uses an accomplice to broke into the victim's house and inject a drug in the player's body when he gets shot in the virtual world; shortly after the drug is inserted, the player dies of cardiac arrest. This turns to be real, as one of Death Gun's henchmen is shown in Sinon's house, infecting her with the drug.

While Dark Wind is closing on Kirito, Death Gun appears and decides to kill Kirito himself. However, as soon as Dark Wind is killed, Sinon turns her attention to Death Gun and shoots at him. Death Gun shoots as well and as they fire at each other, while Death Gun manages to destroy Sinon's scope, she manages to destroy Death Gun's weapon. Afterwise, Death Gun is challenged by Kirito, but he pulls out an estoc and counters the attack. After having a conversation with Kirito, Death Gun begins assaulting him with overwhelming speed.

Quotes
"This is true power. Fools... remember me and fear! The name this gun and I share! Death Gun!"

- Death Gun introducing himself after he kills XeXeeD