Nolan Sorrento is the Head of Operations at IOI. He has a PhD in Computer Science and, before being recruited by IOI, worked as a “high-profile videogame designer.” Sorrento is the antagonist of the novel; he is cruel, only cares about money and power, and does not respect the OASIS, Halliday, or the hunt. He also kills Daito, Aunt Alice, Rick, Mrs. Gilmore, and attempts to kill Wade. At the end of the novel Wade kills Sorrento’s avatar, and in real life Sorrento is arrested through his involvement with the murders.
Nolan Sorrento Quotes in Ready Player One
The Ready Player One quotes below are all either spoken by Nolan Sorrento or refer to Nolan Sorrento. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Level Three: 0035
Quotes
Sorrento had tried to kill me. And in the process, he'd murdered my aunt, along with several of my neighbors, including sweet old Mrs. Gilmore, who had never hurt a soul. He'd also had Daito killed, and even though I'd never met him, Daito had been my friend.
And now Sorrento had just killed Shoto’s avatar, robbing him of his chance to enter the Third Gate. Sorrento didn't deserve his power or his position. What he deserved, I decided in that moment, was public humiliation and defeat. He deserved to have his ass kicked while the whole world watched.
Related Characters:
Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker), Aunt Alice, Mrs. Gilmore, Daito, Shoto, Nolan Sorrento
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Ready Player One LitChart as a printable PDF.
Nolan Sorrento Character Timeline in Ready Player One
The timeline below shows where the character Nolan Sorrento appears in Ready Player One. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Level One: 0013
...same email from IOI offering a “highly lucrative business proposition.” The email is signed: “Nolan Sorrento, Head of Operations.” Wade knows that IOI is trying to recruit him. His first instinct...
(full context)
Wade researches Nolan Sorrento, learning that he has a PhD in Computer Science and that he used to be...
(full context)
Level One: 0014
...by a receptionist seated at a desk emblazoned with IOI’s logo. While he waits for Sorrento, Wade tries to turn on his vidfeed recorder, but it is disabled. Sorrento appears and...
(full context)
...OASIS version of IOI’s headquarters is a replica of the real headquarters in Columbus, and Sorrento confirms that this is true. IOI is based in Columbus because it has a better...
(full context)
Sorrento brings up Wade’s newfound fame, and Wade tells him to get to the point, pretending...
(full context)
Wade asks if he can have a few days to consider, but Sorrento refuses. Sorrento gives a long speech disputing the negative impression gunters have of IOI. He...
(full context)
Suddenly, Wade changes his mind and tells Sorrento and IOI to go “fuck a duck.” Sorrento gives him one final offer. When Wade...
(full context)
Level One: 0016
The Scoreboard quickly fills up with Sixer employee numbers, the first of which belongs to Sorrento. The OASIS Public School board decides to evacuate Ludus due to the disruption caused by...
(full context)
Level Two: 0024
...line inscribed in the key. He falls asleep, and awakes to the horrifying news that Sorrento’s score has increased once again, indicating that he has cleared the Second Gate. Wade begins...
(full context)
Soon, another ten Sixers clear the Second Gate, too. Two days later, Sorrento’s score increases again, proving that he’s obtained the Crystal Key. Wade is horrified, concluding that...
(full context)
Level Three: 0029
...hunt, as he doesn’t want to be placed in the Oology Division and risk encountering Sorrento. Wade is “awarded” the position of OASIS Technical Support Representative II and informed that once...
(full context)
Level Three: 0031
...enters an elevator and requests the lobby. As he is going down, he thinks about Sorrento and the other Sixers watching scrutinizing the security camera footage in the wake of his...
(full context)
...ordering the abduction of Art3mis and Shoto, and a text transcription of his conversation with Sorrento, although he blacks out his own name. He then drafts an email to every OASIS...
(full context)
Level Three: 0032
...explains this gate is more complicated than the first two, and shows the video of Sorrento trying and failing to open it. Three words are carved into the Third Gate: “Charity....
(full context)
Level Three: 0034
...there are still six minutes left and that it will come down. At that moment, Sorrento emerges from Castle Anorak, smiling and surrounded by ten other Sixers. He welcomes them to...
(full context)
Sorrento puts a small item in front of him, which instantly transforms into Mechagodzilla, a robot...
(full context)
Level Three: 0035
...rushes toward the Sixers, even though many of them are headed straight toward “certain death.” Sorrento receives the vast majority of gunter fire, but his robot remains undamaged. Aech, Shoto, Art3mis,...
(full context)
...name disappears from the Scoreboard, confirming that his avatar is dead. While Wade is distracted, Sorrento takes the opportunity to cut his robot in half. Luckily Wade ejects himself from the...
(full context)
...white beams, Wade knocks Mechagodzilla to the ground, to the cheers of surrounding gunters. As Sorrento struggles to get the robot upright again, Wade slices the robot in half using a...
(full context)
Level Three: 0038
...be outside waiting for Wade. Before Wade logs out, Aech shows him news clips of Sorrento being arrested by federal authorities on the charge of murder. The news channels have been...
(full context)
