Nyanta

"But if there were a thing that never went bad, I don't know that I'd trust it. Any kind of life can go wrong, or sicken, or suffer. Lives get old, decay, and finally die. Disliking that fact because it hurts isn't any different than disliking life itself."

- Nyanta, Episode 6 "Resolve"

Nyanta is a Felinoid Swashbuckler-Chef and one of the few known characters with even more experience in Elder Tale than Shiroe, having started the game during its beta test stage twenty years ago. He is now one of the "senior members" in Log Horizon, as well as the guild's head chef.

Before joining Log Horizon, he was a member of the guild Cat Food, as well as a member of the Debauchery Tea Party, where he was called Chief (班長, Hanchō). After both groups disbanded, he was a solo player until reuniting with Shiroe's Party after the Catastrophe.

He is the first person on the Eastal side of the Yamato server to discover Real Food Preparation.

Appearance
In real life, Nyanta is older than many of the other characters; Shiroe estimates him to be in his late 30s or early 40s. In the Log Horizon: Nyanta's Fortune Recipes manga, he is revealed to have been a married college student a few years before Elder Tale's release, making him most likely in his early 40s.

In-game, he is tall with a slender, well-proportioned figure. He appears in a green coat, a white undershirt, grey breeches, a pair of brown leather gloves, and a silky red scarf.

He is described as a dandy who always pays attention to personal appearance and grooming.

Personality
Like Akatsuki, Nyanta assumes a role-playing persona within Elder Tale and speaks in phonetic meows, or "nya"s. He is calm, reliable, and the very definition of a "cool cat," rarely ever being surprised by anything. He shows no reaction when he spots the gigantic goblin army coming towards the camp. However, he still has a sense of humor and is willing to crack jokes when the time is right.

He believes in being a gentleman, and politely berates other players that act in an ungentlemanly manner. He is kind to everyone and sees bullies as despicable, ignorant people. He is always loyal to his friends and is willing to fight for them no matter what. Having underwent a great tragedy many years in the past, while he can sympathize those who want to use Elder Tale as an escape, he also believes that it's important to face reality.

Nyanta is a very skilled fighter able to take on character the same level as he easily, and Akatsuki complements him as being a "first-class swordsman." He also is rather ingenious, being the first one on the Eastal side of Yamato to discover Real Food Preparation.

Before the Catastrophe
While he was still in college, before he began playing Elder Tale, Nyanta married a woman whom he met in Tokyo. The two of them lived together in a small apartment. However, she tragically died of illness, which left a great scar on Nyanta's heart even to the present; during the Tea Party days, Naotsugu and Shiroe note that they've never heard of Nyanta having any romantic affairs.

Soon after his wife's passing, he began playing the Elder Tale beta as a means of escape. In a conversation with Tamasaburo, the guild master of Cat Food, he mentions that he picked the Felinoid race because he wanted to be something inhuman. Whether the game's beta was worldwide, or Nyanta somehow had access to the American beta, is unknown.

In the Tea Party, his opinion was well-respected, as the group's eldest member. His calm words and actions made him trustworthy as well. After the Tea Party disbanded, he logged on irregularly, and thus never received an invitation to join the West Wind Brigade from Soujiro.

The Catastrophe
After becoming one of the 30,000 trapped players trapped in Theldesia after the Catastrophe, Nyanta ended up in Susukino, where he noticed Serara being chased by members of the notorious PK guild Brigandia and immediately rescued her from harm's way.

For a while, he kept her in a house he owned in Susukino, which prevented her from being detected by Demiqas' men while the two of them waited for a group from Akiba to rescue her. While she went about cleaning the house, he went out to get food and keep an eye on the city's situation. Under his care, she came to realize that he was able to create flavorful food.

Saving Serara arc
When Shiroe's Party arrives at Susukino, Akatsuki kept an eye on the area as Naotsugu guarded the entrance of their designated meeting area. Shiroe is surprised to see Nyanta with Serara, and they explain their past connection through the Debauchery Tea Party to her. As they left the city, they fearlessly lured Demiqas into accepting a duel against Nyanta, planning to teach the guild a lesson. Shiroe's strategic prowess and the former Debauchery Tea Party members' experience with each other's fighting styles allowed them to win without even communicating, with Nyanta reducing Demiqas' hitpoints to 1 (or simply killing him, in the light novel) with Round Windmill.

After successfully killing Demiqas and Londark, demoralizing the rest of Brigandia's men, Shiroe's Party, plus Nyanta and Serara, set off to return to Akiba.

Round Table Alliance arc
During the return to Akiba, Nyanta revealed to the group the secret to Real Food Preparation, much to the shock of the other members of the group. As they travel back, seeing storm clouds approaching, they decide to stop at a village instead of pressing on.

The group enters a village, where Fedor welcomes Shiroe and his companions into his home and allows them to stay the night within the barn. During the night, Fedor visits the group and exchanges stories with them, listening to them talk about their adventures while reminiscing about his grandchildren's birth. The group then gives Fedor and his grandchildren some food as a token of their gratitude.

After returning to Akiba, Nyanta teaches the Real Food Preparation to the Crescent Moon Alliance's chefs, Girov and Ninjin Second, while everyone in the Crescent Moon celebrates Serara's return. After the commemoration, Nyanta has a important talk with Shiroe that convinces him to start a guild and save Akiba. This is the birth of Log Horizon.

Nyanta became the head chef of the Crescent Moon Refreshment Stand in Shiroe's plan to breathe new life into Akiba. He later accompanies Shiroe during their reunion with Soujiro Seta, and astutely notes that Shiroe was hesitant about meeting their fellow Tea Party member.

During the Round Table Conference, Nyanta attends as Shiroe's adjutant and explain Shiroe's strategy to Serara. Later, he helps clean up their new guild hall and looks on as various people drop in to visit. When the group decides on having curry for dinner, he goes to buy ingredients but instead returns with Touya and Minori, who want to join the guild.

Summer Training Camp arc
Nyanta was assigned to be one of the teachers at the Summer Training Camp to teach young players and hone their battle skills. While there, he also served as the head cook and provided general info on the dungeon. He was in the Ragranda Forest team along with Naotsugu and Rezarick, while Marielle and the other trainers were at the beach.

Return of the Goblin King arc
While the Ragranda Forest group fights off abnormally large numbers of Goblins, Nyanta rides on his Griffon and observes an alarmingly large group of Goblins, numbering over a thousand. He reports his findings to Naotsugu and Rezarick, who discuss their next course of action.

Libra Festival arc
During the Libra Festival Nyanta along with Serara visited the Linguini resturaunt where the both of them were enjoying the resturaunts dishes until an argument started with one of the People of the Earth nobles and a waitress after she accidently stained his clothing. Several adventurers were annoyed with his insulting behaviour towards the waitress and his bigotrous insults towards the resturaunt, and a fight was going to ensue between the adventurers and the noble with his personal guard. Nyanta Intervined before things escalated and kicked the Noble out of the resturaunt reminding him that people in Akiba have their own rules that everybody must abide by, the Earthling left in anger swearing he would get back at him. A little while later he contacted Shiroe about the incident and recommended that he should beef up security to avoid further incidents with the latter taking note of the incident but felt there is no need to escalate things as he has Naotsugu running around to report any other incidents and has the Black Sword Knights and D.D.D guilds available if any action is required.

Fallen Guardian arc
Nyanta goes over to The Roderick Firm to see its guild master with a letter from Shiroe. Although the two guild masters had been corresponding frequently as of late, Roderick is confused by the contents of the letter, which asks for a catalog of all the items with flavor text. Nyanta himself does not know what Shiroe intends to do, but the both of them decide to discuss how to meet Shiroe's needs over a bowl of ramen.

When Touya and Minori want to stay in the city rather than help out at Seventh Fall, Nyanta correctly deducts that Touya simply wanted to fight because there was no risk of permanent death for them, and reminds them that their ability as Adventurers to revive after death already gave them the "special treatment" that Touya didn't want. As the children realize the meaning behind Nyanta's words, he explains that they shouldn't become too accustomed to their privileges as Adventurers.

Route 43 arc
While Touya's Party embarks on the quest to acquire Dazaneg's Magic Bag, Nyanta secretly trails them to make sure that everything goes smoothly. However, during the trip, Mizufa of the Ten-Seat Conference wishes to spark a war between Eastal and Westelande, and launches an attack against the town of Saphir, where the kids were staying at.

She has the Earthling Summoners under her use Nightshades summon to cause Wyvern hordes to head towards the city of Saphir, while they use EXP Pots to strengthen themselves. Just as she commands Londark to go forth, Nyanta intervenes and starts slaying all the Nightshades around him.

Nyanta argues with Londark, who explains that he didn’t care about his or Brigandia’s loss to Shiroe’s group, he could put that to the side. However, he just wanted to return home, as he had never been asked to come to Theldesia. There were things he left behind that he wants to return to. The Earthlings meant nothing to him, they were just fabricated existences. Nyanta, who had suffered some great pain in the real world but sympathizes with the younger Adventurer's desire to return home, can only pity him after realizing that there’s nothing he can say that can change Londark’s mind. Just as Londark was about to unleash a powerful spell, he’s killed from behind. Mizufa stabbed him with her sword, commenting that Adventurers are lucky to be able to leisurely die and revive, constantly in battle. Nyanta, now genuinely angered, fights her while she mocks him. However, Kazuhiko then arrives, telling Mizufa to retreat because Nureha had given word to end the operation. Despite this, Mizufa continues to try provoking Nyanta, with him lunging at her, only to be stopped again by Kazuhiko. Kazuhiko uses the skill Exterminate to end the fight, with a power clearly beyond an ordinary Adventurer's, and declares that he didn’t want the Chief to kill an Earthling, before leaving.

Noosphere arc
Nyanta joins the Shibuya Raid Team as a member of the second party. Upon the Genius mastermind Taliktan's death and the end of the raid, the team discovers communications equipment. Along with the other Tea Party members gathered at the time, he is shocked to discover that Kanami had rejoined the game and was making her way towards Yamato.

Equipment
Although Nyanta doesn't have any Phantasmal equipment, his power in a duel is right behind Krusty's and Isaac's. Nyanta specializes in the traditional Dual Blade build, using two rapiers as his weapons. He very much emphasizes speed and debuffs, as seen in his duel against Demiqas.

Trivia

 * The first part of his name, Nya, is Japanese for "meow," a sound that a cat makes.
 * Nyanta's birthday, February 22, is also National Cat Day in Japan.
 * Nyanta ranks right behind Krusty and Isaac in terms of a one-on-one duel, making him third best on the server. This prowess is proven in his duel against Mizufa, who has years of fighting experience and a love for war.
 * Nyanta shares his Japanese voice actor, Jouji Nakata, with BologneseMaster.
 * In the first official popularity poll, Nyanta came in third place. In the second, he rose in popularity to claim second place, dethroning Shiroe.