In the near future in a culture dependent on the advanced networking technology of a new global economy "The World," the first online game since the "Network Ban" was lifted, has launched and grown into something the creator never intended. Over 20 million users world wide have turned the game into their own often modifying their characters using hacking programs and character level editors. Some creatures and character avatars that were never included in the original game have not only shown up in the “World” but some of them are up to something.

First of all understand that the world of .HACK is much more than just the plot of a video game. There are interwoven stories that take place in the Comic series, the Anime, the DVD that is included in each game, and the Game itself.

The story all revolves around a Massive Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Game or MMORPG known as "The World." This is no ordinary MMORPG though. It is played with a Virtual Reality Headset and communicator. The main plot of the PS2 Game revolves around the characters Kite, Orca, Elk, Black Rose, Aura, and Ryoko.

In the "World" there are six character classes and twelve custom character options. So many of the characters look alike except for minor variations like costume color, hair color, skin color, or little things like tattoos. The main character Kite is often confused with later characters in the story because they look so much alike.

Characters of the PS 2 game:

Kite, the main character of the story, is able to "re-write" the programming of the game. It’s a special ability he gets and having this power makes him an outlaw and a target for the games system-administrators.

Orca is the typical high level adventurer that invites his friend Kite to play the game online with him. He is the muscle-barbarian type.

Black Rose is full of energy and tends to rush off full-force into danger. She plays to help a friend in the "Real World" that can’t log out of the game.

Aura is named after the Roman goddess Aurora the bringer of the Dawn. Not much is know about her but the story starts and ends with her.

Gardania is a spear-wielder but coolly collected female player. She seems to be a gentle person and chooses her responses and monitors her attitude not to offend other players.

The PS2 game is being released in four separate volumes with each episode running about 25 hours or so long.

While the PS2 game takes place in the “World” the DVD Original Animation Video (OVA) that comes with each game take place in the “Real World” allowing you to see what is going on outside the game-world. Watching the DVD’s can help you solve puzzles and some mysteries that are involved within the “World”. The OVA also has its own set of characters.

The Characters of the .Hack OVA:

Tomonari Kasumi and Mai Minase are both invited to play the “World” at the Society of Gamming Research Center. Something goes wrong during their visit to the virtual world.

Yuki Aihara is a third year student at an all-girl school in Yokohama. Her online name in the “World” is Yukichin.

Kyoko Tohno is a 19 year old student in the Hida prefecture. She has been playing MMORPG’s since grade school.

Junichiro Tokuoka is an ex-employee of Cyber-Connect. He has heard the rumors of things going terribly wrong with players in the “World” and has gone out to investigate.

The plot between the OVA’s and the Game itself are so interwoven they use each others stories to make a huge cross-over never before seen in video game history. Each volume will expand the story and they will interpolate with each other.

Now, what about .Hack //Sign, the TV anime? Well the story takes place before the PS2 game and the manga series takes place after the games.

The main character in the anime series is named Tsukasa and is often confused with Elk from the PS2 game. As stated before they are the same character class but not the same person. Here is a breakdown of the TV anime:

Tsukasa is a lonely young man that has difficulty communicating with other people. He touches the Rune of Twilight and gains the protection of a mysterious guardian.

Mimiru wants to be Tsukasa’s friend and almost punishes him for not beingn so. She only wants to help and her help sometimes gets them into worse trouble. She is often confused with the Black Rose from the PS2 game.

Bear is a nice, dependable and cheerful party member that is often confused with Orca. Orca is mentioned in the Anime because he is a legend. He is aware of Tsukasa’s inability to log-out of the World and tries with all his might to help him out.

Subaru is the heroine of the story. She leads the Scarlet Knights, a group of servants that act as system administrators that hunt down rouge players and hackers. She has some connection to the legendary Orca

The Manga series is still running strong.

Well, there you have it..a small break-down of the twisted web that is .Hack. Just remember the chronological events and you should be able to follow the story.

The Anime is the first part of the story.
The games are the second part.
The DVD’s that come with the game happen at the same time as the games.
The Manga happens five years after the last game.