Among the protagonists, Kirito is the heavier hitter of the two. He's often the man who saves the day more often than not and is Sword Art Online's main character. Asuna flip-flops between being the deuteragonist and a side character who's there to be saved by Kirito. It makes it maddening at times for fans of hers.
One moment she can be shown close to him in holding her own in battle, and the next, she's played off like a damsel in distress. This flip-flopping means there's been plenty of times where she could have met her end.
10 Giving Up Once She Realized She Was Trapped In The Game
When she first discovered that she and all the other players were trapped in Sword Art Online, her first reaction was to accept defeat. She didn't want to leave her room, holing up inside of it for two weeks before ever coming out again. It's an understandable reaction given how messed up the situation was, but if she hadn't found her will to leave the room, she'd never have escaped the game in the first place, leading to her death before the series even got underway.
9 Collapsing In The First Floor Of The Labyrinth
When Kirito and Asuna first meet, he critiqued her on using sword skills on enemies that were already nearly dead. Having settled into a defeatist attitude, she felt that death was inevitable either way and that it didn't matter what she did. Afterward, she collapsed in the labyrinth and needed to be dragged out by Kirito. Had he not been there, there's no telling what could have happened to her. She very well could have received the death she'd expected then and there.
8 Not Taking Player Killers As Seriously As She Should Have
The lack of care Asuna had toward player killers reared its head on multiple occasions in Sword Art Online. First, she struggled to train to fight them as she didn't want to hurt Kirito.
That's at least understandable as they'd grown close during the time they'd spent together. What's less understandable is why she fell asleep in the open without any protection, something Kirito had to remedy by watching over her to ensure no one came after her.
7 Rushing In Without A Plan Against The Gleam Eyes
When she saw other players dying in front of her at the hands of the Gleam Eyes, Asuna couldn't help but spring to action in their defense. She launched an assault on the boss's back, saving one player's life. Unfortunately, the attack did nothing more than anger the Gleam Eyes as it turned around and punched her across the room, forcing Kirito to leap in to aid her. As is often the case, Kirito needed to swoop in to save the day as Asuna was as good as dead against the far more powerful boss.
6 She Gave Kuradeel An Opening To Strike Her
Her unwillingness to kill another player is fine. It isn't in her character and has been that way since the beginning. Still, she should have at the very least kicked Kuradeel's sword away after handling him with ease or stayed on her guard around him. It was already established he had no qualms with killing people, as shown by what he did to Godfree and Kirito. Instead, she was taken by surprise and nearly killed, needing Kirito to sacrifice his hand to protect her.
5 Fatal Scythe Nearly Killed Both Kirito & Asuna
Fatal Scythe was a powerful boss who Kirito and Asuna stumbled on while looking for Thinker, Yulier's husband. At first, they thought they could handle the boss but were quickly shown to be mistaken.
Fatal Scythe manhandled both of them and would have killed them had Yui not intervened with her greatsword, Object Eraser. She erased the boss from existence, saving the pair from an untimely end and sealing her own fate in the process.
4 Heathcliff Saves Her From Permanent Death
During the final battle of the Aincrad Arc, Heathcliff had gained the advantage over Kirito and looked to land the decisive blow on him. Asuna flung herself into the path of the blade, taking the hit for her beloved. Technically speaking, she did die here, but not fully as Kayaba Akihiko decided to save both her and Kirito so he could have a conversation with each. As her character is integral to the story, it makes sense why she was kept alive, but it cheapened the sacrifice she made to protect Kirito.
3 The Power Of Friendship Saved Her Against PoH
The battle PoH and Asuna had was pretty great, showing off just how strong she was as a character. The issue is that PoH had the upper hand on her, slicing her across the side and forcing her to her knees. It looked like she could barely hold off the man's attacks until the power of friendship reared itself. Yuuki's words allowed her to push forward, regaining more than just her strength. She was able to wipe the floor with her foe, treating him like fodder.
2 American Players Took Her Arm & Nearly Her Life
As Stacia, Asuna had immense stats that let her keep up with powerful characters like Alice, but even she admits that was the only reason. Her skills were not on par with most of the characters in the Underworld arc, and it showed during her clash with the American players. They managed to gang up on her, slicing away her arm and surrounding her. It looked like the end until Dark Territory member Iskahn came to save the day.
1 Sugou's Desire For Her Kept Her Alive & With A Fate Worse Than Death
As far as villains go, none were as unlikable as Sugou was. He's a creep who lusted after Asuna and wanted the ability to control the minds of others. It's why he experimented on the survivors of Sword Art Online, doing many inhumane things to them. The worst was saved for Asuna, as he planned to force her into marrying him and tried to assault her toward the end of the Alfheim arc. With how unstable he was, it wouldn't have been shocking if he'd have cast Asuna aside when he was bored of her.
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