Organization 13fan 0 | Ruler of the Sky bossOK, i need help on this. I can get all the way to defeating its tail but when i try to kill the red orb, that's where i continuously get killed. it never stops attacking, but i can usually get around all the basic ones, the coins, the icicles, the blue orbs, my problem is that, when its actually holding still for a few seconds, and i go into attack it, the only way i can reach it is from its front, but then it does this attack that is like, its bringing its wings together and cuts me with his knived wings. It kills me in two hits because i can't get out in time. Any advice please? ReplySubscribeAbuse |
Organization 13fan 0 | 0 alsoa lot of people are saying that fire magic attacks help a lot, either i miss and not realize it as i see it wizz past it's body, or its not working for me.. |
Unregistered 0 | 0 u got munnyby as mini hi potions as can put all level ups in panels (i was lvl 53) and buy i think it is preisteige gear add all power panels then fight after u take out tail and when it spits coins go under its mouth while waiting use fire magic on red orb then when it stops the coins attack it head on (how i killed it) then dodge the rest attacks |
Unregistered 0 | 0 ok if you use the ultimate extended limit, it does like half damage each hitok if you use the ultimate extended limit, it does like half damage each hit |
Unregistered 0 | 0 fira or firagaPosted: jan 31, 2010 11:08 am |
Unregistered 0 | 0 thanksthanks everyone, i beat it awhile ago, i just had to dodge its attacks a lot and bring lots of potions, took some more tries but i figured out a strategy :) the thing is though, i only like using fire cause its homing, the other two are more powerful, but easily miss. |
KingdomHeats 123 0 | 0 i tryed every thing every one said about the boss :(HE IS THE HARDEST BOSS EVER ( RULER OF THE )(DUMB)( SKY)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!! |
Unregistered 0 | 0 *** sky ruleris there any cheatcodes to kill him hes getting on my nerves |
Unregistered 0 | 0 i cant beat him!i been trying everything but its not working plz help me |
Unregistered 0 | 0 Well,Well, take a lota potions .. and you have to be really good at dodging .. :) |
Unregistered 0 | 0 Theirs a vid on YouTube that shows Roxas going under its belly when its shooting..Theirs a vid on YouTube that shows Roxas going under its belly when its shooting coins. I havent tried it yet but it looks like it worked so. |
Unregistered 0 | 0 All i can say:Look,it constantly move around when it has the red orb. Everything else (defeating the tail part,blue orbs,etc. ) Is easy.red orb gets everyone. By the way,the video was fake. It moves around as he shoots coins. Potions.. Got that down. Fire. Easy. The red orb!!! The red orb of death!!! Otherwise,nothing else to say. The end!! :( |
Kingdom Hearts HD 1-5 and 2-5 ReMix
Released | Platforms |
---|---|
March 28, 2017 | PlayStation 4 |
Developer | Publisher |
Square Enix | Square Enix |
Kingdom Hearts HD I.5 and II.5 ReMix is a compilation featuring six remastered titles in the blockbuster Kingdom Hearts Action/RPG saga. Included are remastered versions of Kingdom Hearts (Final Mix version), Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts HD II (Final Mix version), and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (Final Mix version). As a bonus, HD remastered cinematic scenes from Kingdom Hearts Re:coded are also available to give fans access to even more of the Kingdom Hearts storyline.
All Kingdom Hearts ReMix Wiki Guides | |||
Kingdom Hearts HD 1-5 ReMix | Kingdom Hearts HD 2-5 ReMix | ||
Kingdom Hearts I.5 ReMix Wiki Guide | Kingdom Hearts II.5 ReMix Wiki Guide |
KINGDOM HEARTS -- A role-playing game like no other, this is the breakthrough RPG game that first joined the worlds of Disney and Square Enix. Embarking on a quest to find lost allies, you'll battle vicious boss characters and wily enemies in real-time combat.
KINGDOM HEARTS RE:CHAIN OF MEMORIES -- Sora, Donald and Goofy travel down a long road that meanders through endless fields, and come to a crossroads. As Sora stands in the crossroads, he gazes up at the night sky and thinks of his lost friends. Just then, a mysterious man approaches from down one of the branching paths. 'Ahead lies something you need,' he says, 'but to claim it, you must lose something dear.' The man vanishes before a single path, leading to a castle that eerily resembles a girl's drawing .. In the coming journey, what will Sora and his companions gain, and what will they lose?
KINGDOM HEARTS II -- Mickey Mouse joins Donald, Goofy, and Sora as they continue their adventure into several popular Disney-inspired worlds. Battling against the Heartless once more, the dedicated group of friends now find themselves up against an all-new enemy threat -- a mummy-wrapped ruler of unknown origin. Also fresh to the series is a brand new meter known as the 'Transformation Drive' that allows players to merge with other team members to create more powerful versions of themselves.
KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 DAYS -- Uncover the events that took place during the year Sora was asleep regaining his lost memories. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days revolves around Roxas, the 'other' hero from Kingdom Hearts II, and his days as a member of Organization XIII. Follow Roxas and the rest of Organization XIII across the various Disney Worlds, and discover the connection between him, Sora and the mysterious 14th member, and the reasons behind his eventual departure from the organization.
KINGDOM HEARTS BIRTH BY SLEEP -- Long before Sora took up the Keyblade, there were other Keyblade masters. One of these masters, Xehanort, disappeared one day along with his apprentice. This event proved to be a foreshadowing of great disaster to come. Aware of the threat, another master ordered his three apprentices to seek out Xehanort and his cohort. Set out for an adventure with this trio of heroes in this Kingdom Hearts prequel story.
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMix
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Keys to the Kingdom.note
'There are many worlds,
but they share the same sky—
one sky, one destiny.'
but they share the same sky—
one sky, one destiny.'
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For the game in the series titled Kingdom Hearts, see Kingdom Hearts I.
So Square Enix and Disney walk into a bar.. or in this case, an elevator.
Kingdom Hearts is a series of Action RPG games, co-produced by Squaresoft (now Square Enix) and Disney, directed by Final Fantasy character designer Tetsuya Nomura, and starring characters from both companies. It's basically Final Fantasymeets Disney (along with some other Square Enix properties later on). The series is well-known for its incredibly bizarre premise and increasingly complicated plot, not to mention its increasingly absurdsequel subtitles.
Sora is a young boy living a peaceful but boring life on an island with his best friends Riku and Kairi. This is until the day his world is engulfed by The Heartless, an eldritch species that feed on the hearts of innocent people and literally consume entire worlds. Sora is sucked through a portal and winds up in Traverse Town, a crossroads world that has become the refuge of those who have lost their worlds to the Heartless. As he begins to search for his missing friends, Sora is granted the mysterious Keyblade: the only thing capable of closing the gaps that the Heartless are using to invade the worlds.
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With the aid of Donald Duck and Goofy, two royal knights searching for their missing king, Sora must travel to all of the different worlds in The Multiverse and use the Keyblade to lock them safely away from the Heartless and those who plot to use the Heartless to further their own ends. Meanwhile Riku, having ended up in another world, becomes obsessed with rescuing Kairi at all costs and is tempted by the same power of darkness that Sora is trying to seal, setting up the two best friends for a fateful confrontation.
As Sora and Riku grapple with their newfound powers and responsibilities, an ever-expanding mythology begins to unfold around the legendary Kingdom Hearts: the source of all hearts and the goal of many an antagonist.
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Games in Series
- The Dark Seeker Saga: The first group of games contain an ongoing story detailing Sora and friends' struggle against a man known as Xehanort, who wishes to unlock the secrets of Kingdom Hearts and use it for his own nefarious purposes. Detailed below is the order the games are released in, and should be played in.
- Kingdom Hearts (2002, PlayStation 2): The first game in the series, following Sora, Donald and Goofy as they search for their missing friends and fight off the darkness invading the worlds.
- Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004, Game Boy Advance): A direct sequel to Kingdom Hearts. Unbeknownst to each other, Sora and Riku separately arrive at the mysterious Castle Oblivion and come into conflict with an Organization of hostile, black-hooded figures.
- Kingdom Hearts II (2005, PlayStation 2): The third game in the series, set roughly a year after Chain of Memories. Sora, Donald and Goofy once again travel the worlds in search of Riku and King Mickey, but find themselves waylaid by the remaining members of Organization XIII and the mysteries behind a boy named Roxas.
- Kingdom Hearts coded (2008-2010, mobile phones): A mobile phone game taking place immediately after II, following King Mickey as he attempts to decode a mysterious message left in Jiminy Cricket's journal.
- Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (2009, Nintendo DS): An Interquel taking place roughly alongside Chain of Memories about Roxas, his friends Axel and Xion, and their bittersweet experiences as members of Organization XIII.
- Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (2010, PlayStation Portable): A prequel set ten years before the first game. Follows three Keyblade wielders, Terra, Ventus, and Aqua, as they contend with the first schemes of series antagonist Xehanort.
- Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (2012, Nintendo 3DS): A sequel to Kingdom Hearts II. Sora and Riku undergo a trial to become Keyblade Masters in time for the final battle as sinister forces attempt to undermine their efforts.
- Kingdom Hearts χ (2013, PC): A Web Game set during the era of the Foretellers, the original Keyblade Masters, and the Keyblade War that ended it. The game follows a player-created Virtual Paper Doll Keyblade wielder—a series first—experiencing the consequences of the Foretellers' attempts to follow the cryptic instructions left by their vanished leader.
- Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage (2017, PlayStation 4): A shorter installment included in the Kingdom Hearts II.8 Final Chapter Prologue compilation. This sequel to Birth By Sleep explores the decade Aqua spends in the realm of darkness leading up to I.
- Kingdom Hearts III (2019, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One): The conclusion of the Dark Seeker Saga. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Mickey explore the worlds for a way to save their missing friends and end Xehanort's schemes once and for all.
Remakes and re-releases
- Kingdom Hearts Final Mix (2002, PlayStation 2): The first game's Updated Re-release, featuring rebalanced gameplay and a host of new content on top of what had already been added to the initial international release. Only released in Japan.
- Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories (2007, PlayStation 2): A 3D remake of the Gameboy Advance game Chain of Memories. Released as part of the Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ bundle in Japan and as a standalone title in North America in 2008. Features little new content other than the 3D overhaul, although the Japanese version can give/receive minor Old Save Bonuses to/from Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix.
- Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix (2007, PlayStation 2): An Updated Re-release of II. Similarly to I Final Mix, rebalances gameplay and adds new content, along with a new difficulty level. Only released in Japan. This game and Re:Chain of Memories were also released as the Japan-only bundle Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+.
- Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (2010, Nintendo DS): A remake of coded, created for international audiences. Uses a new battle system based on the Deck Command system of Birth by Sleep.
- Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Final Mix (2011, PlayStation Portable): An Updated Re-release of Birth by Sleep, containing new content along with what had been added to the international release. Only released in Japan.
- Kingdom Hearts HD I.5 ReMIX (2013, PlayStation 3): A bundle containing Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, Re:Chain of Memories, and a movie using cutscenes from 358/2 Days, all remastered in HD. Released in all territories.
- Kingdom Hearts HD II.5 ReMIX (2014, PlayStation 3): A bundle containing HD remasters of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Birth by Sleep Final Mix, and a movie using cutscenes from Re:coded. Released in all territories.
- Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ [chi] (2015, mobile phones): A tweaked mobile port of χ [chi], retelling its story for international audiences.
- Kingdom Hearts Union χ [cross] (2017, mobile phones): The 'second season' of Unchained χ [chi], following a new generation of Keyblade Masters attempting to pick up the pieces after the Keyblade War.
- Kingdom Hearts HD II.8 Final Chapter Prologue (2017, PlayStation 4): A bundle containing an Updated Re-release of 3D: Dream Drop Distance, the new 0.2 Birth By Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-, and Kingdom Hearts χ [chi] Back Cover, an original movie following the plot of χ [chi] from the Foretellers' perspective. The latter two are provided as a day one Downloadable Content patch, with only Kingdom Hearts 3D actually contained in either the Blu-ray disc itself for the physical release and on the initial download for the electronic release.
- Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX (2017, PlayStation 4): A bundle containing all the remasters previously released on the PlayStation 3 with further technical improvements.
- Kingdom Hearts - The Story So Far - (2018, PlayStation 4): A bundle containing all the compilations previously released on the PlayStation 4.
The first four games have been adapted to manga by Shiro Amano, with Kingdom Hearts IIbeing the final one. But not anymore he announced that Kingdom Hearts III will have a manga adaptation. Skipping the other games for some reason. While the manga itself does have some dramatic moments, it is mainly an abridged adaptation of the games with a lot of humor, typical of Japanese comedy in other manga.
The novel adaptations are written by Tomoco Kanemaki, with illustrations by Amano. They were translated and licensed for release and by Yen Press.
- Manga:
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Literature:
- Kingdom Hearts X
- Kingdom Hearts III
The series contains appearances by characters and locations from the following games, films and franchises.
Featured
- 101 Dalmatiansnote
- Aladdinnote
- Aladdin: The Return of Jafarnote
- Alice in Wonderlandnote
- Bambinote
- Beauty and the Beastnote
- Big Hero 6note
- Chicken Littlenote
- Cinderellanote
- Classic Disney Shortsnote
- Disney Theme Parksnote
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroadnote
- DuckTalesnote
- Dumbonote
- Fantasianote
- Frozennote
- Herculesnote
- The Hunchback of Notre Damenote
- Lilo & Stitchnote
- Stitch! The Movienote
- The Lion Kingnote
- The Little Mermaidnote
- Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeersnote
- Monsters, Inc.note
- Mulannote
- The Nightmare Before Christmasnote
- Peter Pannote
- Pinocchionote
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearlnote
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's Endnote
- Ratatouillenote
- Runaway Brainnote
- Sleeping Beautynote
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfsnote
- The Sword in the Stonenote
- Tanglednote
- Tarzannote
- Toy Storynote
- Toy Story 2note
- Toy Story That Time Forgotnote
- TRONnote
- TRON 2.0note
- TRON: Legacynote
- Winnie-the-Poohnote
- Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robinnote
- Pooh's Heffalump Movienote
- Wreck-It Ralphnote
Cameos only
- The Aristocatsnote
- Beauty and the Beast (2017)note
- Coconote
- Disney Fairiesnote
- DuckTales (2017)note
- Incredibles 2note
- The Jungle Booknote
- Lady and the Trampnote
- Luxo Jr.note
- Moananote
- Zootopianote
- The Bouncernote
- Bravely Defaultnote
- Einhändernote
- Final Fantasynote
- Final Fantasy VInote
- Final Fantasy VIInote
- Crisis Corenote
- Final Fantasy VIIInote
- Final Fantasy IXnote
- Final Fantasy Xnote
- Final Fantasy X-2note
- The World Ends with Younote
- World of Final Fantasynote
- Final Fantasy Record Keepernote
Due to lengthy periods between releases and the prevalence of Late Arrival Spoilers, spoilers from installments before 2010 are unmarked. Read at your own risk.
Kingdom Hearts as a whole provides examples of:
Tropes # to F
- 11th-Hour Superpower: The Final Form transformation in Kingdom Hearts II. Granted, it's available for a while before the final boss, but it's hard to unlock quickly. It's really, really broken too, seeing as how it automatically attacks with every movement, including flying or drinking potions.
- 13 Is Unlucky: Organization XIII are the bad guys of KHII. Dream Drop Distance introduces another example with Xehanort's ultimate plot: creating thirteen human incarnations of darkness, the seekers of darkness, as a direct counterpoint to the guardians of light.
- Aborted Arc:
- One of the main concepts of the first game was that Sora, Donald, and Goofy cannot interfere with the affairs of other worlds, since they're outsiders. This hasn't been brought up again since the first game and is mostly ignored now. It was recycled and used in Days, where Roxas and the other members of Organization XIII cannot interfere to avoid blowing their cover (at the time they were still covert and not ready to expose themselves).
- Birth by Sleep adds on that Keyblade wielders are free to travel between worlds, but are not to tell their inhabitants about the existences of worlds besides their own. However by the time of Kingdom Hearts worlds are being destroyed left and right and their inhabitants are taking refuge in Traverse Town, so this isn't an issue for Sora. Even in Birth By Sleep's timeframe though, many other characters are already aware of other worlds and can travel between them in their own ways. III once again brings this up, combining it with the first point with the framing of 'preserving the world order', but in practice it just serves as an excuse for Sora to not mention other worlds to characters. That aside, it's not even fully clear why they can't be told.
- Riku's implied feelings for Kairi from Kingdom Hearts. It was one of the main reasons he turned on Sora in the first game and for his descent to darkness. It may just count as Character Development, but the way all the Ship Tease was just completely dropped was a bit extreme.
- II likewise had Ship Tease for Roxas and Naminé that hinted they had a history together. 358/2 Days instead made Roxas' Implied Love Interest Xion. He and Naminé never even meet in Days.note The credits for HD II.8 bring the Ship Tease back, to implied Official Couple levels, but III then reverses it back to Xion, with Naminé being paired up with Riku.
- Absurdly High Level Cap:
- All games in the series let you level to Level 99, but most of the time you can play through the game and beat the final boss just fine in the Level 40-50 range. Bonus Bosses need more level grinding, and are often still very difficult at level 99. This trope is particularly bad in Chain of Memories, where there are no Bonus Bosses or any other post-game challenges, so other than getting trophies in the 1.5 port, there's no real reason to level grind unless you're having difficulty.
- Kingdom Hearts χ takes to new heights with an initial level cap of 300. This is not as unusual as other examples, as leveling up is a different creature in this game. It doesn't improve any kind of stat, but at certain levels, it grants new avatar boards which hold upgrades, such as additional AP and health, to be unlocked individually with Avatar Coins. Update 2.5.1 for the two year anniversary pushes the level cap even further at 500, with level 301 to 302 requiring well over 500 million lux points. Seeing as most veterans had beaten the current game build around level 250, the update is clearly a Bragging Rights Reward.
- Achilles' Heel: Sora, Saïx, Marluxia, and Roxas may be extremely powerful, but depriving them of their weapons would render them almost powerless. Later on, Roxas, in his battle against Sora, is seen to have outgrown his problem by becoming a very powerful mage. If Sora is without his Keyblade, it would take many hits to take down even the weakest of enemies, although using magic is still as effective as if you still had the Keyblade. With that said, given the nature of Keyblades, disarming their wielders is incredibly difficult.
- Action Girl: Numerous ones throughout the series, thanks to an assortment of both Disney and Final Fantasy party members. For the original generation, we have Aqua and Xion. Kairi gets a Keyblade in II and briefly battles a bunch of Heartless, but she does not really get into asskicking mode until III.
- Adaptational Badass: Many of the Disney heroes who join you to save their worlds show only moderate combat prowess in their own franchises if they even fight at all, but stand against hordes of Heartless with no trouble. Most notably MickeyMouse, Donald Duck and Goofy, who are among the strongest heroes in the story.
- Adorable Evil Minions: The Heartless are the well-deserved page picture. Some of them are just so darn cute!
- Adorably Precocious Child: Ienzo, who follows around his mentor in an oversized labcoat, and Young Riku, who is abnormally serious and mature for his tender years. Both are definitely played for cute.
- Adult Fear: Imagine this: It's stormy outside - really stormy. Your child has been in his room all evening. You go upstairs to call him in for dinner.. the window's open, he's gone, and so are his two friends and their boats. He doesn't come back for a year - during which you have no idea where he is, or if he's safe, or if he can ever come back. (The parents of the main characters never get more than a shadow in a doorway..) On the other hand, Dream Drop Distance states that a world remains frozen in time once it is swallowed by the darkness. Also, due to events of Chain of Memories, the parents forget about their son until Namine restored Sora's memories, which means that they only started worrying at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts II. Which might make it worse for them once they realize they completely forgot of their missing son's existence.
- Aerith and Bob: You've got Sora, Kairi and Riku (distinctly Japanese names), amongst mainly English or more standard names (and the trio of Birth By Sleep have Latin names). In some cases it's understandable, though, such as with some Disney villains or Organization XIII.
- Alas, Poor Villain:
- Clayton was technically controlled by the Heartless through his heart's obvious darkness, and Sora, Tarzan, and co. express pity after he's killed.
- In III, virtually every villain gets at least a moment of empathy from the heroes, right up to Master Xehanort.
- Alien Geometries: Castle Oblivion. It exists at the very edge of light and darkness, it's far larger than it looks, its layout/inhabitants change to match the memories of an occupant, and it somehow forces whomever enters to play a card game.
- Alien Non-Interference Clause: Very early on in Kingdom Hearts I, it's stated that Sora and co. shouldn't interfere with the affairs of other worlds during their mission because they are outsiders. Sora quickly decides to ignore that rule when he sees Alice in trouble on their visit to Wonderland, and the scope of the villains' plans eventually make it impossible to not meddle anyway.
- Alleged Lookalikes:
- Sora and Roxas are noted to resemble each other by several characters due to them being the whole human and Nobody versions of the same person. They do have the same faces, but their hairstyles are different, their colors are different shades of blond, and overall it is hard to think why others see them as identical. It is not helped by the fact that when other human/Nobody pairs start showing up, those ones actually are basically identical.
- In the same vein, Axel states in a report in Days that when he first sees Xion without her hood, she looks exactly like Naminé. Again, they have the same faces, but Naminé has a much longer hair than Xion, and the colors are not even the same shade, being total opposites (Naminé's is light blonde, while Xion's is jet black).
- All Myths Are True: The concurrent existence of multiple Disney worlds based on different real-world cultures and mythologies has some interesting implications. Agrabah proves the existence of the djinn of Islam through Genie, Olympus shows the Greek pantheon is real, The Land of Dragons shows some Chinese religious beliefs in regards to ancestral reverence are real, and Halloweentown shows that Christian holidays like Halloween and Christmas exist in this universe, with Sora, Donald, and Goofy's pre-existing knowledge of Santa Claus implying that Christmas is observed on their own worlds. From all that, one could extrapolate that Jesus and the Judeo-Christian God exist in this universe too.
- All There in the Manual: Many of the explanations for the Kingdom Hearts mysteries are in the Ultimania guides which, surprise surprise, will never see the light of day outside of Japan. Several minor lore points have also been explained in interviews with Nomura. 2017 also brought on a new standard of obscure side material by explaining a minor plot point of 0.2 through a dramatic line-reading at an orchestra concert.
- Alpha Bitch: Larxene in Chain of Memories and III thinks nothing of sadism and meanness towards enemy and ally (the Organization) alike.
- Alternate Continuity:
- All characters from previous works are subject to Broad Strokes regarding which of their adventures from their original films have happened. For instance, Jack seems to have caused trouble in Christmas Town before Kingdom Hearts II, yet Oogie Boogie was killed in the first game in a wholly different manner. And of course, it's highly unlikely the Final Fantasy cast members are from the same continuities as in that series (Leon hanging out with characters from Final Fantasy VII, one of which being Aerith, is kind of a dead giveaway).
- Averted with the Toy Story world in III. Nomura confirmed that the adventures Sora and Co. have there actually take place between the second and third movies (the yard sale sign from 2 can even be found behind Andy's house).
- Always Night: Traverse Town, Halloween Town, Port Royal, and the World that Never Was are always depicted at nighttime.
- Ambition Is Evil: Every character who has sought to further their own power or knowledge, no matter how just their cause is, ends up either being a villain or aligned with one. This also extends to simply having the ambition to leave their home. The main character, Sora, is notably lacking in ambition.
- Amusement Park: Prankster's Paradise (Pinocchio) is primarily based on the amusement park Pleasure Island from the film.
- Anachronic Order:
- The Reports in any given game. You never collect them in numerical order, leaving holes in the story for other entries to fill in. However, they're usually written in a way to tease you with what's in those other entries, and usually explain some plot revelation that just happened. The Ansem Reports from the first game deserve special mention. They were given to you in such a way to still paint Ansem as a Big Good protagonist, but after The Reveal late in the first stage of the Hollow Bastion level, Aerith gives you the pages Maleficent had in her possession, which radically change the way the player interprets those early report pages.
- The games themselves. The first three games were released in chronological order, but 358/2 Days takes place before II (with the first part of the story taking place duringChain of Memories), Birth by Sleep and χ take place before all of them, while Coded takes place before The Stinger of Kingdom Hearts II, but its stinger proceeds from the ending of II so it kinda got things moving forward. 3D finally got things completely moving forward again, while 0.2 Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passagetook a third option by having the main action transpire during the original Kingdom Hearts but told via a flashback being told in the present day immediately following 3D and leading straight into Kingdom Hearts III.
- Anatomy of the Soul: Everyone has a Heart, Soul, and Body. Well, every normal person. Individual worlds also have Hearts, and in-game text alludes to them being somewhat sentient. Memory is also part of the equation, hinted to be another aspect of the Heart.
- Hearts contain the emotions and identity of an individual, and are made up of light and darkness. If the Heart is overcome by Darkness, it can separate itself from the Body and Soul and become a Heartless. It's accepted by most characters that a person without a Heart isn't really a person at all. The reality is slightly less complex; anyone or anything that wants to think of itself as a person can likely generate a Heart.
- The Soul is seemingly simple—it's the animating force that gives life and movement to a body and heart. It's also translated as 'Spirit' and synonymous with 'Will' later in the series. Theoretically, if you somehow give or transplant a soul to an object, that object will gain a mind of its own and move around. In extreme circumstances, the Soul by itself could be enough to keep a Body moving. When a Heartless is formed, the Body and Soul left behind may reanimate into a Nobody, if the individual was particularly strong-willed.
- The Body is Exactly What It Says on the Tin—the thing that holds the Heart and is animated by the Soul.
- Memory is hinted to be similar to one's Mind, and is critical to the function of a Heart but not entirely the same. Nobodies have no Hearts but retain Memory to teach them how to fake emotions, Replicas are Artificial Humans made of Memory, and Memory can be used to strengthen or weaken one's Heart. Additionally, Chain of Memories says memories of different people can be connected, like links in a chain, and that chain can be broken, mended or reorganized. This means that as Sora forgets people as he proceeds through Castle Oblivion, the people he forgets about forget him, too.
- And I Must Scream: The Birth by Sleep video at the end of KHII Final Mix shows Ventus being frozen completely and thrown off a cliff, and still conscious at the end of it (you can see his eyes moving).
- And Now For Something Completely Different:
- After being left in suspense for years after the cliffhangers of Kingdom Hearts II, the next game chronologically speaking is..coded, a game with no (immediate) impact on the overarching plot or series lore besides providing some backstory for the cliffhanger at the end of KH2 and revealing the contents of Mickey's letter. It took the ending of the re-release re: coded to offer a major, story-shattering development, namely The Reveal that when a person's Heartless and Nobody are destroyed, their original self will return, and thus Master Xehanort's return is nigh.
- Then there is χ, which was released during the nearly 7-year long period between Dream Drop Distance and the highly anticipated III. Unlike other titles, which were released in video game consoles, the game was released for the web browsers and mobile phones. Most importantly, however, is the plot, which is extremely disconnected from the others. For one thing, it is a Prequel in the Lost Age and features few of the series mainstays outside of gameplay. The story is also not part of the Dark Seeker saga and does not feature Xehanort or his incarnations as a villain. Plus, the game is still being updated to this day and currently has no definitive conclusion; the original game ends with the Keyblade War, while the updates reach into the years in the aftermath of the event, but they still don't bridge the game's events with those of the present outside of a few vague connections.
- Animated Armor:
- There are numerous Heartless modelled after suits of armor. Guard Armor in the first game and 358/2 Days is the most prominent. The latter game also has a Palette Swap called the 'Powered Armor'.
- In Birth By Sleep and KHIIFM+ the Lingering Will is another one. Birth By Sleep: Final Mix add Eraqus' and Master Xehanort's empty armor as a pair of Bonus Bosses, Armor of the Master and No Heart.
- The living suits of armor in Beast's Castle.
- Anti-Frustration Features: Most worlds in Kingdom Hearts I were non-linear and featured both puzzle- and platforming-oriented navigation, creating many points where players didn't understand where or how to proceed in the story. Topping this off were bosses with special gimmicks, like Oogie Boogie or the first fight with Ursula, which pushed the basic story progression of the first entry into Guide Dang It! territory. Later entries would include an Information bar that would hint towards the player's next step in the story or towards special boss mechanics (and also gave the developers freedom to create more exotic encounters), as well as the addition of Maps that would highlight all the doors in a tile.
- Anti-Villain: The Nobodies and Organization XIII only want to become whole beings again, and they antagonize the heroes due to their unscrupulous methods. Except Xemnas and Xigbar, they just want Kingdom Hearts for its power.
- Arc Number: The numbers 3, 7, and 13 show up a lot. To recap some of the most prominent ways;
- 3 — three party members at a time, the many Power Trios in the series and the associated Trinity motif, three realms (Light, Darkness, Between), three aspects of being (Heart, Body, Soul), three types of Keyblades (Heart, Light, Darkness).
- 7 — Seven Princesses of Heart, seven Organization members left remaining in II (not counting Roxas), seven Orichalcum+ for the Ultima Weapon in II, seven days left in Roxas's vacation, Ansem and his six apprentices, the Master of Masters and his six apprentices, seven letters in 'Xehanort' minus the 'X'.
- 13 — Organization XIII, the 'XIII Blades' attack in II, thirteen letters in 'Kingdom Hearts', usually 13 worlds in each game (accordingly, 13 floors in Castle Oblivion), 13 matches in the Mirage Arena (not counting the Final Mix additions), and several of the mentioned trios of characters have 13 letters between their three names (Sora, Riku, Kairi).
- This trope comes to its head in 3D; There are three Xehanorts (Ansem, Xemnas, Young Xehanort) acting to revive Master Xehanort, and the true χ-blade is made up of seven Hearts of Light and thirteen Hearts of Darkness.
- Arc Symbol:
- The Recusant's Sigil, which happens to be the letter 'X'. This is due to Xehanort's fascination with the χ-blade.
- Obviously, hearts, but also stars which usually represent destiny or the intertwining of destinies.
- Sea salt Ice-cream, which is shared between each main character groups throughout the series and seems to represent the ties of friendship.
- The Gazing Eye, a blue, cat-like eye adorning some darkness-aligned weapons. Unchained X Back Cover explains they represent the Master of Master's eye and his ability to see the future. The eye on Master Xehanort's Keyblade actually is this eye.
- Arc Words:
- 'We'll go together' first appears in the 'Another Side, Another Story' secret ending of Kingdom Hearts, actually plays out in II, and is used again in Dream Drop Distance (albeit mistranslated in English to 'come with me').
- 'Reconnect' has been showing up in the secret endings since Birth by Sleep, all the way up to the secret ending of III.
- X Back Cover adds 'May your heart be your guiding key', and variations thereof, and becomes a recurring example to the end of the Dark Seeker Saga, and likely beyond.
- Art Evolution: The hand-drawn artwork has gotten much more anime-influenced, angular, and thick-lined over time, but this is less an aspect of this series and more one of Tetsuya Nomura himself. There's also a good deal of evolution in the character models, but that makes sense due to better technology. Even so, it's hard to tell Aurora from KH1 and Aurora from Birth by Sleep are the same person.
- The Artifact:
- The Final Fantasy elements have become this. After being important to the plots of the first three games, 358/2 Days and III didn't include them at all, coded saw their presence reduced, Birth By Sleep was limited to Zack (though there were aborted plans for other inclusions), and 3D went for The World Ends With You characters instead of Final Fantasy.
- Maleficent, once a Big Bad, has lost relevance since the first game. Starting with KH2 onward, she appears to do evil.. just because. However, an additional scene in the movie version of Coded that comes with Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix reveals she is looking for a Book of Prophecies; this is what she was doing in Dream Drop Distance and it is her goal in III.
- The Disney elements have also taken ever more of a back seat to Kingdom Hearts' own original mythology and plotlines. By this point, the worlds' plots and characterizations are lifted directly from the movies with the only contribution to the overall plot being Character Development for the main characters, and the Disney villains are almost never more than Minibosses, who understand the metaplot even less than the heroes, and exist only to be manipulated by the real bad guys (who are all the same person). The only Disney characters to maintain a consistently major role are Donald, Goofy, Mickey, and their mentor Yen Sid.
- As a side-effect of this, Kairi, the supposed female lead of the series, also became The Artifact from Kingdom Hearts II and onward, since her main role as a Princess of Heart meant squat since the other Princesses of Heart were all Disney characters and thus the whole lot of then fell Out of Focus. However, the end of Dream Drop Distance doubly reverses this by bringing the Princesses back into play in the metaplot and finally paying off on the Foreshadowing of Kairi as a Keyblade wielder from KH2.
- The Reports. Each game has the Reports or some similar story mechanic, brief papers on the actions of an important side character that fill in some critical backstory details and what they've been doing off-screen. In the original game the Ansem Reports were on his research into the Heartless, so it made perfect sense in-story how the Disney villains would drop the pages of the report when defeated and gave a reason Sora and the player would want to acquire them. Starting with II and becoming more apparent in each game, there is little connection between how the pages are found and what they contain, and even less justification for why they exist, as their tone shifts from being a researcher's lab notes to being the personal journals of characters. However, the Reports remain a part of the series because it's an effective way to explain plot points not easily given to the player otherwise, and collecting them to slowly piece together backstory and tease upcoming plot revelations is just a part of the series' style.
- Art Shift:
- The art style of the game will typically shift between worlds to something appropriate to that world. Sora and company are typically not affected by this change unless they need to actually alter their appearance to fit in like in Halloween Town. This leads to some weird dissonance, especially in the worlds based on live-action films when you see more 'realistic' characters like Jack Sparrow standing next to Goofy in Port Royal, or when you see the obviously more stylized Sora standing next to the Flynns in the Grid.
- Halloween Town is probably the most obvious example, as even the Heartless get different, more detailed textures so that they look closer to the style of Tim Burton's puppets (Shadows have a grainy skin texture, Soldiers' armor is stitched up and rusted, Wight Knights' bandages are given a darkened gauze look, Emerald Blues' body looks like a strange button-up coat, etc.).
- III uses a 'Kingdom Shader' system, which alters the lighting and general look of a world to give each its own unique vibe.
- Ascended Extra:
- Surprisingly enough, Cerberus. In the original movie, he shows up in the background for all of five seconds and only interacts with the hero near the climax. Despite this, he has been a recurring boss throughout the series.
- Yen Sid was introduced in Kingdom Hearts II as Mickey's old mentor, and he only showed up to deliver some exposition at the start of the game. Birth By Sleep revealed he's a Keyblade Master, and as of coded he's effectively the Big Good.
- As Long as There is Evil: As long as darkness exists within the hearts of sapient entities, the Heartless (and Nobodies) will continue to spawn.
- As You Know:
- In KH II..Yen Sid: If one such as you, Donald, yields to the Darkness in their heart, they too will become a Heartless. But you know this.
- Also, recapping the end of the first game..Sora: Then I guess we better go find the King first!
Donald: But where could he be?
Goofy: Well, we won't know 'til we look.
Sora: Yeah. And the King must know where Riku is, 'cause the two of them were together in the Realm of Darkness when we closed the door. You know, after defeating Ansem. - Also seen in Re:Chain of Memories multiple times, though justified there, since Sora, Donald and Goofy knew they were losing their memories and wanted to make sure they still remembered what they were doing there.
- In KH II..
- Attack Its Weak Point: A staple of bosses in this series, most of whom can only be damaged if attacked in one specific part of their body. Much of the game's difficulty comes from the fact that these are often either hard to reach or are where the boss deals the majority of its damage from.
- Author Appeal: Nomura's obsessions with zippers and belts manifests in many character designs. He also worked sea-salt ice cream into II after visiting Tokyo Disneyland and enjoying the treat.
- Award-Bait Song:
- Well, it's based on Disney movies isn't it? Protip: Search iTunes for Utada, the singer, to score the Japanese-lyric versions of both songsnote
- As expected, Kingdom Hearts III gives us another one; 'Don't Think Twice', also known as 'Chikai' ('oath') in Japanese.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Sora's universe saving feats and daring swordplay are made even more impressive when you realize that unlike his predecessors, he is completely self-taught, his fighting style developing itself over the course of the series from his sparring with wooden swords at home. This shows when you compare him to Terra, Aqua, and Ven. They all fight in their own individual styles that show they have familiarity and training with their Keyblades. Sora wields his like a club or a baseball bat, and shows little finesse. This changes in Kingdom Hearts II, where he's a bit more experienced. The year of training Roxas had that Sora absorbed probably helped.
- Back from the Dead:
- Kill a Heartless and then the Nobody, and the original person comes back to life. Master Xehanort, Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus, Ienzo, Isa, and Lea have all been revived in this manner. The only known exceptions to this rule are Sora and Kairi; various odd circumstances surrounding the losses of their hearts and the births of their Nobodies allowed for both of them to exist as normal humans alongside their Nobodies until both pairs went for Split Personality Merges.
- Maleficent also counts. Killed off near the end of the first game, and then brought back to life through rather vague means in II. χ finally reveals it, and it's extremely mind-shattering. It turns out that Riku unlocking her heart somehow gave her time travel powers, which she used to take her to hundreds of years in the past after Sora defeated her. Specifically, she went to the aftermath of the Keyblade War in order to begin her world domination plans. However, the Master of Masters had devised a fail safe in case someone interferes with fate, so he created a data version of Enchanted Dominion, where Maleficent was forcefully shoved into. Maleficent had no choice but to return to the present and ended up in Yen Sid's tower, but not before she gained information about the Book of Prophecies and the Black Box. Wrap your head around that.
- The True Organization XIII is mostly composed of formerly dead people, whether it's through plain resurrection or time travel shenanigans. Demyx, Larxene, Luxord, Marluxia, Vexen, and Xigbar are reconstituted as humans after their deaths in Chain of Memories and II, only to release their hearts to become Nobodies once again. Ansem, Riku Replica, Terra-Xehanort, Vanitas, Xemnas, Xion, and Young Xehanort are brought through time-displaced hearts inhabiting Replica bodies. Finally, Master Xehanort is back after the deaths of Ansem and Xemnas, as stated above.
- The Replica program is also used to give Roxas and Naminé physical bodies in III.
- Badass Longcoat: Standard attire for the members of Organization XIII is to wear a long black cloak. It's implied this helps protect them from darkness when travelling between worlds.
- Bag of Spilling: Every single game resets the skillsets of Sora, Donald and Goofy, but most also justify it.
- In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, the trio enter Castle Oblivion and have their memories erased, and they have to relearn their skills as they explore the castle. At the end of the game their memories get 'restored', as in restored back to when they entered the castle, explaining why they start over in scratch again in II (on top of spending a year in a coma).
- In Kingdom Hearts coded you play as with darkness, which would make him a Well-Intentioned Extremist, if not for his heavy-handedness and penchant for screwing up countless people.
- Batman Can Breathe in Space:
- Arguably, this is the case of all the heroes and villains in the series, considering every major Final Boss takes place in the middle of space.
- Monstro can travel between worlds but seems just fine.
- Beehive Barrier: Seen in protective spells and in boss fights or event battles, locking you in the area.
- Beta Test Baddie: Organization XIII are driven to acquire hearts since, as Nobodies, they have no hearts of their own and are incomplete.
- Big Bad: Master Xehanort is the overarching antagonist of the series, acting through various alternate incarnations. Everything wrong in the game universe can be blamed on him or his allies directly or indirectly. In order:
- Kingdom Hearts I: Ansem, Seeker of Darkness and the Council of Disney Villains led by Maleficent
- Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories: Marluxia for Sora's story and Ansem for Riku's plotline
- Kingdom Hearts II: Xemnas
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days: Depending on your definition of Big Bad, either Xemnas, Saïx or the Heartless themselves.
- Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep: Master Xehanort and Vanitas
- Kingdom Hearts coded: Sora's Heartless
- Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance: Master Xehanort again or more specifically his time traveling teenage self
- Kingdom Hearts III: Master Xehanort for the last time, with Xigbar (who turns out to be the Master of Masters' sixth apprentice, Luxu, in a new body) being The Man in Front of the Man to him.
- Big Boo's Haunt: Halloween Town is a town full of ghosts and other supernatural beings.
- Big Damn Heroes: Lots of them.
- Chain of Memories:
- Donald and Goofy block Larxene from attacking Sora after she dealt him a Breaking Speech in the 12th Floor.
- Mickey saves Riku from being possessed by Ansem again after defeating Lexaeus.
- II:
- In the climax of II, Maleficent and Pete decide to fight the Heartless by themselves while Sora and friends battle Xemnas.
- Mickey makes it a game mechanic; when Sora falls in certain boss battles in II, Mickey may arrive to fight in his stead and revive him.
- In Birth by Sleep, Ven is menaced by someone he trusted, and from his POV, Terra comes out of absolutely nowhere to save him.
- Dream Drop Distance:
- Ven gets to pull one as a disembodied heart no less when he gives his Keyblade Armor to Sora to protect his heart.
- And Lea gets to be the Big Damn Hero twice, first by saving Minnie and Mickey from Maleficent and Pete, and then saving Sora from Master Xehanort.
- III:
- Vexen sends Dusks to save Hayner from being harmed by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness.
- The Keyblade Graveyard finale has three instances, two of them happening one after another. The first is when the Guardians are menaced by the Demon Tornado for the second time, the fallen Dandelions' Keyblades appear to help Sora destroy it. The second happens when Riku Replica sends a rain of Heartless onto the Guardians, Yen Sid drops out of the sky and fends them off while the others (minus Donald and Goofy) move forward. Finally, the third is when Xemnas is about to kill Xion, Roxas drops out of the sky and sends a laser that forces Xemnas to back down.
- Chain of Memories:
- Big Door: The Door to Darkness and the door to Xemnas's artificial Kingdom Hearts reality. The big door in Disney Castle has a smaller one built in.
- Big Good: Yen Sid was probably the closest thing to this during Kingdom Hearts II, but in later games, he's really stepped up to the plate. Ansem the Wise has shades of this as well. The series started this way by teasing Ansem and Mickey as the Big Good characters in the series. Mickey still shows shades of this as time goes on, but Ansem played the audience hard in the first game.
- Bio Data: Ansem the Wise hides research data within Sora, although it is left vague on how he does this.
- Bishōnen Line:
- Nobodies are stated to take forms closer to their original bodies as they grow more powerful, with the weakest looking like twitching white jumpsuits and the very strongest being physically indistinguishable from normal humans.
- Can also apply to the Heartless as well, though only two examples exist: Xehanort's Heartless (which needed a body to remain stable, but changes the body to resemble Xehanort) and Scar (immediately after losing his heart and during the boss fight; the second visit ends with what is either the true form of Scar's Heartless or a One-Winged Angel form, the massive beastly Groundshaker).
- Bittersweet Ending: The standard kind of ending to the franchise, though they usually end on a high note for the most part. Exceptions to this rule include 358/2 Days and Birth By Sleep, which both have Downer Endings when taken on their own but resemble Bittersweet Endings when one considers what happens later on on a chronological scale, and Kingdom Hearts II, which is unambiguously a case of Earn Your Happy Ending only hampered by the fact that it isn't the final chronological adventure. The Dark Seeker Saga ultimately ends with Xehanort defeated, the worlds saved, and all of the protagonists safe and happy.. except Sora, who appears to have given up his life to save Kairi's.
- Black Cloak:
- Comes complete with an In the Hood function! The cloaks themselves are stated by Word of God to be protection against the Realm of Darkness' corruption, but several people who wear them (namely the Organization XIII) don't really need that due to not having hearts to corrupt.
- It was said repeatedly that darkness always threatens to swallow up Nobodies because of their non-existence, so it's likely to stave it off. 3D reveals that the Nobodies do have hearts, so Xemnas kept them in uniform to protect his potential vessels.
- Black Magic: The ever-vague 'darkness' everyone keeps talking about can be controlled by strong people, but for those who aren't..
- Blessed with Suck: The Keyblades. All-powerful weapons that also look pretty dang neat, but no one we've seen who has been chosen to wield one has had a good life. Even freaking Mickey Mouse can't get away from it! The Heartless also constantly follow Keyblade wielders no matter where they go.
- Bloodless Carnage: Zigzagged in the manga, where characters sometimes are visibly wounded, yet still bloodless.
- Blue Means Cold: Zigzagged. Hades from Hercules appears, with his blue-flame hair that's cold in the movie, but there's no mention of it being cold in the game.
- Bonus Boss: This series loves this trope. The most insane bonus bosses are usually an Early-Bird Cameo for plot-central characters. To clarify:
- Kingdom Hearts has Phantom, Kurt Zisa, Ice Titan, Sephiroth, and, in Final Mix, Xemnas.
- Kingdom Hearts II has Sephiroth again, Hades Paradox Cup Match 49, the five Absent Silhouettes, Organization XIII Data, and Terra's Lingering Will (the last three only appear in Final Mix).
- Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days has Dustflier.
- Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep has Vanitas Remnant and the time-travelling young Master Xehanort. The Mirage Arena has Mimic Master and four incarnations of the Iron Imprisoner. The Final Mix re-release adds three more in the Mirage Arena - Monstro and the animated armors of Eraqus ('Armor of the Master') and Xehanort ('No Heart').
- Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance gives us Julius from Runaway Brain, a boss fight NO ONE saw coming.
- Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage has a hidden gauntlet ending in a fourth match against Phantom Aqua with a completely new and much more powerful set of attacks, often referred to in this incarnation as Zodiac Aqua.
- Boring, but Practical: Shadow Heartless can flatten themselves against the ground, making them invulnerable to attacks.
- Boss Banter: Pretty much every single humanoid boss does this (and a few of the non-humanoid ones).
- Boss Remix: A lot of themes are remixed as boss themes sooner or later, particularly character themes, and many boss themes are themselves remixed, sometimes together, to make a new boss theme. One of the most striking examples is the final boss theme of Dream Drop Distance 'Eye of Darkness', which is a remix of the Dive to the Heart theme, as Riku has had to dive into Sora's heart and fight him to free him from darkness.
- Broad Strokes:
- The events of the original Disney films are subject to this. Some worlds feature a retelling of the plot of the source franchise with Sora tagging along, others imply the events of the source franchise occurred before Sora visited, or haven't occurred yet, and many just have an original plot. That said, the relationships of characters changes as well, and in coded and Chain of Memories when the worlds visited are composed of memories and data that aren't 100% accurate, anything could happen.
- Averted with the Toy Story world in KH III. Word of God confirmed that the adventures Sora and Co. have there actually take place between the second and third movies.
- Button Mashing: A common complaint about the series, and it's not unfounded. Arguably the worst offender of the series is KH II, where upon entering a Drive Form like Valor Form or Master Form, you basically hit X until there was nothing left to attack. The series is growing out of it though due to better integration of special attacks and enemies starting to require more strategy. In Birth By Sleep for example, relying on just mashing attack to win and not properly building a balanced deck will get you crushed.
- Caged Inside a Monster: The Parasite Cage Heartless is, aptly named, a large monster that spent one of the two battles with it keeping Pinnochio trapped behind its bar like teeth.
- Camera Lock-On: Tapping R locks you onto an enemy. Although with the loads of enemies, it's one of the few times in a game that this trope does not avert Camera Screw; it can be hard to lock onto a specific enemy.
- Captain Oblivious: For the so-called key that connects everything, Sora, Donald, and Goofy seem to be the lone people not privy to the Gambit Pileup in a universe full to the brim with Chessmasters and Magnificent Bastards.
- Cast Full of Pretty Boys: There's a lot of cute hunks around. Sora, Riku, Roxas, Ventus, Terra, Vanitas, many of the members of Organization XIII, etc.
- Cast Herd: There's somewhere in the neighbourhood of 200 major and minor characters, but the vast majority of them are divided among the various Disney worlds. Out of the entire cast, only a (relative) few have the means to travel between worlds.
- Cerebus Syndrome: The first game was a lighthearted, episodic adventure quest, and didn't really get tense until the arrival of Maleficent and Ansem. II and Chain of Memories began exploring the mysteries of the heart, soul and memories, the true value of human life, and had stronger overarcing stories, and then coded and 358/Days explored the same issues in-depth. Birth By Sleep took this trope and ran with it by introducing the most sinister villain and the highest-stakes story yet while also making the hero-villain dynamics more personal, and with 3D the series shows little sign of stopping from getting even darker.
- Chained by Fashion: The Shadow Stalker/Dark Thorn boss.
- Chaos Architecture: The layout of various worlds changes between games, particularly between I and II. Word of God is that Traverse Town and The World That Never Was are anomalies with canonically changing layouts, and sometimes it's merely visiting a different part of a world than what was seen in another game, but usually it's this trope.
- The Chick:
- Both Ariel and Mulan, the only two female guest party members in games I and II respectively, fill this role. Ariel and Sora seem to form a True Companions bond, not to mention with a little flirting in the first game. And of all the new party members you meet in II, Mulan is among the closest allies. Also Kairi plays this role in the series overall.
- Tinker Bell is the only female summon in the games, being summonable in the first, and appearing alongside Peter Pan in the third.
- Child Soldiers: People chosen by Keyblades can be as young as 3 years old. Remember, once chosen, they will live out the rest of their lives endangared by an army of Eldritch Abominations, whom they must fight for the safety of The Multiverse.
- The Chosen Many: Keyblade wielders were a knighthood.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder:
- Axel. At one point in Chain of Memories, he betrays a senior member of the Organization, killing him, to get into the good graces of another faction betraying the main Organization. However, he's actually The Mole, set to betray that faction under Xemnas's orders, but then he kills a member particularly loyal to Xemnas because he's secretly planning to betray Xemnas alongside Saïx, because Xemnas is betraying the whole Organization. And then later on, during Days, he betrays that alliance when he develops friendship with Roxas and Xion, and then inadvertently betrays them, too! You need a friggin' flowchart to keep track of this dude. Lexaeus said it best:'And then there is Axel. Who knows what that one is thinking.'
- The Organization's lack of discipline was lampshaded by Sora in a mocking way:
- Organization XIII has a real problem with this. Virtually every other member is working on a scheme that works against the group's agenda.
- Axel. At one point in Chain of Memories, he betrays a senior member of the Organization, killing him, to get into the good graces of another faction betraying the main Organization. However, he's actually The Mole, set to betray that faction under Xemnas's orders, but then he kills a member particularly loyal to Xemnas because he's secretly planning to betray Xemnas alongside Saïx, because Xemnas is betraying the whole Organization. And then later on, during Days, he betrays that alliance when he develops friendship with Roxas and Xion, and then inadvertently betrays them, too! You need a friggin' flowchart to keep track of this dude. Lexaeus said it best:
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Due to Square Enix being unable to secure the rights to use Tarzan in future installments, Deep Jungle hasn't appeared again after the first game and no references to the trio's visit there are ever made. It's quite notable, thanks to said world being a strong development factor in Sora and Donald's friendship.
- Clothes Make the Superman: Sora's drive forms in KH2 are a function of the new outfit he receives in the game, enchanted by the Good Fairies.
- Clueless Aesop: The series in general seems to be torn between two conflicting cultural beliefs. Namely, it tries to adhere to both a Black and White Moralityand a Balance Between Good and Evil. In this story, Light Is Good and Dark Is Evil as far as both aesthetics and characterization goes, but the lore professes that too much of either side (light included) is a bad thing. This confused narrative was inevitable, because the story itself is the brainchild of both a Western company built on children's cartoons heaped with strong Christian values, as well as an Eastern company whose stories typically carry a strong Buddhist bent. Thus, KH tries to be all over the map with its themes, which can be very confusing.
- Collectible Card Game: Both as a gameplay mechanic in Chain of Memories, where you fight using cards as attacks and abilities, and as an actual collectible card game.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The 2008-2012 handheld games were each given a prominent color motif: Birth by Sleep is blue, Days is red, coded is yellow, and 3D is pink.
- Combined Energy Attack: Trinity Limit combines the power of three heroes to attack.
- Combo Breaker:
- A rare non-Fighting Game example, starting from KH2 onwards, some bosses have a 'revenge value,' which causes them to instantly retaliate in a specific way if you hit them too many times in succession. Sephiroth, for instance, will teleport out of Sora's combo and attack from a safe distance. The Payback moves in Birth By Sleep allow the player to do this, to some extent, by retaliating immediately after being knocked back by an enemy.
- KH2 actually tracks twoCombo Breaker values for bosses: one ('Revenge Value') based on number of hits that gradually resets when the boss isn't being attacked, and one ('flinch count') based on how many times the boss plays their flinching animation that never resets until the revenge triggers. Certain A.I. Breaker strategies trigger one type of revenge to override the other, more dangerous one.
- Comic-Book Time: The only time that the in-game characters are portrayed as being of a different age between games is when it's plot-relevant. Otherwise, they don't age. This wouldn't be that obvious if it wasn't for the fact that the earliest game in the franchise chronical-wise, Kingdom Hearts χ, is set before the first keyblade war (an event that happened a long time before the Birth By Sleep, the next game in the series chronical-wise), and that several of the characters that appear in the game, like Snow White and Aladdin, apparently exist within that era as well. Even Mickey, Donald and Goofy can be encountered within that game within their modern-day Kingdom Hearts design. Their appearance within Kingdom Hearts X can be justified in that their worlds are simulated from the Book of Prophesy á la the Datascape from Kingdom Hearts coded, essentially allowing a form of pseudo-time travel to occur for the player characters of that gamenote .
- Complexity Addiction: The more that Xehanort's plans are revealed, the more it looks like he's actually allergic to Mundane Solutions. Case in point: Dream Drop Distance reveals he's turned his entire life into a Stable Time Loop — a loop that required his past efforts to fail — just to set up a Long Game for Kingdom Hearts III.
- Composite Character: This happens often in the Disney worlds, usually because some of the characters are absent in their video game counterparts. These roles are usually filled by one of the original Kingdom Hearts characters. For example:
- Sora takes on the role of Christopher Robin in the Winnie-the-Pooh world.
- Xaldin seems to play the role of Forte in the Beauty and the Beast world.
- Terra replaces the huntsman in the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs world.
- Ventus replaces Gus in the Cinderella world.
- Marluxia takes the place of the Stabbington brothers in the Tangled world.
- In the Caribbean, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Gibbs take most of the role played by Bootstrap note .
- Continuity Lockout:
- You have to play all the previous games in the series, or at least know their stories, to understand any other given game. Birth By Sleep tells its own story since it's a prequel, but a lot of references and foreshadowing to the rest of the series will be lost on newcomers.
- This is not helped by the Final Mix versions including cutscenes that later games treat as canon, and the Final Mix versions were originally never released outside Japan. Thank goodness for the internet and newer compilation releases, though some versions pare down certain handheld titles to just cutscenes.
- Additionally, the series spans multiple consoles — PS2, PSP, GBA, DS, mobile phones, browser games, and 3DS. Anyone who does not own all those consoles is left out.
- As of 3D and the PS3 era, the series is finally making an effort to avert this and make it easier for new players to catch up. 3D contains plot summaries of the past games with character bios and plot points recapped, and the entire series was ported to PS3, including the Final Mix versions at last. Thus, all you need is a PS3 to play most of the games, and the two left out (358/2 Days and coded were given cutscene plot summaries, not full ports) are still on the DS, so once you get a 3DS for 3D, you can play those two as well.
- Even better; thanks to 1.5 and 2.5 getting remade for the PS4, every single title save for Unchained X is available in at least some form on a single system.
- Cool Key: Keyblades. Doesn't get much cooler than a key that not only doubles as a sword, but can open literally any lock or barrier.
- Cosmic Keystone: The Keyholes serve this purpose for each individual world; their safety keeps the world from falling into darkness.
- Crazy Enough to Work: The series concept itself for starters. A Disney and Final Fantasy crossover where anime-esque heroes fights the forces of darkness with swords shaped like giant keys.
- Creature-Hunter Organization: Although not their original purpose. The Keyblade Wielders in general are this given they're the ones with weapons capable of purging the various creatures of the dark.
- Critical Status Buff: Various abilities can boost the player's status at critical HP, like 'Defender' and 'Damage Control' for defense, 'Berserker', 'Striker', and 'Grand Slam' for offense.
- Crossover: The Kingdom Hearts franchise is centered around characters of both the Final Fantasy franchise and Classic Disney Shorts / Disney Animated Canon frequently meeting and interacting.
- Crossover Alternate Universe: The entire universe of the Kingdom Hearts series is an alternate universe for both the Disney Franchise and the Square Enix Franchise combined into one.
- Cutscene Incompetence: Most of the heroes, particularly Sora. In-game the kid is a maelstrom of Keyblade-fueled Magic Knight chaos that can rip through the hordes of darkness for days on end. In cutscenes, expect to see him regularly tossed around, knocked down, taken by surprise, etc.
- Cutscene Power to the Max:
- Near the end of Kingdom Hearts II, Sora basically turns into an overpowered action movie character. Case in point: he carves his way through entire buildings using a key. Using cuts that travel the length of said buildings. This may not count, however, depending on your definition of 'cutscene'.
- Heartless and Nobodies are disposed of in one hit during cutscenes, regardless if it's Sora, Mickey, or even Kairi who is attacking.
- Cyber Space: Space Paranoids (Tron) and The Grid (Tron Legacy) take place inside computers.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!:
- The series has a bad habit of switching the button inputs for Aerial Recovery and Glide every other game.
- In addition to this is the fact that the buttons for jumping and attacking are swapped on the DS and 3DS games, with A being attack and B being jump, despite the fact that their respective counterparts on a Playstation controller would be O and X.
- Strangely enough, the same swap happens between the Japanese and English versions of the game, so if you're playing a fan translated version of one of the Final Mix games on an emulator, you'll find yourself using O to attack, and X to jump, the player can potentially work around this by simply swapping the controls in the menu on the emulator, but they'll still be met with conflicting orders on which button to press by the game, so this trope will apply either way.
- Dark Is Not Evil:
- It doesn't have to be evil. It just happens to attract a lot of bad guys, is all. Darkness, itself, is neither good or evil, and neither is light. They're just sources of power. The difference is that abusing darkness can lead to Jumping Off the Slippery Slope, and you can lose your humanity if your heart is too weak or if you go too far. Riku is the only main character (and implied to be the only character, ever) to be able to use darkness without the drawbacks, but it took him three games to master and to strengthen himself enough to do it, and it was not an easy journey. Not to mention, he still wouldn't have been able to entirely master the darkness without drawbacks had Ansem the Wise's Heart Codifier not blown up and destroyed the remains of Ansem in Riku and make him completely immune to corruption from the darkness, reverting him back to his original appearance.
- However, while darkness itself is not evil, most of the protagonists associate it with such, which is easy to do since they're beings from the Realm of Light, and all of the villains use Darkness to some degree as the source of their power. Due to the mentioned risk of going too far with it, it's also seen as evil for tempting others away from light and costing them their lives. Both the heroes and villains ultimately agree that there will always be a Balance Between Light and Darkness, and the two cannot exist without the other. As Kingdom Hearts II phrases it, the heroes don't oppose darkness itself but those who abuse it for evil.Xemnas: Denizens of light, answer this: Why do you hate the darkness?
Mickey: Aw, we don't hate it. It's just kinda.. scary. But the world's made of light and darkness. You can't have one without the other, 'cause darkness is half of everything. Sorta makes ya wonder why we are scared of the dark.
Riku: It's because of who's lurking inside it. - This is even reflected when it comes to keyblade appearances - Riku's keyblade, Way To The Dawn, greatly resembles the Soul Eater blade Riku was often seen with beforehand. In spite of this, it's technically a Keyblade of Light. On the flip side, the only way to tell that Mickey Mouse's second keyblade, the Kingdom Key D, is a Keyblade of Darkness is the fact that its color scheme is the complete reverse of its Keyblade of Light counterpart that Sora wields. Otherwise, it doesn't appear to be affiliated with darkness at first glance.
- Dream Eaters, introduced within Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance, are beings of darkness just like the Heartless. There's two types of Dream Eaters: Nightmare Dream Eaters, which are evil, and Spirit Dream Eaters, which are benevolent and oppose their Nightmare counterparts. In fact, Chirithy, the Exposition Fairy from Kingdom Hearts χ given to each and every single player character, are actually Spirit Dream Eaters (as evident in the emblem that appears on their back), and Riku temporary becomes one during the events of Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance.
- Re:coded and Dream Drop Distance also link happiness to light, and pain and sorrow to darkness. Being purely light under this definition would mean being an above-it-all jerk who ignores the pain of the people around him, but being purely dark and focusing exclusively on pain would be also be a bad thing.
- Death Is Cheap: Zigzagged Trope. This series has an odd relationship with death. It's clear that it exists, but it seldom comes up—the weapons used in the series can cause grievous bodily harm, but will typically disrupt the target's being and cause them to fade away. This sort of not-technically-death is shown on-screen several times and is reversible if the pieces of a person's being are reunited. That said, in III, death is finally explained as the simultaneous destruction of the heart and body; previous not-technically-deaths only really harmed one of those. Sora nearly experiences this in the Keyblade Graveyard and discovers the Final World to be an example of The Nothing After Death.
- Deus ex Machina:
- At the end of I, Mickey and Riku suddenly appear at the Door to Darkness and help Sora close it after he realizes that it's impossible on his own. Final Mix added a short cutscene to show Riku's heart had been jettisoned to the realm of darkness after Ansem possessed his body. Mickey's appearance was later explained in 0.2; he knew what would be required to close the Door to Darkness and was exploring to realm of darkness to find the Kingdom Key D.
- During the dragon ship phase of the Xemnas battle in II, Riku randomly finds a flying motorcycle that allows him and Sora to pursue. Unlike the above example, this hasn't received any clarification, but the entire order is so surreal that no fans are too concerned about it.
- Out of the Big Damn Heroes sequence during the final confrontation in III, the appearance of the fallen Dandelions' Keyblades gets the least amount of explanation. With the Lingering Will, Yen Sid, and Roxas, there are plenty of foreshadowing before that, but you can't really explain why the Keyblades of people who died eons ago randomly decide to help the Guardians fight against the darkness in the nick of time, especially since there is no logical explanation for them to do so.
- Developers' Foresight:
- Normally when one character heals another, the former shouts the latter's name. During the fight with the Guard Armor however, before they're properly introduced, Goofy shouts encouragingly to Sora 'Don't give up!' instead.
- In the first game, they thought of what would happen if you engaged in a bit of Sequence Breaking. If you complete Deep Jungle before Wonderland, the scene replaces Alice with Snow White. If you complete other worlds after completing Hollow Bastion, certain events with Maleficent will not play.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: A fair amount of worlds that use the plots of the films they represent have the villains die in different ways from how they die in their respective films.
- In Tarzan, Clayton falls and ends up hanging himself. In Kingdom Hearts I, The Stealth Sneak the fights alongside him in his boss fight collapses on him, crushing him.
- In The Little Mermaid, Eric kills Ursula by impaling her with the ship he is steering. In Kingdom Hearts II, he throws the trident right through her instead.
- In The Lion King, Scar is eaten alive by his hyenas after betraying them. In Kingdom Hearts II, he becomes a Heartless and plagues Simba for an extended period of time as a ghost until his Heartless is destroyed, then he dies for good (unless he has a Nobody prowling around somewhere, which given how powerful his Heartless was, he just might..).
- In Aladdin: The Return of Jafar, Jafar's lamp is kicked into the lava by Iago, effectively destroying him. In Kingdom Hearts II, he dies the instant he is beaten in his boss fight with his lamp simply vanishing the moment he does.
- In The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the gargoyle that Frollo is standing on break off, sending him falling to his death. In Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance, it plays out the same way in Sora's story, but in Riku's story, he is blown off the church by the boss of the world, Gargoyle.
- In III, while Mother Gothel dies the same way she does in the film, Marluxia puts a halt to her Disney Villain Death and transforms her into a Heartless for Sora to defeat. Additionally, while in the Frozen canon Hans survives the events of the film, game! Hans is turned into a Heartless and destroyed by Sora's party.
- Difficult, but Awesome:
- Magic in most games. Most players often stick to the basic combos in most games with automatic finishers tagged on, and at most only use magic for healing. However, if used right, such as just before a combo finisher takes place, or at the end of a combo while the boss is stunned, magic attacks can take out large chunks of enemies HP and keep them stun-locked for longer.
- Additionally, most combo finishers that aren't automated. For those, especially those not good at fighting games, getting the timing down can be rather tricky, but once you do, much like magic, it can take out large chunks of the enemies HP, and keep them stun locked for longer than the basic combos can. In fact, combined with magic above, it's possible to keep any boss permanently stun locked for the entirety of their battle, provided the boss doesn't have a move that specifically gets them out of being permanently stun locked.
- Diminishing Villain Threat: Poor Maleficent. She was a powerful, competent threat in Birth By Sleep and the original Kingdom Hearts. Then she lost all her help and resources in Kingdom Hearts II, but still managed to hold her own against Xemnas and the Nobodies. Then came Coded and Dream Drop Distance, where she is now a failure with plans that no-one but her cares about. Then she gains Reality Warper powers in X..
- Disappears into Light:
- Most people who lose their hearts disappear into light. The only exceptions are people who completely lack darkness, like the Princesses of Heart and Ventus. Their bodies are left intact, although they are rendered comatose until their hearts return.
- When a Nobody dies, its body degrades into darkness. Appropriate, as they aren't full humans and are sinking into the interstitial space between worlds to find the rest of their 'parts'.
- Disney Death: Well, Disney did help produce the game. It was originally stated by Tetsuya Nomura that there is no concept of death in the Kingdom Hearts universe, though it seems as though some of the characters from the Disney Animated Canon are exceptions to the rule. In III we learn that if a person's heart and body are destroyed simultaneously, then they actually do die for real. If something or someone is still holding onto them, their spirits remain in the Final World, a Purgatory of sorts where they cannot move on to the afterlife or return to life unless outside interference comes for them.
- Doomed by Canon: The first game in the series feeds the audience bits of lore about a society based around light, darkness, and the Keyblade which appears to no longer exist. Suffice to say, characters introduced in the prequel games end their games on low notes.
- Doomy Dooms of Doom: A variation in that the series is known for throwing the word darkness around a bit too much. This is especially bad in Riku's story within Chain of Memories. The series eventually lampshades it in Dream Drop Distance, where Riku suggests that Ansem, Seeker of Darkness (by far the biggest offender in overusing the word) should write a book about it.
- Dramedy: Likely owing to its Disney roots, the series is as genuinely silly as it is dark.
- Dub Name Change:
- Some Heartless get little renames, like 'Bulk Vendor' to 'Bulky Vendor' or 'Flare Globe' to 'Fiery Globe'; sometimes the name changes are more significant ('Gate Guardian' to 'Thresholder'). Conversely, very many Heartless were renamed in Days, and some renames are even inconsistent with previous renames (for example, a Heartless named 'Loudness' in all Japanese games is called 'Crescendo' in the English Chain of Memories but 'Loudmouth' in the English Days).
- Most of the Keyblades are renamed too—with the exception of a handful of character-significant Keyblades like the Oathkeeper, which have actual Japanese names, all the Keyblades have Gratuitous English names in the original. Some changes are minor ('Wish Star' to 'Wishing Star', 'Kingdom Chain' to 'Kingdom Key', 'Wishes Lamp' to 'Wishing Lamp'), but some aren't - 'Power of Hero' to 'Olympia', 'Desire Lamp' to 'Three Wishes', 'Native Work' to 'Jungle King'.
- Duel Boss: There are several examples in the main games (you tend to run solo period in the non-numbered titles). Some of these fights are more emotionally charged (e.g. Roxas vs. Axel), while in other cases you're simply separated from his party before the fight (Sora vs. Luxord).
- Dummied Out:
- The first Kingdom Hearts has the remnants of a Bahamut summon in its code.
- KH2 Final Mix has unused models for a Woody and Buzz summon.
- Sprites related to a Pinocchio-based world are hidden in Days.
- A half-finished Jungle Book world is hiding in Birth by Sleep's files.
- Early Installment Weirdness:
- The manga adaptation of the first game is notable for reading left-to-right like a Western book, despite being originally in Japanese. This is dropped for all the following manga, which read right-to-left like any other Japanese book.
- It was said in Kingdom Hearts I that only the Keyblade of Heart could unlock or remove a person's heart. This was retconned away in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep: not only does Maleficent mind control Terra into removing Princess Aurora's heart using a standard keyblade, the climax of Terra's storyline involves Xehanort unlocking his own heart using his own keyblade just so that he could steal Terra's body. It has since been clarified that this is simply a Keyblade Master-level skill, which still doesn't really explain the situation in Kingdom Hearts I.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: It takes three full games for everyone to reunite and return to their home safely. And even then, Sora's job isn't done. After II, it takes a further five games of strife, sacrifice, and loss for a Bittersweet Ending at best. Notably, II is the only full instance of this in the entire series.
- Eldritch Abomination: Although there are many weird creatures in the series, the Nobodies are the closest. Even by the cosmology of the series, it's stated that their existence simply doesn't make sense. It doesn't help that most of them look and move like animated clothing or that their movements look like a video playing in reverse.
- Eldritch Location: The Realm of Darkness. In its earlier appearances, it's just a perpetually dark place with strange rock-formations that glow blue, and is the natural home of the Heartless, with Kingdom Hearts contained somewhere in the absolute depths. 0.2: A Fragmentary Passage explores it deeper. The laws of physics don't apply, and time is a complete non-entity. Not only can ten years in the Realm of Light be far less to someone inside, in some areas the flow of time can be reversed or just doesn't exist at all. If someone stays there too long, the darkness will start getting into their hearts, and start taking on physical form, psychologically tormenting them.
- Elemental Powers: Organization XIII. Most of them. Their individual powers are accurately 'attributes', or themes to their abilities. This gets corrupted into 'elements' by fans. Some of them aren't quite what they're made out to be anyway. For example: Xemnas has 'Nothing' and Luxord has 'Time', but they turn out to be more like 'Yin-Yang Bomb' and 'Timed Mission' in practice.
- Empathic Weapon: Keyblades are only possible to wield by a chosen few, and can't be stolen, among other strange quirks. At one point in the first game, Sora and Riku actually have a battle of wills over who gets to keep the Keyblade, constantly trying to summon it away from the other.
- Enemy Scan: The recurring Scan ability shows the HP of any targeted enemy.
- Enemy Without: Vanitas is Ven's darkness forcibly removed from his heart and given form.
- Essence Drop: There are several types of spheres, depending on the game:
- Green Orbs are HP
- Blue Bubbles are MP
- Yellow Orbs are Munny (It's a Winnie-the-Pooh reference. Pooh spelled 'Honey' as 'Hunny.' So 'Money' is 'Munny.')
- Red Orbs are Moogle Points (In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories)
- Orange Orbs are for the Drive Gauge (In Kingdom Hearts II)
- Blue, Star-like Orbs refill D-Link (In Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep)
- Evil Counterpart:
- Xehanort for Sora. Xehanort steals the bodies and hearts of others to extend his life. Sora lets others share his body and heart to extend their lives.Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep goes even farther, revealing that the original Xehanort was not only a Keyblade Wielder but also from Destiny Islands. This also makes him Riku's Evil Counterpart, as they share very similar backgrounds of being dissatisfied with life on their tiny world and wanting to see the outside, even if it means delving into darkness.
- This goes even further with Riku. Both use darkness as their main weapon. They also both invaded Sora's subconscious during the events of Dream Drop Distance, but for differing reasons.
- In the endgame of III, Xemnas, 'Ansem', and Young Xehanort take up this trope in regards to Sora, Riku, and Mickey, as they have been the primary enforcers of the darkness and light on behalf of their true leaders, Master Xehanort and Yen Sid, respectively. The final fight before the final boss is Sora, Riku, and Mickey facing off with the three chief Xehanort incarnations.
- Evil Is Hammy: On top of the Disney classic villains, the original villains also tend to wax poetic about the cosmology of the setting, chewing scenery the whole time.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: Anyone too cavalier about the power of darkness learns this the hard way; they tend to turn into Heartless or power-mad husks of their former selves.
- Evil Makeover: Organization XIII. Its members are all humanoid Nobodies, and have slightly altered appearances compared to their past selves (for instance, Axel's eye makeup), all wear the same black coat, and have more angular and intimidating versions of the weapons they used as humans.
- Evil Wears Black:
- Xehanort and Organization XIII all wear black. In-universe, their coats help protect them from the darkness within the corridors between worlds they use for travel.
- Even though some of the good guys can wear some amount of black, those aren't their defining colors, so they don't undo this trope here.
- Experience Penalty:
- The EXP Zero ability first introduced in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix prevents experience from being gained for as long as it's active.
- Using the Warp spell causes enemies to disappear without leaving any experience.
- Fantasy Kitchen Sink: An obvious result being a crossover of Disney and Square Enix properties. Even on the original non Disney worlds you'll find wizards, magical creatures, robots, spaceships, talking animals, etc.
- Fighting from the Inside:
- Riku in the first game when he's possessed by Xehanort's Heartless. At one point he leaves his body as a spirit to physically block Riku-Xehanort's way.
- At the end of their respective storylines in Birth by Sleep, Terra possesses his own empty armor to stop Xehanort from absconding in Terra's now-possessed body, while Ven's mind stays in his body while Vanitas possesses him, resulting in a literal battle inside Ven's mindscape.
- First Town:
- In KH1, Traverse Town, a strange world that naturally cobbled itself together from the remains of other worlds and serves as a base for the various refugees of those worlds. As the home of Sora's Final Fantasy-based friends, it serves as the hub.
- In KH2, the Final Fantasy characters' actual home of Hollow Bastion takes on the role.
- The World That Never Was serves as this for Days, as it is the home base of Roxas and Organization XIII.
- Land of Departure is a downplayed example for Birth by Sleep, as it is only briefly playable in the game's first act, and since the game is in general much more nomadic in nature than previous games, you don't really have a hub world.
- Traverse Town returns in an expanded form in Dream Drop Distance, though much like the Land of Departure, you are much more of a nomad in this game.
- Twilight Town serves as the primary hub world of III, being host to a number of major plot developments prior to the final act, as well as Le Grand Bistro and Pooh's storybook.
- Flanderization:
- Now, while he was always a very positive kid, Sora was much more prone to negativity, anger, and doubt in the first game and Chain of Memories compared to the rest of the series. In fact, his situation even caused him some stress in the first game. By 3D, he's gotten to the point where not even failing his mastery exam makes him even the least bit discouraged, and he very rarely if ever stays mad or sad about anything. Remember back in the first game when he and Donald had an argument and Sora actually held a grudge about it for awhile? Lampshaded by Ansem the Wise in KHII, when he's amused by Roxas's anger and tells him that he should lend Sora some of his anger, as he (Sora) is 'far too nice for his own good.'
- Also concerning Sora, his messiah status was greatly exaggerated over time. With how clearly it's been made lately that the entire universe rests on him and every single character is connected to him somehow, you'd almost forget that he's not even the universe's original Chosen One (he accidentally stole the job from Riku).
- Flashback with the Other Darrin: A natural consequence of several re-castings from KH1 and KH2 and the fact that KH2 features many flashbacks in its first chapter. It's Averted in 0.2, which features a return to the ending of Kingdom Hearts albeit with Wanye Allwine's line for Mickey reused, as opposed to having Bret Iwan, who has voiced Mickey since Allwine's death, re-dub the line.
- Flight, Strength, Heart: The Keyblade can do a lot of things, one of which is to act like a key. Which turns out to be its strongest ability by far.
- For Doom the Bell Tolls: 'Showdown at Hollow Bastion', which plays in the suitably dramatic context of right before the 1000 Heartless battle in KH2, replaces the usual piano chords in the Organization's leitmotif with bell strikes.
- Foreshadowing:
- The very nature of the 'Dive to the Heart' location as a dreamworld located within one's Heart, encountered many times throughout the series by the games' various protagonists as a tutorial location, retroactively becomes this when Roxas is able to unwittingly visit it within Kingdom Hearts IIforeshadowing the fact that he had managed to develop a heart all on his own in spite of being a Nobody, a race of beings said to have no hearts.
- For more foreshadowing of the above, Pinocchio (a wooden puppet), Tron (a computer program), and style.
- Fusion Dance: Drive, a mechanic from KH2, will fuse Sora with one or both party mates. The physical attack-oriented Valor Form fuses with Goofy and the magic-focused Wisdom Form uses Donald, while the more well-rounded options will fuse with both party members. (However, these party members will still appear in cutscenes.)
- The very nature of the 'Dive to the Heart' location as a dreamworld located within one's Heart, encountered many times throughout the series by the games' various protagonists as a tutorial location, retroactively becomes this when Roxas is able to unwittingly visit it within Kingdom Hearts IIforeshadowing the fact that he had managed to develop a heart all on his own in spite of being a Nobody, a race of beings said to have no hearts.
Tropes G to O
- Gambit Pileup: This first really rears its head in Chain of Memories, which is about certain members of the Organization trying to brainwash Sora into a useful pawn against Xemnas, while one member of this movement decides to start working against them due to mistreatment and another member turns Sora against both of those factions. Then it's revealed during 358/2 Days that the Organization even being present at the setting of COM was a deliberate plot by Xemnas to root out traitors. Most of the games have ridiculous amounts of planning and counter-planning to this degree.
- Gambit Roulette: Master Xehanort. He had been manipulating Terra and Ven for years to accomplish his goals. In the end, Terra, Aqua, and Ven used The Power of Friendship to stop him, but not before getting totally screwed over in the process. And he had some backup plans just in case the first one would fail. As revealed in Dream Drop Distance, it involves all of the previous plans going off exactly as they did so that a crazily convoluted plan involving time travel and dreams to finish what every single game previous has set up can go off according to plan.
- Gameplay and Story Integration:
- On the one hand, the developers put a lot of thought into making the gameplay reinforce the idea of teamwork and friendship. By and large, it's not too Anvilicious and almost universally regarded as fun. You also have a lot of little tidbits highlighting Sora's growth in skill.
- Within Hollow Bastion from the first game, Belle conveniently goes missing from the Princesses of Heart even when they're rescued just to give Beast the reason to still be with Sora and the gang.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: It is said many times that The Heartless can only be defeated with the Keyblade.. yet Donald and Goofy (and whatever guest character who happens to join for the level) can mow down tons of them by themselves. 358/2 Days clarifies things: Heartless can be defeated by any weapon, but they'll just come back some time afterward. The Keyblade is the only weapon that can purify the hearts that make up the Heartless upon defeating them, vanquishing them for good.
- Gangplank Galleon: Neverland and Port Royal fill the pirate-level niche of any game in which they appear.
- Genre Blind: Increasingly so as the series has gone on, the heroes haven't yet clued in that listening to Xehanort is never a good idea, because no matter what he says, truth or lie, he's only saying it to try and manipulate you, to screw with your head, to piss you off and drive you towards darkness, or all three. By the time of 3D and III, there's really no excuse for Sora and Riku letting Xehanort and his cohorts monologue to them all the time, when they ought to just pull out their Keyblades and start swinging.
- Gladiator Subquest: Olympus Coliseum is traditionally the site of tournament sidequests.
- Glass Cannon:
- Aqua in Birth By Sleep is a master mage, mastering every element and is incredibly agile and strong. But she cannot take a hit early on in the game.
- Sora's Anti-Form in KH2 maximizes his attack, but minimizes his defense and removes any way of recovering health.
- Go Back to the Source: III returns to the site of Eraqus and Xehanort's Keyblade training, a world named Scala ad Caelum.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Most bizarre in the original, where the Hades Cup is harmless. (Well, as harmless as a 50-round chain battle featuring lots of tough Heartless and a battle with Hades himself can be, anyway.)
- Grand Theft Me:
- Riku being possessed by 'Ansem' is a key plot point late in KH1 and shapes much of Riku's character arc going forward.
- One of the biggest reveals in Birth by Sleep is that Xehanort's possession of Riku wasn't even the first time he attempted this. Before he split himself into a Heartless and Nobody, Xehanort hijacked the body of a young man so he could live longer, because his old body was, well, old. Oh, that young man happened to be one of the protagonists, Terra.
- Possession is, suffice to say, a big deal to Xehanort. As revealed in 3D, Master Xehanort's ultimate goal is to corrupt enough people with his heart so he can create a team of 13 selves to start the final war between darkness and light.
- Gratuitous English:
- In the Japanese dubs, 'Kingdom Hearts' is referred to in English. English text is also sprinkled about in the various game menus.
- The Japan-exclusive Final Mix versions of Kingdom Hearts I, Kingdom Hearts II, and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep use the English dubs with Japanese subtitles for almost every cutscene and sound effect.
- Gratuitous Foreign Language:
- Italian titles for the background tracks are not uncommon. 358/2 Days throws in some French.
- In the Japanese version of 358/2 Days, Xaldin's weapons all have Chinese names. Larxene's weapons have French names in both versions.
- Gratuitous Latin: A world introduced in III is named Scala ad Caelum ('stairway to heaven'). It was the site of Xehanort and Eraqus's training and is the chosen place for the final evolution of Xehanort's real Organization XIII, so the Latin name and its meaning lend the place an appropriate gravitas.
- Gravity Is Purple: The Gravity and Anti-Gravity spells are depicted as purple with black sometimes mixed in.
- Greater-Scope Villain:
- We don't actually see Master Xehanort until Birth by Sleep, the sixth game in the series. Before that, the heroes face his incarnations or underlings, but never him.
- The Master of Masters, whose insistence for everything to follow according to fate as dictated by him in the Book of Prophecies leads to everything else that happens in the series.
- On a lesser scale, Luxu, who handed his Keyblade, No Name, to Xehanort some time ago. He intended for Xehanort to become a scapegoat for the ensuing conflict against the Guardians of Light, keeping them preoccupied while he watches from the sidelines as Braig/Xigbar. Once the conflict ends, he unearths the Black Box and summons the Foretellers to begin the next phase of his plan.
- Green Lantern Ring: Keyblades can be used as tradition swords (or clubs), channel magic, lock and unlock pretty much anything, teleport to their owner's hand at will, create portals to other worlds, generate armor, turn into personal hovercraft that are capable of intergalactic travel, morph into other weapons like cannons or whips with no known limit to the transformations, and create elaborate castles out of rubble.
- Grim Reaper:
- KH1 features a Bonus Boss, the Phantom, a spectre in a black cloak who will cast Doom on party members whenever a nearby clock tower strikes 12.
- Kingdom Hearts II features an Aztec-themed Heartless version in Port Royal who steals the cursed coins that keep the Black Pearl's crew undead.
- While he doesn't look like it, Chirithy from III basically acts like the series' version of the Grim Reaper, appearing as the Exposition Fairy for those who enter The Final World.
- Guest-Star Party Member:
- In the numbered titles, specific characters from Disney worlds can become party members, but only in the worlds they are featured in. Since I and II place an arbitrary limit to the party to contain three people tops, you have to replace either Donald or Goofy with the guest star. This is no longer an issue in III and there are even worlds where there are two guest members, making for a five-man party.
- Other Organization XIII members occasionally assist Roxas for his missions in Days.
- Birth by Sleep limits the usage of guest party members on specific battles, making them true guests in that once they leave, they will never join you again. The sole exception is when you play multiplayer in Mirage Arena, as the other two protagonists may appear as assists.
- III has both the world-specific party members and those who join you for certain battles only ala Birth by Sleep. During the Keyblade Graveyard sequence, special party members take turn assisting Sora for his fights against the Organization XIII members.
- Halloween Town: 'Halloween Town', a world based upon The Nightmare Before Christmas. It's named after the main area of the world which happens to be a town that houses the physical manifestation of Hallowen.
- Hammerspace:
- Where else do you think the Keyblade goes when Sora's not carrying it?
- The intelligent Nobodies can also call forth spiritual weapons at will, or at least most of them can.
- Birth by Sleep shows Donald and Goofy pull their weapons out thin air, complete with pretty lights. Sure, Donald's a magician, but Goofy..
- Ventus actually pulls a huge wooden keyblade from somewhere behind him during a cutscene in Neverland.
- Averted in the manga, where Sora carries the Keyblade on his person.
- Harder Than Hard: The first game wasn't the easiest alone, especially once the player starts tackling the post-game battles, and Proud Mode is usually a hefty boost for enemy stats to amp it up. But starting with the Final Mix versions of Kingdom Hearts II and beyond (and unlockable by beating the game once in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage), Critical Mode gives the player additional benefits at the cost of turning even basic battles into entirely lethal ones for reckless players. Once you get to end game or post-game fights, almost every boss fight is probably able to kill you in a single combo.
- The Heartless: The creatures from which the trope is named. Heartless are created from the darkness within hearts, and technically don't have physical bodies—they can be 'destroyed', but their darkness will simply coalesce into a new Heartless somewhere else. They can only actually die from the Keyblade.
- Helpful Mook: The mushroom Heartless (with the exception of the Black Fungus) are the only Heartless that aren't inherently evil, rewarding Sora if they've been hit with the right spell, but running away if attacked a few times. Even Mushroom XIII, the Elite Mook variation of them, aren't evil - they just want to play combat-based minigames with Sora. They even reward Sora with an extra Keyblade and a token of appreciation in a form of a crown saying thanks should you complete all 13 of their minigames.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- In the first game, Sora stabs himself with a special Keyblade that can unlock the true essence of a heart in order to release Kairi's heart from his body, releasing his own heart as well. (He gets better.)
- Axel detonates himself in the second game to hold off several Nobodies. (He gets better too.)
- Ansem the Wise tries to use a machine to destroy Kingdom Hearts, but the machine explodes. (He gets thrown into the realm of darkness.)
- Hijacked by Ganon: In any given game, you can be sure that if some incarnation of Xehanort isn't behind everything, one of his subordinates is. So far, the only games where he isn't the cause of conflict is coded and χ, though the former's plot is caused by the repercussions of his actions.
- Honorary Princess: The seven 'princesses of heart' turn out to be the six (then) Disney princesses, except Ariel: the sixth is Alice, and the seventh is Sora's friend Kairi. Both are not royalty by birth or marriage; it turns out that 'princess of heart' title is used to name the only people in the universe with hearts made of pure light, without any shadow of evil in it.
- Hopeless with Tech: Anything related to computers goes directly over Sora's head, implying that the technology of his home world never progressed that far. Riku keeps his questions about computer stuff vague enough that he might or might not be completely lost as well. Donald and Goofy at least have prior experience with computers, as there are some at Disney Castle, but aren't much better with them than Sora is. And of course Maleficent, being from a 14th century fairy tale world, is completely lost when computer jargon is thrown around, though she takes it in stride. Ironically, Jiminy Cricket of all people has no trouble understanding computers at all.
- HP to 1: Because of the Once More and Second Chance abilities, the developers have deigned it necessary to practically require the use of them in order to survive, especially on harder difficulties and with the later/bonus bosses. Thus, rather than having bosses with HP to One-type attacks, they simply have massive attack power which will always reduce you to within an inch of your life, regardless of your defense stat. Perhaps a form of Fake Difficulty, some bosses degenerate into the pattern: attack —> get hit by one attack (hanging on with 1 HP) —> heal —> get hit by another attack —> dodge like crazy waiting for your magic to regenerate so you can heal again —> repeat.
- Humanoid Abomination: Nobodies. While the stronger ones look human, they're only the leftover body and soul of a human turned Heartless. They lack true emotion and gain strange powers over darkness and other elements. Weaker Nobodies, meanwhile, are made of the same parts, but for some reason have become extremely flexible and move in unsettling ways.
- Humans Are White:
- Most of the cast are pale-skinned with Mukokuseki features. Sora is just a tiny bit more tanned than most. The main villain, Master Xehanort, is noticeably more tanned than everyone else and this is not because of the effects of the darkness; as Dream Drop Distance shows, he has been dark-skinned since he was a young man (Destiny Islands is a tropical world, after all). Since his incarnations also make up the villain cast, to western audiences, this creates the unfortunate impression that the only non-white characters are all villains, but keep in mind that the creators probably see all of the characters as Asian.
- As the majority of NPCs in the game are Disney characters, and most Disney films are based on stories of European origin, most of the humans encountered throughout the worlds are actually white. Obvious exceptions include the entire casts of the Aladdin and Mulan worlds, plus occasional outliers such as Bo'sun and Esmeralda. The Big Hero 6 world is an aversion as well.
- Generic NPCs, most of them designed in the same vein as the Final Fantasy cast, seem just as likely to be brown as pale. Ambiguously BrownFinal Fantasy characters such as Wakka and Raijin also make appearances.
- Hyperspace Is a Scary Place: The Corridors of Darkness can be used to travel between worlds, but unless travelers wear special protection they risk being consumed by the darkness.
- Ice Magic Is Water: Water-themed monster as considered Ice-type. This trope creates a Guide Dang It! on why the player should use Fire magic against, say, Demyx.
- Iconic Sequel Character: Much of the recurring cast debuted in the sequels (including pre-existing Disney characters who play major roles)
- Chain of Memories - Axel, Namine, Marluxia, Larxene, Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, DiZ.
- II - Roxas, Pete, Yen Sid, Xemnas note , Xigbar, Xaldin, Saix, Demyx, and Ansem the Wise.
- Days - Xion.
- Birth by Sleep - Terra, Aqua, Ventus, Eraqus, Vanitas, and Master Xehanort - notably, the Big Bad of the franchise is only introduced five games into the series!
- Dream Drop Distance - Young Xehanort.
- Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: Beginner, Standard, Hard, Proud, and Critical.
- Impossibly Cool Clothes:
- Zippers galore, even on hats!
- Dusks actually have zippers for mouths.
- Impossibly Cool Weapon: Keyblades. While consistently referred to as swords and variably used in many varieties of fighting styles including as mediums for channeling magic, at the end of the day, Keyblades are still just giant keys. How most of them can actually cut anything is a mystery since only a small handful have any sort of cutting edge or even points on the striking side.
- Improbable Weapon User: Sora's giant key, Goofy's shield, Demyx's sitar, Zexion's lexicon (a book)..
- Inconsistent Dub:
- Renames to Heartless are occasionally inconsistent. For example, a Heartless—Japanese name 'Loudness'—is introduced in Chain of Memories as 'Crescendo' but was renamed 'Loudmouth' in Days.
- While fourth-tier level spells consistently use the suffix '-gun' in Japanese, the English dub is inconsistent about it. KHI and KHII use '-gun'note , 3D uses '-za', and 0.2 uses '-ja'. And assuming nobody changes their mind, it looks like III is going back to '-za.'
- Three different characters show up in the black coat with the hood up, and are all called 'nazo no otoko' by their respective games while wearing this guise. All three have different translations for the phrase in the English games—'Mysterious Man' (Xemnas), 'Enigmatic Man' (Marluxia), and 'Unknown' (Young Xehanort).
- All games prior to KH2 were dubbed into various European languages, but all games released afterwards only had English voice tracks for their Europe-wide releases (although text was still translated). Oddly enough, Quebecnote only received games up to KH2 in English, and only started having French options for the gamenote at the very point where they stopped providing French audio, which just happened to coincide with a pseudo-law requiring games to be released in French in the province.
- Infinity -1 Sword: The Oblivion keychain can be obtained in-game once you pass a certain event. While it's not Ultima, it's still pretty fantastic. Its attack power is outstripped only by Ultima and Fenrir, and doesn't have the latter's downgraded magic stats.
- Infinity +1 Sword: The Ultima Weapon. Good luck hunting down all the synthesis items. Also, Final Form is an Infinity+1 Super Mode.
- Informed Flaw: The 'tyranny of Light' note . So far, all the major problems have come from the Darkness side of things, and any pure-Light examples (e.g.: the Princesses of Heart, Ventus, etc.) have been unambiguously good. Furthermore, the closest thing to a Light Is Not Good problem — Eraqus — only ends up going full-blown Knight Templar because of Xehanort's Manipulative Bastard-ry.
- Instrument of Murder: Demyx wields a sitar that can manipulate water.
- Invisible Parents: Sora's mom gets a single line in Kingdom Hearts I and his dad gets mentioned by Riku in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, but they are otherwise completely absent. Riku and Kairi are also implied to have parents, but they never get any mentions. Interestingly, Sora mentions both of his parents in a flashback during Chain of Memories.
- I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: Sora's interactions with Beauty and the Beast characters, since Haley Joel Osment voiced Chip in one of the direct to video sequels. Also in the Japanese version of Birth by Sleep, Terra's seiyuu voiced Zero, and Master Xehanort's actor voiced Dr. Weil. And in Re: Chain of Memories, Kairi and Naminé, are respectively voiced by Alyson Stoner and Meghan Jette Martin who played archenemies in Camp Rock.
- Jekyll & Hyde: Used as a gameplay system in KH II. The normally skillful Sword & Sorcery fighting style of Sora becomes a uncharacteristically wild, animalistic style where Sora literally rips his enemies apart with his bare hands when he slips into Anti-form. You similarly have no control over when a Super Mode activation will go to Anti-form rather than the one you actually selected.
- Jigsaw Puzzle Plot: As Mickey says in Re:coded, 'I should have known there were no coincidences—only links in a much larger chain of events.' Looking at the series chronologically in-universe helps one make sense of it, but the mythos of the series is so deeply entwined that you need knowledge of the plot of every game to understand it; something not everyone can afford since the series is expanded through (so far) SIX different game platforms (but there are numerous remakes that mean you can disregard the mobile and Gameboy Advance titles). By this point it's pretty much impossible to follow the overarching story if you just pick a random game and dive in. And as of Dream Drop Distance, on top of the Mind Screw, Mind Rape, human cloning, death and resurrection, alternate dimensions and Gambit Roulette games, we're adding time travel to the equation now. Also qualifies as a Kudzu Plot.
- Kudzu Plot: The series starts as a simple story of a boy trying to find his friends and stop a Mad Scientist from destroying worlds. Then it becomes multiple stories about various Enemy Civil Wars between 13 super-powered Empty Shells of the first game's enemies. Then it turns out everything that has happened so far has been an Evil Plan set in motion decades ago by an Evil Mentor who would become the previously mentioned Mad Scientist and his Empty Shell. Before long Recursive Realities appear, the main character becomes a Soul Jar for half a dozen characters, the Big Bad becomes a Hive Mind of over a dozen, Time Travel becomes involved, centuries-old Prophecies show up, there are dozens of Original Generation characters where there were once four, and so on.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler:
- The opening of Chain of Memories (the original GBA version) spoils none other than the ending of the first game, although to be honest it isn't given too much context. The remake, on the other hand, places a recap of the first game's events within the opening movie.
- The Prolonged Prologue of II assumes that you have played the first game and Chain of Memories, because all important plot points, right down to the endings of both games, are discussed with impunity.
- Auron is Dead All Along.
- Legacy Boss Battle:
- Sephiroth appears as a Bonus Boss in Kingdom Hearts I and Kingdom Hearts II. The first one as one of the coliseum matches with no context except for one Final Mix exclusive cutscene, the latter game has him cameo during the 1000 Heartless War where he asks where Cloud is, vanishes and then taunts Cloud a little bit later.
- The Absent Silhouettes in Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix are Bonus Bosses against the members of Organization XII that had 'died' in Kingdom Hearts Chain Of Memories.
- Xehanort (or rather Xemnas and Young Xehanort) invert the trope, as they first appeared as Bonus Bosses in Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, respectively, albeit with their identity hidden from the characters (and the audience).
- Legacy Character: Many games have new characters that physically resemble established characters and often have similar personalities and abilities. This is actually almost universally significant, as it means those characters are likely connected to each other in some manner. The exception is Aqua and Kairi, whose connection (Aqua inadvertently named Kairi her successor as Master) is comparatively superficial, thus, Aqua looking like an older Kairi and happening to be friends with Legacy Characters of Sora and Riku, is just coincidence.
- Leitmotif: A very frequent musical inclusion.
- Kairi, Sora, Riku, Roxas, Naminé, Xion, Ventus, Aqua, and Terra all have their own theme tunes, although Xion's uses riffs from Kairi's, Ventus's is a combination of Roxas's and Sora's, and Aqua's and Terra's are lifted wholesale from 'Fate of the Unknown' [Aqua's theme also has riffs from Castle Oblivion's world and battle themes].
- Vanitas' battle themes, 'Enter the Darkness' and 'Unbreakable Chains,' use an original riff for the first minute or so, before vaulting into Roxas' theme, then Ventus's theme, and finally ending with a minor-key version of Sora's theme before looping back to the beginning. All of this because Vanitas is Ventus' darkness, and Ventus' heart had already bonded with Sora when they first met.
- Master Xehanort has a theme that appears first in Birth By Sleep, but was remixed and appears whenever he is present in 3D.
- Battles against Riku and/or 'Ansem' in the first two games open with identical organ chords, though all instances of fighting the latter used some portion of 'Forze del Male' as his motif. Also, every battle with Xemnas uses the same bits from 'Darkness of the Unknown.' However, anything involving past!Xehanort uses 'Dark Impetus.' A bonus battle in Birth By Sleep Final Mix even mixed the first two of them together.
- The vast majority of tunes related to Organization XIII use some part of 'Another Side's melody (the exception being Xemnas, as he uses the themes noted above).
- 'Destati' is a very general mystical/arcane motif, and plays during such cosmologically significant moments as Sora's dream at the beginning of the first game as well as in the End of the World and final battle.
- Several other themes also have riffs from 'Dearly Beloved'.
- All of the Nobodies' themes seem to be the normal characters' themes (for those that have them) slightly altered.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: See, Demyx has all the work ethic of a bar of soap. He goes above and beyond the call of Dismotivation, running and hiding at the first sign of combat. Saïx tries and fails to get Roxas to motivate him. But put a traitor in front of him, and you better run for your life.
- Letter Motif: X for Organization XIII. At first it seems to be just be more mysterious, but it's revealed later on that any 'X' placed by Xehanort becomes the 'Recusant's Sigil', a mark of domination that Xehanort can use to track and influence his subjects.
- Light/Darkness Juxtaposition: The franchise treats Light and Darkness as opposing forces. Light is generally good and Darkness is generally evil, with the heroes often wielding light to vanquish the dark forces such as the Heartless.
- Light 'em Up: Sora, Roxas, Xion, Ventus, Aqua and Mickey all have powerful light spells and/or abilities.
- Literal Split Personality:
- Sora's Nobody, Roxas and his replica, Xion. They're put back together in one being by the end, but it's clear that they are still there in Sora's heart somewhere. III reveals that their hearts are contained in separate boxes inside Sora. One of the game's subplots is Sora trying to find a way to free them (and Ventus, who merely took refuge in him) and give them proper bodies.
- coded alludes to some of the issues involving clones/copies/replicas/etc. While Kingdom Hearts II put forth the idea that they should be re-absorbed with the original and don't have true identities of their own, coded seems to argue that copies who develop connections to others are deserving of their own identity. Dream Drop Distance outright confirms that any sentient being who can feel but don't have hearts will eventually grow hearts of their own.
- Not counting the people Xehanort goes Grand Theft Me on, there's his Heartless Ansem, his Nobody Xemnas, and his younger self who all coexist with each other.
- Loads and Loads of Characters: There are more than half a dozen Original Generation main heroes, various supporting characters, numerous villains from Disney's history or made just for this franchise, and a huge number Disney characters from a large pool of their animated and some live action movies that are sprinkled throughout the games.
- Lucky Seven: The Princesses of heart are seven human incarnations of Light. 3D introduces the idea of seven guardians of light.
- MacGuffin Location:
- The titular Kingdom Hearts. It is said to be the ultimate source of knowledge and power, letting whoever controls it have dominion over the entire universe if they choose. The primary goal of the main antagonists is to obtain it.
- The Chamber of Waking, which houses a comatose Ventus, and is located in Castle Oblivion. Somewhere. Only Aqua (the person who created the Castle) is capable of finding it again.
- Macro Zone: Wonderland (Alice in Wonderland) features its movie's iconic size-changing food and potions, while the Castle of Dreams (Cinderella) features segments where the player must shrink to the size of Cinderella's mouse companions.
- Made of Evil: The Heartless are literal embodiments of the darkness that infuses the universe. Their predecessors, the Unversed, are manifestations of the negative emotions of Vanitas, a being of pure darkness.
- Magic A Is Magic A: An underlying component, and one that may be surprising to newcomers or those merely scanning the plot, is that the series is internally consistent. Retcons exist, usually for the purpose of clarifying/simplifying the cosmology, and the first installment is often glossed over. Despite this, the myriad plot points all conform to what is an overarching storyline.
- Magic Knight: All Keyblade wielders and most of Organization XIII use a combination of physical butt-kicking and spectacular magic.
- Magitek: All over the place, most prominently the Gummi Ship and the Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden laboratories. When you're talking about a physical machine that subjects someone's heart to darkness in order to shatter their heart and turn them into a Heartless, it's hard to draw the line between science and magic in this series.
- Malevolent Architecture: The Land of Departure lies directly between the light and dark realms. Word of God clarifies that the castle houses a mechanism that transforms it to invoke this trope should it fall into the wrong hands, and that's how Aqua made Castle Oblivion.
- Mana Meter: In some games you have a set number of magic points. Others avert this by having other limits on magic and abilities.
- Mana Potion: Ethers, and some enemy item drops, will restore magic points or spell uses (depending on how the game limits magic).
- Many Spirits Inside of One:
- Sora, who, as of Dream Drop Distance, is confirmed to host three additional hearts in addition to his own. The oldest, Ventus, has been taking refuge within him since he was 4 years old. The second, Xion, goes to him after her defeat in Days. The last one to enter is Roxas during the prologue of II. Not to mention the major twist in I that Kairi's heart has been residing inside him since the destruction of Destiny Islands, forcing him to sacrifice himself so the final keyhole can be opened. By the end of III, everyone has gotten out.
- Terra is no slouch in this department. Other than his own, he is forced to host Xehanort in Birth by Sleep. The game's secret ending also reveals that Eraqus secretly moved to him after he was struck down by Xehanort, acting as an extra line of defense for Terra against Xehanort's influence. As with the above, no longer the case as of III.
- Massive Multiplayer Crossover: Between Disney and Square Enix.
- Meaningful Name:
- Sora means sky, the 'kai' in Kairi means sea, and Riku means land. Also, the Keyblade Knights in Birth by Sleep happen to be called Ven(tus), Aqua, and Terra, Latin for wind, water, and earth, respectively.)
- There's also Naminé. 'Nami' is a word for 'ocean wave'. Remember whose Nobody she is?
- Xion's name has a truckload of meanings. The first part of Xion's name- 'shio'- is the word for 'tide'. 'Shion' is also the name of a plant associated with memories in Japan. Furthermore, sans the 'X', it is an anagram for 'No i'. For those who do not understand, 'i' is a mathematical term for the square root of -1, an imaginary number. In addition, being a clone formed of memories whose appearance changes depending on who looks at her, she initially had no self. No 'I'.
- Nomura really went all out with Vanitas. Not only does it mean 'emptiness' in Latin and looks like Ventus, but the kanji for emptiness is the same one as the one for sky. His name is connected to a Biblical quote, as well — 'all is vanity and a striving after wind'. Now consider what he spent most of the game doing..
- Most of the original cast from χ have meaningful names. The Foretellers are all named after the Latin words for the Seven Deadly Sins. Ephemer is short for 'ephemeral' AKA something that lasts for a short time, which perfectly describes him, as he is chosen to become a Dandelion by Ava very early. Skuld, meanwhile, is named after one of the Norse goddesses of fate, again symbolizing her role as a Dandelion. Strelitzia is the name of a flower and alludes to her being the sister of Lauriam, Marluxia's original self. Finally, Brain, other than being a self-explanatory English word, may refer to a computer virus; in-game, he calls himself the 'virus' that threatens the ordained fate as dictated by the Book of Prophecies.
- Melodrama: The series puts its emotion on its sleeves, which also fits the style of both Final Fantasy and Disney's animated works.
- Metafiction: The series has acquired a surprising amount of meta subtext.
- Dream Drop Distance, without going into spoilers, makes reference to a group of 7 and a group of 13, and the arrival of the 13th member of the latter group completes the set. The series contains seven base games current — Kingdom Hearts, Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II, coded, 358/2 Days, Birth By Sleep, and Dream Drop Distance. Add in the Updated Rereleases of all games except Dream Drop Distance and Days, and that's an additional 5, bringing the total to 12, and the promised Kingdom Hearts III makes thirteen. If Nomura really didn't have all this planned out from Day One, he is playing some mean Xanatos Speed Chess to make it all work together.
- The 7 and 13 form the χ-blade, formerly attempted to be formed by Ventus and Vanitas, but they didn't form a complete union. There's been two PlayStation 3 HD re-release bundles for the series that bring the first six games into HD, but they're missing 3D and thus the series is not complete just with them. The PlayStation 4 has two re-release bundles that contain the games already released for the PlayStation 3 in one bundle and another bundle containing 3D, an original game, and a movie, allowing the whole series to be complete on the PlayStation 4 as long as one has a good enough Internet connection to allow the Downloadable Content to be downloaded because these bundles either ship incomplete on disc, or otherwise need patches to kill bugs.
- Metal Slime: Many different kinds:
- The first game has three separate varieties, all based on mushrooms. White Mushrooms and Rare Truffles will heal you and grant you rare items if you hit them with the correct attack based on their cues..unless you move too slowly, and they leave. Black Fungi are more akin to the traditional Metal Slime, being very tough Heartless that must be defeated with a critical hit to drop their rare items.
- Kingdom Hearts II introduces the Bulky Vendor as the new Metal Slime, a walking capsule prize machine that gives better rewards the longer you wait to activate it, but begins jumping around increasingly quickly as its timer depletes and eventually vanishes.
- Re:Coded provides the Gold Tricholoma, a new kind of mushroom that teleports around the System Sector in which it appears and provides large amounts of SP when hit.
- Birth By Sleep has the Prize Pods, which show up in certain areas and must be hit as many times as possible to make them drop their flavor-themed prizes. These flavors are used to make ice cream at Disney Town, items which allow the user immediate access to their Command Styles when used.
- Monster Arena: Olympus Coliseum (Hercules) and Mirage Arena feature arenas where you can fight powerful foes.
- Monster Mash: Sora, Donald and Goofy take on monster-like forms in Halloween Town, with Sora wearing a vampire attire with fangs, white skin and an eyepatch, Donald being wrapped like a mummy, and Goofy becoming a parody of Frankenstein's Monster.
- Museum Game: To varying degrees. For example, the first and second main games in the series not only have you visiting different Disney movies and interacting with the characters, but there's even an information gallery with details about the characters (albeit their role in Kingdom Hearts rather than their own movies specifically), including details of when the character was first created, and occasionally trivia (e.g. 'Doorknob was the only character in Alice in Wonderland who wasn't in the original book').
- Mushroom Man: The Mushroom Heartless family, which includes White Mushrooms, Black Fungi, Rare Truffles, and Pink Agaricuses.
- Mythology Gag:
- The victory poses the characters sometimes do is highly reminiscent of the victory poses Final Fantasy characters often do.
- The way Genie is summoned within the first game is highly reminiscent of the scene in the original Aladdin when the Genie's first summoned out of the lamp, only instead of the lamp that's reacting, it's Sora's keyblade.
- The theme song for Disney Castle/Disney Town, the home setting of the classic Disney characters like Mickey, Donald and Goofy, is an instrumental remix of the opening song to The Mickey Mouse Club. It's even credited within the credits as 'Mickey Mouse March' whenever the song's featured in one form or another (practically any game that portrays events within Disney Castle or Disney Town), the same as any other songs that weren't specifically composed for the game.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!:
- The Organization's modus operandi in II is to release Heartless to attack innocents. Sora must kill the Heartless, but releasing those hearts will only grow the Organization's artificial Kingdom Hearts.
- According to coded, thanks to killing off Xehanort's Heartless and Xemnas, Sora and Riku ended up reviving Master Xehanort. Much like the above, they had no other choice - Xehanort's Heartless and Xemnas both posed universe-level threats and had to be taken out.
- The Foreteller's actions once they realize there's a traitor directly contribute to the first Keyblade War, and the ultimate result of that is Xehanort's start of darkness.
- Nonindicative Name: The Heartless are actually hearts that have been consumed by darkness, and it's the Nobodies ('no body') who are actually the empty shell of the body left behind when a heart is thus consumed.
- Non-Lethal K.O.: Party members just get dazed when defeated. After a breather (or some healing) they'll be ready for action again. This doesn't apply to Sora unless it's a battle Mickey shows up in.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Applies strongly to Shiro Amano's manga adaptation. While the originals and Square Enix carryovers use his native art style, Amano goes to great lengths to imitate the art style of every Disney character's individual movie.
- Non Standard Skill Learning: The series spreads learning abilities across various methods (level up, progress the plot, defeat a boss, or complete some other challenge), but that comes across as not having one 'standard' method in the first place. Though stat boosts come primarily through level-ups, so that might create an expectation that most character growth is from experience points.
- The Nothing After Death: In III, Sora nearly dies at the Keyblade Graveyard and is sent to the Final World, which resembles an infinite salt pan: a featureless void other than the sky and its reflection. Souls of the dead gather here, but lose form and simply repeat emotions and thoughts from their lives without noticing each other or their surroundings.
- Now, Where Was I Going Again?: Jiminy's Journal gives you a quick summary of what you're doing in the current world, hopefully keeping you from getting too lost.
- NPC Random Encounter Immunity: Justified. The Heartless are drawn to the keyblade, and most people don't have one. With that said, The Heartless can also be made to do evil peoples' bidding, so they do sometimes attack towns, in which case this trope gets averted.
- Obviously Evil:
- Take a wild guess who the villains are in the Work Picture. Subverted slightly with several other characters who are either more complicated than they appear, such as DiZ, Xion, and Riku Replica, or are being forced to act in a certain way, such as Saix, Xion, and Axel.
- Master Xehanort's motif that plays in Birth By Sleep is dark, and he also was the one who gave Master Eraqus his scar, even if he was forgiven.
- Official Couple: Sora and Kairi always had some pretty transparent subtext since day one. Come III the subtext has become plain old text.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: In KH2, Kairi and Mickey get knocked outside the door to Kingdom Hearts as Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Riku go to fight Xemnas. But at the end of the battle, all six characters are shown facing Xemnas in fighting pose, as if they HAD been fighting.
- Older Is Better: Played with throughout the franchise. The further back in time the story goes, the stronger the Keyblade wielders were, with skills and abilities that the modern wielders don't even know exist. However, going further back also sees Sora's predecessors making less and less use of The Power of Friendship, which is constantly presented as a vital force in the setting, and their lack of it is a Fatal Flaw that brought about their ruin. Sora and his friends triumph over foes that stronger, better-trained Keyblade Masters fell against by standing united where their predecessors stood apart. At its most extreme, the ancient Keyblade wielders in Kingdom Hearts χ were each practically a One-Man Army, but their competition with one another eventually led to a war that destroyed the world.
- Ominous Latin Chanting: 'Destati' and all its derivatives feature chanted lyrics in Italian about awakening to one's destiny. The chanting is featured in scenes that emphasize darkness or general mysticism, like fights with Xehanort or the Dive to the Heart sequences.
- One Steve Limit:
- Riku and Rikku. Rikku was actually cut from the first game out of the fear that this would cause confusion, and her name is never actually spoken aloud when she appears in Kingdom Hearts II.
- Jack Sparrow and Jack Skellington. In the Japanese version, game interface calls the pirate 'Sparrow' and the skeleton 'Jack' to avoid confusion. In the US version, the game interface calls both of them 'Jack' but when you use an item on them (or cast cure on them) Sora will say 'Jack!' for Skellington and 'Captain!' for Sparrow.
- This trope is rather conspicuously averted when it comes to two particular names. The villain of the first game called himself 'Ansem', only for Kingdom Hearts II to reveal that he was just impersonating the real, original Ansem. The character 'Xehanort' is mentioned in II, but in later games players encounter various incarnations of this character, all of them named 'Xehanort'. The end result is that specific characters tend to have titles tacked on to their names (such as 'Ansem: Seeker of Darkness' and 'Ansem the Wise') by fans to keep track of who they are talking about.
- Only Friend: During Axel's death scene, he tells Sora that Roxas was the only one he liked, and basically his only friend. Other than being inherently sad, playing Days makes it even tragic in hindsight; Axel actually had one other person he liked, but he (and everyone else) forgot about her.
- Overrated and Underleveled: Zig-zagged.
- Sora restarts each game he stars in at level one when he was one-shotting enemies and soloing bosses in the previous game. However; it's explained in Chain of Memories as being forced to forget, and at the start of Kingdom Hearts II, he was spending the past year asleep, progress being hampered by Roxas and Xion. In Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, his and Riku's reversion back to Level 1 deals with them entering the Sleeping Worlds and losing all of their abilities to learn the proper techniques for Keyblade Masters. Sora then gets his heart temporarily shattered and goes comatose for a while at the end of that game, the damage and need to recover from which explains his drop back to level one for the next game.
- However, played completely straight with Donald and Goofy. When the court mage and knight-captain join Sora, they're at the level he is and only have a fraction of their abilities.
- Palette Swap:
- The Final Mix versions of the games change the coloration of most enemies, apparently just for the sake of being refreshing.
- Rampant in Days and X (chi), which add several 'new' enemies and weapons by way of this trope. Some of the new enemies in the Final Mix versions are not much better.
- Paradox Person:
- Nobodies are the remains of a person's body and soul after they become a Heartless, animated by their strong will. They lack the ability to truly feel emotion due to the loss of their heart, but their memories allow them to act out the appropriate emotions in the right situations. They are said to defy the laws of the universe to the point that neither the Realm of Darkness nor the Realm of Light accept them, and thus they don't truly exist. Compounding the issue further is the fact that a Nobody is meant to be a temporary state of a human who loses their heart, because every sentient beings will instinctively try to form a heart of their own if they don't already have it. And yes, this means that if the Heartless part of the equation somehow manages to gain a body through other means, a person can potentially become two people. This is the case with Sora and Roxas: because Sora's body is restored by Kairi's light, Roxas is theoretically able to exist separately, at least until Xion's debacle makes that impossible.
- Naminé's situation is even stranger than an average Nobody. She is called Kairi's Nobody because she was born from her heart, but she owes her existence as much to Sora, who gave her body and soul. She inherits none of the former's memories (as is usual of a Nobody with the exception of Roxas) and has the Lovecraftian power of accessing and modifying the memories of Sora and everyone connected to him. Ansem the Wise states in one of his reports that it's doubtful she can even be called a Nobody, and the circumstances of her birth can probably never be replicated again.
- Xion is a essentially a toy who Grew Beyond Their Programming and Become a Real Boy. Unfortunately, her existence threatens Roxas and Sora, because she is literally living on borrowed time; as long as she exists, Sora can never wake up, while Roxas will eventually cease to exist. When she dies, she is Ret Goned.
- Parental Abandonment: Kairi's grandma, Ariel's father and Simba's dad are the only parental characters given any screentime. Of those three, Mufasa is dead and Kairi's grandma hasn't been seen since Radiant Garden fell. Sora's mom gets one line from offscreen near the start of the first game. Anyone else's parents are either invisible, implied to be dead (Ienzo), or completely unmentioned.
- The Password Is Always 'Swordfish': Played embarrassingly straight in II on several occasions. The passwords were (the first two of these were correctly guessed on the first try): 'Belle, Snow White, Aurora, Alice, Jasmine, Cinderella, Kairi,' 'Sea-salt ice cream,' and 'Sora, Donald, and Goofy'.
- Pieces of God: In game mythology, 'the light' was once whole; but was shattered; and the pieces survived in the hearts of children.
- Pop-Star Composer: Utada Hikaru writes the theme music for the series.
- The Power of Friendship: This concept is key to the series, but it's usually done in such a well-executed manner as to still feel natural, despite being idealistic. Keyblades in particular appear to be drawn to individuals who have strong hearts, and thus, exemplify this trope.
- Power Trio: Sora! Donald! Goofy! Trinity Attack!
- Production Foreshadowing: A major element of the Final Mix rereleases is the introduction of optional Bonus Bosses that are usually someone from the next game in the series that’s in production when the Final Mix version of the game is made available to the public. These fights are always hellishly hard and require serious skill to defeat, and every boss has some outfit that obscures their appearance. For example, in the first game, the bonus fight is against the “Enigmatic Man”, aka Xemnas, the Big Bad of the second game. He drops numerous hints about plot elements of the second game, such as calling himself “a mere shell” and saying that Sora reminds him of someone, obliquely referring to his own status as a Nobody and Sora’s link to Roxas. In the second game, the fight is against a suit of armor named the “Lingering Will”, which is revealed to be a man named Terra in ‘‘Birth By Sleep‘‘, as well as being one of the protagonists of that game. The Lingering Will makes a number of vague allusions to the endgame of BBS, in partiucular wondering if Sora is “him”. Said person makes the Lingering Will suddenly swell with rage, and given context we see in BBS it’s likely that the Will thinks Sora is Xehanort body-jacking some kid.
- Prolonged Prologue:
- The second game is notorious for this. The first game is no slouch in this department, either, though most of the stuff you can do on Destiny Islands is optional. However, the spin-off games are typically a lot better at this. Birth by Sleep's prologue is both very brief and can be skipped on subsequent playthroughs (which is helpful since there are three separate storylines to get through), and Chain of Memories barely has a prologue at all.
- Ironically, the minute Ventus starts messing around for the tutorial, he stops and questions why he was doing all that when he was on his way to see the meteor shower.
- Technically, the entirety of 0.2 is one for Kingdom Hearts III, only as a stand-alone game rather than packed with the main bit.
- Rainbow Pimp Gear:
- With space ships, no less. While the Gummi ship editor are clearly there with creativity in mind, more often than not you won't always have matching blocks to pull off a specific design. Similarly, a Gummi's HP is directly proportional to the amount of blocks it has. As a result, most Gummi ships will end up becoming literal Flying Bricks with miss-matching blocks with tons of guns attached to the front and the best engines in the back, with actual wings being considered a Dump Stat. Similarly, if you choose to go with the A.I. Breaker tactic, replace literal Flying Brick with a giant flying donut.
- Some Keyblade designs themselves can verge on this at times, being the only thing that averts No Cutscene Inventory Inertia. Sure, Keyblades beyond the one you'll start out with will have vastly better stats, but it can occasionally make cutscenes look unintentionally narmish when Sora has something like Decisive Pumpkin◊ equipped. note
- Really 700 Years Old:
- Union χ reveals that several characters in the current era are this. Elrena and Lauriam (Larxene and Marluxia's human selves) and Ventus were all Dandelions, Keyblade wielders chosen by Master Ava to avoid the Keyblade War.. Keep in mind that Union χ, like its predecessor, is set hundreds of years before the other games.
- One of the cutscenes in III shows that other than Larxene and Marluxia, Demyx and Luxord's human selves were also Keyblade wielders from the distant past.
- Finally, the ending of III reveals that the Foretellers survived the Keyblade War and were hiding somewhere. After Master Xehanort's defeat, they (minus Ava) are summoned by Luxu, who lives in the current dimension as Braig/Xigbar. The secret ending adds that their teacher, the Master of Masters, who was presumed to have disappeared before the Keyblade War, is still around too.
- Recovery Attack: Payback skills and Retaliating Slash, among others, allow the player to counterattack out of an attack that launches them into the air. Unlike most, though, these skills have to be initiated in the air; once you land, you lose your chance.
- Recurring Element:
- It takes some from Final Fantasy, such as Moogles, summon monsters, and the magic system.
- Multiple games have central characters that form a Power Trio in the form of a shorter, younger guy, his taller, brasher best friend, and a girl. The tall one tends to have a personality darker than the short stack, and tends to suffer some sort of bad fate (either a Face–Heel Turn, mind control, separation, or death). The short one and the girl tend to be separated in some way.
- Recurring Riff: No matter which series installment you're playing, the title screen will always have some variation of 'Dearly Beloved'. Another standout is 'Destati', which has been left out of only two games.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni:
- Sora's Valor Form and Wisdom Form. The former uses exclusively physical attacks, while the latter relies on magic.
- Donald would probably like to be this to Sora, but fails due to his own Greed. However Donald and Goofy qualify well as Donald is in the red due to his bad temper and Goofy is in the blue due to his calmer way of thinking and aloof personality. Ironically, Donald's battle uniform in blue and Goofy's is green.
- Refused by the Call: Sora at first. He wouldn't have gotten to be The Hero if Riku hadn't gotten impatient and used the darkness to leave Destiny Islands.
- Replay Mode: The series has a cutscene replay feature as an unlockable that can be viewed from the title screen (the feature's been there since the Updated Re-release of II).
- Retcon: Arguably the main reason why so many people have problems following the overarching story. The Big Bad's origin story is by far the worst offender, which seems to change with every major installment (read, the three numbered entries, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance).
- Ret Gone:
- While Sora is sleeping and Naminé is reconstructing his memories between Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II, everyone who knew him forgets that he existed until he awakens again.
- Everyone had forgotten Xion when she died, which is devastating to watch after seeing the development in 358/2 Days. In 3D, however, Sora somehow manages to meet with Xion while traversing through a dream landscape, while Riku later meets with Xion while he is rescuing Sora's heart from the darkness. It's revealed in III that Xion's heart migrated to Sora after her death and memories of people who know about her are mostly, but not completely, erased. The magic word is her name, something that is indeed difficult to recall; during the climax, it takes Xion putting Sora on a difficult situation for Roxas (while still in Sora's body) to say her name, causing everyone else's memories of her to be instantly restored.
- The Reveal:
- II: The Big Bad of the first game, Ansem, is actually Xehanort's Heartless poising as the true Ansem the Wise, who uses the alias DiZ.
- Birth by Sleep: Master Xehanort took Terra's body as his own vessel for his heart that eventually split into 'Ansem' and Xemnas. Ventus' heart is in Sora's, and his body rests inside Castle Oblivion, formerly the Land of Departure.
- Dream Drop Distance: The entire series has been one long plot by Master Xehanort to bring about another Keyblade War by pitting thirteen clones of himself against seven lights (our heroes). Organization XIII was the first trial to collect the thirteen Xehanorts, and it's also revealed that Nobodies (and anything with a mind) can grow a heart.
- Rewatch Bonus: The revelation in Dream Drop Distance that Nobodies gradually grow hearts back and that Saix and Xigbar were possessed by Xehanort makes the personalities and actions of the Nobodies throughout the series come across very differently.
- The Rival: Riku is this for Sora, at least until the end of the second game.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge:
- For the player rather than anyone in the game. Seriously, name something from a Disney film that scared the bejeezus out of you as a kid. Maleficent, Chernabog, Ursula, Oogie Boogie.. odds are good that whatever you named, you're gonna get to dish out some long overdue payback on.
- Also played in-universe during a scene on Hollow Bastion. After defeating Demyx, a rock falls toward King Mickey. Goofy shoves the King out of the way only to catch the rock dead on his head himself. For all appearances, Goofy is now dead. After a brief mourning scene, Mickey declares that 'they'll pay for this', throwing off his cloak, revealing his Keyblade and leaping into the battle, followed by one pissed-off Donald!
- Rule of Symbolism:
- There's a lot of Taoist symbolism in the theme of duality and how nothing can exist without its opposite to give it proper meaning, reflecting yin and yang, neither of which is innately evil. This is seen in the series with the balance of light and darkness, the belief that Dark Is Not Evil, it's just misused, and the existences of the Nobodies and Heartless. Furthermore, the three realms of Light, Darkness and Nothingness, tie into the 'third' element of yin and yang, wuji, which symbolizes nothingness and limitlessness.
- A lot of Christian symbolism ties together Sora, Xehanort, and Kingdom Hearts.
- Sora acts as a Messianic Archetype analog to Jesus Christ, The Chosen One who travels worlds fighting darkness and helping those in need of serving the higher good, taking on their burdens to ease their suffering when he can. Xehanort meanwhile is a Satanic Archetype, a Fallen Hero who corrupts others to darkness and can possess them to act through them. His Keyblade bears the image of a goat, an animal associated with the demon Baphomet, and his Keyblade Armor brings to mind Fallen Angel imagery as a suit of silver winged armor, and Xehanort cast it off when he began using the powers of darkness. The Final Battle of III drives it home with Master Xehanort donning a red and black suit of armor with a goat-headed helmet, and Sora indirectly sacrifices himself to restore the fallen guardians of light to life at the cost of his own.
- Kingdom Hearts serves as Heaven, the realm from which all hearts and life comes that Xehanort is trying to take control of and Sora fights to stop him. The χ-Blade that can open the door to Kingdom Hearts is depicted as two Kingdom Keys crossed over each other, and at the end of the first game, Mickey and Sora seal the Door to Darkness to Kingdom Hearts using two Kingdom Keys, Sora's being silver with a gold handle and Mickey's gold with a silver handle. In Papal heraldry, the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven are often depicted as a silver key and a gold key crossed over each other. Note also that 'χ' is the first letter of the Greek word christos.
- As a tie to the Bible story of Genesis, the 'capital city of light' that people were forced to flee when Xehanort conquered it and cast it into darkness, is Radiant Garden.
- As a flip of the Christian symbolism applying to Sora, Organization XIII consists of thirteen Nobodies led by Xemnas as a Dark Messiah, and Roxas, the thirteenth member, betrays them. This is really driven home in II when the other members repeatedly refer to Roxas as a traitor.
- Rule of Three: Three, thanks to the Trinity motif, is an Arc Number for the series. There are several trios of characters; the realms of Light, Darkness, and Nothingness; three paths at the start of the two numbered games (Sword, Shield or Staff); three ways of levelling up in the first game (journey begins at dawn, midday or dusk); three party members at a time; three main incarnations of Xehanort; three captured Princesses in the first game; the Drive Gauge starts at 3 in the second game, and so on.
- Sad Battle Music: A recurring trope.
- In II, 'Darkness Of The Unknown' is at first fairly epic, but when it hits its third stage, it takes a turn for the somber.
- In II Final Mix, you have 'The Other Promise,' Roxas' theme turned into a boss music. It continues to play in the ensuing cutscenes.
- In 358/2 Days', you have 'Vector to the Heavens,' full stop.
- In Dream Drop Distance, you have 'Rinzler Recompiled.'
- Say My Name:
- In the Secret End of Birth by Sleepregardless of their state of existence, Naminé, Roxas, Xion, Ven, Terra and Aqua pray to Sora's name across time and space.
- Kingdom Hearts II have Sora, Donald and Goofy referred to or greeted in that exact order almost 100% of the time.
- Science Fantasy: Due to being a crossover of various properties that are from different genres, the series contains many elements from fantasy and science fiction. Knights, sorcerers, spaceships, intergalactic travel, Cyberspace, Artificial Humans (and other artificial lifeforms like Artificial Intelligence), royalty, some Magitek, and Time Travel are just the tip of the iceberg.
- Second Hour Superpower:
- The Keyblade from the original. Sora starts out with a wooden sword.
- Also, Roxas's keyblade. He starts with a struggle bat.
- Self-Insert Fic: Literally done with the 100 Acre Wood, in which Sora inadvertently rewrites the story by finding the pages and interacting with the residents to include himself as a prominent character. It even includes him on the cover where Christopher Robin would've been when you clear the stage and find the keyhole.
- Sentient Cosmic Force: The Light; among other possibilities, this is the stuff of which worlds and people are made. It's apparently also the source and distributor of the Keyblades and Sora's initial visions. Can also impart Mysterious Monologues with the best of them.
- Sequel Hook: Most games have a secret ending movie that teases the next game.
- Sequel Number Snarl: The only games with a regular numbering scheme in their names are the home console releases, even though just about every game is important to the overarching narrative. This naming convention has created a situation where, in release order, Kingdom Hearts is the first game, Kingdom Hearts II is the third game, and Kingdom Hearts III is the eleventh.
- Sequential Boss: No self-respecting final boss in this series would be caught dead without at least three forms.
- Ansem, Seeker of Darkness is fought three times at the end of I, interspersed with an unrelated battle against a Darkside.
- Marluxia only has two forms in Chain of Memories but gains a third in the remake.
- Xemnas has five forms as the final boss of II, including the Duel Boss with Sora that precedes the Point of No Return.
- The Virus version of Data Roxas encountered in the 13-level Sector in Hollow Bastion has four forms.
- While not the final boss, Xion in Days is fought four times in four different worlds.
- The final boss of III is fought in four phases.
- Shifting Sand Land: Agrabah, being an Arabian locale based on the movie Aladdin, is largely comprised of desert.
- Ship Sinking: Axel specifically states that he considers romantic love (the kind between Belle and Beast being the topic-starter) and love between best friends to be completely separate.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: In the original game, played straight with the Hollow Bastion Climax Boss, but subverted in the final battle (in which Donald and Goofy rejoin you gradually). Played straight at the end of Kingdom Hearts II, in which Sora and Riku are the only heroes at the final battle, but that's because Donald and Goofy had just left earlier after everyone thought that Xemnas was dead already. III subverts this once again, as Donald and Goofy miss out against the confrontation with 12 of the 13 Seekers of Darkness, but they join Sora for the final fight against Master Xehanort.
- Shout-Out:
- The majority of Mook Nobodies are named after the various job classes in the Final Fantasy series, and often behave as such.
- The Darkside Heartless is named after Tales from the Darkside, an anthology horror TV series. The Twilight Thorn is called Twilight Zone in Japanese, referencing another famous horror TV series.
- The poses Sora does when he wins a tournament round in the first game are victory poses from Final Fantasy VII, VIII and X.
- Most of the Gummi Ship names are names of various airships from the Final Fantasy games.
- Xigbar's title, 'Freeshooter', is taken from the title of the German opera Der Freischütz. The eponymous marksman makes a Deal with the Devil in exchange for seven magical bullets; the first six are controlled by the marksman while the seventh is controlled by the Devil.
- Shown Their Work:
- Repeatedly. The development staff has access to the whole of Disney canon to look at for concepts, and they go the extra mile to represent them well. Character designs match their film counterparts right down to the littlest detail, numerous locations look just like they did in the films, and many voice actors return to reprise their roles.
- It speaks of the quality of the localization team that Mickey, Donald and Goofy all talk exactly the way audiences expect them to.
- Sigil Spam:
- The Heartless emblem and the Nobody sigil both show up on pretty much anything connected to their groups. The Unversed sigil also get the same treatment, as well the Dreameaters. Weaponized by Xehanort in 3D.
- Significant Anagram:
- All of Organization XIII; each of their names is an anagram of the old selves' name with an added X.
- Xehanort especially. Get rid of the X and we get both 'No Heart' and 'Another'. Nomura says both were entirely intentional. As of Birth by Sleep, add 'No Earth.' Fitting, given what happens to Terra.
- Eraqus can also be arranged as 'Square.' Almost a complete reversal of the name in fact, just with the 'u' being placed after the 'q' to follow English vocabulary rules. This is done to make him a counterpart to Yen Sid, which is 'Disney' spelt backwards.
- Significant Double Casting. Several pairs of characters use the same voice actor, due to being alternate versions of the same character or having some other kind of strong relation.
- Sliding Scale of Continuity: Level 5 (Full Lockout). From the second game onward the games head straight into Kudzu Plot with any detail potentially Foreshadowing future games (Xigbar's cryptic lines in II being an example). Dream Drop Distance has 'memoirs' thought that record the plots of the preceeding games and unlocks them when a Continuity Nod/Call-Back to the respective game first occurs. Making the games a Level 4 (Arc-Based Episodic) at least (though without that game it still remains at 5). Birth By Sleep tones it down to a Level 3, with the story being self-contained and easy to understand if you've not played the other games, but there's a lot of Call Forwards and Foreshadowing for future games that will be lost on a new player.
- Sliding Scale of Silliness vs. Seriousness: Shifts from silliness towards seriousness within each game, and over the series as whole.
- Sound of No Damage: The games feature a rubbery bounce sound when an attack has no effect, accompanied by a ripple where the enemy was struck. Countering an enemy's physical attack with one of your own or guarding causes a high 'ching' sound.
- Spam Attack: One technique, Ars Arcanum, is really just a flurry of blows from the Keyblade.
- Spanner in the Works: Sora and Co. have an amazing ability to tear complicated schemes to pieces without ever fully understanding them. (Though they do have help.)
- Speedy Techno Remake: The PlanitB remix of 'Simple and Clean', used in the openings of the first game and Birth by Sleep.
- Spell My Name with an 'S': Never Land or Neverland? Never Land is probably right, given that it was written as 'the Never Never Land' in the original play (Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up).
- Spiritual Successor: The World of Mana series was succeeded by Kingdom Hearts, more or less. Disney Fantasy Online is a spiritual successor to Kingdom Hearts, as it's essentially Kingdom Hearts online with the Square Enix properties filed off but with the Nomura art style and core concepts retained.
- Standard Female Grab Area: Happens a few times to different characters, and is wonderfully subverted by Belle in KH2, who takes the opportunity to stomp on the foot of her captor and dash to safety.
- Stars Are Souls: Kingdom Hearts is a bit iffy on this one. Usually, the stars in the KH universe represent worlds as a whole and they disappear from the night sky when that particular world is submerged in darkness. Then, in Kingdom Hearts II, we have the Pride Lands as a world, which reaffirms the plot point that the old rulers of Pride Rock become stars in the sky upon death. This is also shown in Birth by Sleep, when, after Master Xehanort strikes down Master Eraqus in front of a horrified Terra, Yen Sid notes, 'Eraqus's star has blinked out.' The contradictions can just be chalked up to the world running on the Theory of Narrative Causality.
- The Stations of the Canon:
- Take a drink every time Sora and company intervene to make sure that the Stations of the Disney Canon happen properly.
- Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories turns visiting the Stations of Kingdom Hearts into a plot point—The Important Promise is changed by Namine so that Sora remembers her as the one he made that promise to.
- Still Wearing the Old Colors: Neither Roxas nor Xion ditch their Organization XIII cloaks after they quit the organization. It's unlikely that Roxas had time to buy anything else to wear and Xion probably was wearing it to protect her heart from darkness, like Riku does. Later, Lea also continues to wear his Organization cloak following his resurrection.
- Story Difficulty Setting: A variant - Kingdom Hearts: 58/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded were both re-released in HD as the 1.5 Remix and 2.5 Remix, respectively. Each re-release featured cutscene-only versions of the game in question, removing all gameplay.
- Super Mode: Drive Forms:
- Valor Form cuts off magic, but grants Dual Wielding, Super Speed, and high jump.
- Wisdom Form turns the Keyblade into an extreme Magic Wand, gives a speed dash ability, and turns your attack into a Projectile Spell function. And it floats.
- Master Form boosts attack and magic to a lesser degree than the previous Forms, but grants Dual Wielding and the ability to spam magic for as long as you have MP.
- Final Form is all of the above and cranks it Up to Eleven. Power Glows and Power Floats (and Dual Wields floating Keyblades). It can glide and high jump. Almost every action prompts rapid attacks from the Keyblades (including jumping, landing, and drinking a potion). Every physical and magical attack is a Spam Attack, to say nothing of the finisher versions. The only thing it lacks is Master Form's unlimited casting ability, but that's not much of a loss.
- Subverted with Anti-Form, which raises attack to maximum, but lowers defense to minimum. If you're good at evasion, this can destroy most enemies and even bosses pretty quickly, but you will drop after taking a few hits which makes this a double-edged sword.
- Lastly, Limit Form, a Call-Back to Kingdom Hearts 1. It emulates Sora's old moveset and grants him his old Limit attacks.
- Surprise Creepy: Especially if all you saw before playing was the Disney element or hadn't actually watched some of the Disney films featured (did you think Pinnocchio portrayed being swallowed by a whale nicely?)
- Surprisingly Good English: Even though the game series was made in Japan, a lot of the English that appears in the game is grammatically correct, including the phrases that appear in the opening. Justified, as Engrish would look out of place in a game filled with Disney characters.
- Take Up My Sword: One way someone claims a Keyblade is by performing The Rite of Succession with a Keyblade Master. A Keyblade still has to choose them, though.
- Teens Are Short:
- Sora, Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Naminé, etc. are all shorter than almost all of the adults in the game. 'Shorter than some' would be understandable, as would 'slightly shorter than most', but there is a significant height gap most of the way through, at least for the males. Although Riku does hit a growth spurt after Chain of Memories and becomes 'adult height' for Kingdom Hearts II.
- Not really a teen, but seeing Goofy next to some of these other characters makes you realize that he's not so tall as much as all of his friends are just short.
- Gets really weird in 3D when you see them interact with the cast of TRON: Legacy (which are portrayed are as real, detailed, and unsettling humans) and see them tower over Sora and Riku.
- Terrible Artist: Naminé. Which may be forgivable as she is working in crayon then. In pencil, of course, she's completely amazing.
- Theme Naming:
- The three major protagonists are named after the Japanese words for sky (Sora), land (Riku), and sea (Kai[ri]).
- Their counterparts from Birth by Sleep match, being named after the Latin words for wind (Ventus), earth (Terra), and water (Aqua).
- Kairi and the two Nobodies born from her from her have a theme of a Japanese word related to the ocean with an extra mora at the end: Kairi (kai/ocean+ri), Naminé (nami/wave+né), and Xion (shio/tide+n).
- All the names of the Organization XIII members are anagrams of the names they had before they became Nobodies with an 'x' added in.
- The stronger Nobody mooks are all named after Job Classes from various Final Fantasy games.
- Some of the spinoff games have something of an internet theme: CoM (Chain of Memories), coded, BBS (Birth by Sleep).
- The gigantic bosses that appear in I and II's Dive into the Heart sequences, Darkside and Twilight Thorn, are both named after horror anthology series: Tales from the Darkside and The Twilight Zone.
- Theme Song Reveal: The series runs this trope as far as it can take it. Many themes are remixed and incorporated into other themes, and analysis of such can provide a glimpse into connections between characters when one of their themes incorporates snippets from the other's.
- There Are No Therapists: Especially for Ventus, Aqua and Terra in Birth By Sleep.Aqua winds up having to put down both Terra and Ventus, Terra loses his body and kills his master, and Ventus finds out he has to sacrifice himself. Though some of Organization XIII could also use them.
- They're Called 'Personal Issues' for a Reason: Played straight and deconstructed several times throughout the series. Cases in point:
- In Birth By Sleep, if Ven had told Terra and Aqua about Vanitas' warning, if Terra had told them about Master Xehanort's side teachings, basically if all three had just talked before things got out of hand Terra may still have his body, Ven wouldn't be in a coma after destroying his heart to defeat Vanitas, Aqua wouldn't be trapped in the Realm of Darkness, Eraqus may still be alive, and Xehanort's plans would have been either halted or siderailed.
- Deconstructed and intended for the Nobodies of Organization XIII. By denying their emotions since they had no hearts, none of them progressed, and as revealed in Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance], none of them could regain their hearts due to keeping those feelings locked up. Best part? This was Xehanort's plan from the start, so he could have vessels to put his heart in and create his Thirteen Seekers of Darkness.
- Thinking Up Portals: Corridors of Darkness are portals that a person can conjure up, and they effectively allow the conjurer to travel to from anywhere in the entire universe to anywhere else in an instant. However, doing so risks corruption by darkness. This explains why the villains can get anywhere in a flash, but the heroes always have to avoid these portals and take the slow way (with oneexception.) Different kinds of portals are also conjured up by a person or in other ways with seemingly no risks but only when the plot calls for it.
- Three Strike Combo: The protagonists typically start with a basic three point combo attack just by tapping to attack button. This can be lengthened, shortened or powered up depending on your abilities and keyblade.
- Title Drop: In every game so far, the Kingdom Hearts, of which the series is named after, is referred to by at least one character. It is put simply, the heart of all worlds.
- Tomes of Prophecy and Fate: The Book of Prophesies, introduced within Kingdom Hearts χ, serves as this for the entire universe. It has information about the past, present, and future, and according to Maleficent via a retroactivelly added scene within Kingdom Hearts coded, one can, among other things, create new worlds simply by adding onto it.
- Took a Level in Badass:
- Mickey is shown to have been clumsy at wielding a Keyblade when training under Yen Sid in Birth by Sleep. In the present day, he's the most skilled Keyblade wielder of all.
- Roxas gains a level in badass after defeating Xion in Days, gaining his signature power to dual-wield two Keyblades.
- Sora in Kingdom Hearts II not only gets Roxas's dual-wielding, but later on takes his own level in badass when he gets the power to use Drive Forms. Even not counting this, Sora's skill with the Keyblade drastically increases during the events of Kingdom Hearts I and Kingdom Hearts II.
- Riku and Kairi both get their own Keyblades in Kingdom Hearts II. The latter also demonstrates the ability to make a several-story jump off a balcony with seeming ease, a considerable feat for someone who hasn't previously been depicted as athletic, and continues to level grind offscreen between games.
- Over the course of the franchise chronologically, Lea goes from a seemingly normal kid with a frisbee to a fire-wielding chakram-slinging Nobody assassin, then back to a human who retains all of those same abilities, and then manifests a Keyblade on top of that.
- By Kingdom Hearts III, Sora finally taps into the Keyblade's potential as a Morph Weapon, opening him up to new weapons such as guns, whips, and drills, even up to the level of summoning Disneyland rides in battle.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Quite a few characters like sea-salt ice cream, which serves as a minor plot point.
- Translation Convention: There are several indications that the canon language being spoken, for the most part, is English—signage is generally in English, and KHII hammers the point home with the initialism 'D.T.D.' ('Door To Darkness') and a pun based on Cloud's namenote being present in the original Japanese version. This is compounded by the fact that the otherwise Japanese Final Mix rereleases use the English dubs by default. It's never actually stated what's going on in, say, China or Agrabah, but Donald is able to use his magic to help the party blend in terms of their appearances, so the implication is that some magic-based Translator Microbes are involved.
- Trilogy Creep: The first story arc, the Dark Seeker Saga, consists of the games from Kingdom Hearts I to Kingdom Hearts III. However, several (plot-vital) titles were released between the 'numbered' titles, meaning the 'trilogy' consists of something like nine games, plus an MMO and a movie.
- Tropical Island Adventure: Sora, Riku and Kairi's home world is Destiny Islands, a tropical island which acts as the tutorial area for the first game and a late-game world in Chain of Memories, and has several cutscenes set there in other games in the series. The 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep incarnations of Neverland are also a series of tropical islands, as are Port Royal and The Caribbean from Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts III respectively.
- The Unchosen One:
- Sora was not the initial choice for the Keyblade. Pretty much spelled out when Sora meets Terra, one of the previous Keybearers. The latter flips out upon seeing the Keyblade in the hands of someone other than the one he chose. Cue Bonus Boss. This is subverted if you take into account that it was the keyblade that chose Sora. Not a keyblade wielder like Terra.
- In contrast to Sora, both Riku and Kairi actually areThe Chosen One, selected by Terra and Aqua, respectively (Although in Kairi's case, it was accidental, and in Riku's case, as mentioned above, he lost his chosen right and had to work hard to eventually transform his sword into a Keyblade instead.)
- Mickey and Aqua are also unchosen ones, in a sense. The former is, well, Mickey Mouse, who became a Keyblade wielder just so he could help people with it, and Aqua is simply a highly-skilled Keyblade wielder with no great destiny set out for her like Terra or Ven. It doesn't stop either of them from derailing Xehanort's plans, serving vital roles on the side of the good guys, and generally being badass the whole time.
- Uncommon Time: The Hollow Bastion theme is in 5/8.
- Under the Sea: Atlantica.
- Uniqueness Decay: Over the course of the series, a surprising amount of Keyblades and Wielders have popped up with each passing game. In the first game, it's implied there's only one Keyblade and Keyblade Wielder, which is a major plot point when Sora has to earn it back and prove himself after Riku reveals his status as the realChosen One and promptly takes it from him. At the end of the game, there's also revealed to be a Keyblade for the Dark World as well, which isn't too unreasonable to believe because of it being the opposite of the realm of light. However, in the secret video unlocked in the very same game, there's shown to be a mysterious figure who can dual wield two Keyblades. Then in Kingdom Hearts II, we find out that there's more Keyblades and Keyblade Wielders out there, but the amount is still rather reasonable come end game. That being Sora, Riku, Mickey, and Kairi, with everyone else being either a Nobody version of an existing Keyblade Wielder, retired like Yen Sid, or (at that point) being a massive Mind Screw like the Lingering Will. Then the secret video in that game and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep reveals an entire war of nothing but Keyblade Wielders took place in the past, over what can be considered the ultimate and trueLegendary Weapon version of the Keyblade, and that there's an entire graveyard of the things now as a result. It's a fact that Braig in Birth By Sleeplampshades, ironically, given the games status as a prequel to the rest of the series.Braig: It seems like these days, everybody's got one of those...
- Unscaled Merfolk: While in Atlantica, Sora is half dolphin, Donald is half octopus, and Goofy is mostly turtle (only his head is still clearly him).
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight:
- You'd think someone like Jack Sparrow would say something when faced with an anthropomorphic duck. (Then again, considering this is Jack Sparrow's mind..) In fact, someone would probably comment on there being several people looking like they just stepped out of a cartoon in a place that clearly doesn't have that kind of stuff.
- Likewise, in the Mulan level, the Captain doesn't seem to notice that the three most powerful of the new recruits don't look Chinese, don't have Chinese names, and aren't wearing Chinese soldier armor.
- Updated Re-release: The Re: and Final Mix editions of each game as they come. Kingdom Hearts I, Kingdom Hearts II, and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep all have Final Mix editions that include additional bosses, areas, weapons, minigames, cutscenes, powers, and items, but, until Kingdom Hearts 1.5: HD Remix was announced with the original game's Final Mix included, none of these were available outside of Japan, despite having some international voices. The Re: editions (of coded and Chain of Memories) have been available internationally, however, albeit in some changed format and minor changes to story elements in the process.
- The Usual Adversaries: While they are also obviously The Heartless, the Heartless and Nobodies are also this. Birth by Sleep brings the Unversed, and Dream Drop Distance introduces the Dream Eaters.
- Victory Pose:
- Sora, Donald and Goofy all have various victory poses in Olympus. Sora's poses are Mythology Gags toward Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and X.
- In 358/2 Days everybody gets one for Mission Mode.
- Video Game Remake: The PS2's Re:Chain of Memories, a remake of the GBA's Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded for the DS, a remake of the mobile game Kingdom Hearts coded.
- Villain-Based Franchise: Master Xehanort (or one component of him) managed to cause every single problem in the series in some manner. Nomura recently has basically stated that Kingdom Hearts I through III and the associated spinoffs will comprise the 'Xehanort saga' of Kingdom Hearts. Yeah, all these games are just part of one villain-based saga.
- Villain Teleportation: A wide variety of villains will teleport around the battlefield. Notable examples include Ansem-Riku and his infamous Dark Aura attack, Maleficent, Master Xehanort, Vanitas, and Organization XIII.
- Violation of Common Sense: Against most bosses that can eat through your HP in just a few hits (which encompasses most of the Bonus Bosses), it's actually a better idea to let yourself get juggled by the boss in the event you get launched as opposed to pressing the Aerial Recovery / Payback button as soon as it's available. This is because while you're in juggle state, the game still thinks you're in a combo, which means that Once More will continue protecting you until you leave juggle state. If you Aerial Recovery or Payback, you no longer have this safety net and the next hit will kill you.
- Wackyland:
- Wonderland (Alice in Wonderland) features talking plants, potions that cause the party to grow and shrink, and frustratingly obtuse locals.
- Timeless River is based on old Disney shorts like Steamboat Willie and as such runs on Cartoon Physics and absurd slapstick.
- Symphony of Sorcery (Fantasia) has strange, magical weather phenomena and, as an example of Band Land, seems to impose Mickey Mousing on its inhabitants.
- Watching the Sunset: There are several cases of dear friends doing this.
- In the first game, Sora, Riku, and Kairi watch the sunset after building their raft. Sora and Kairi later do another one after gathering supplies for their excursion. The first instance is referenced in a secret report in Days, where Xion, after unwittingly absorbing Sora's memories, recalls watching the sunset on a beach with two friends, but they are not Axel and Roxas.
- Twilight Town is always lit by a perpetual late afternoon sun, guaranteeing this every time someone watches it. Roxas, Hayner, Pence, and Olette celebrate the former's win of the Struggle Trophy by watching the sun atop the clock tower in the prologue of II. Approaches an extreme degree in Days, where Roxas, Xion and Axel meet in Twilight Town's clock tower after every mission to do just that.
- Sora and Kairi do this twice in III, the first before the confrontation at Keyblade Graveyard, and the second after that. Both cementing their Relationship Upgrade.
- Weapon Jr.: Sora's wooden sword, Tidus's wooden pole, Selphie's jumprope, Ven's wooden keyblade, and Lea's frisbees.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Xehanort believes himself to be this. Sure he's screwing over Eraqus and his pupils, but he's doing it to bring about cosmic balance. It's just that his idea of cosmic balance requires causing a war between Keyblade masters that will destroy the universe.
- Wham Episode:
- The Hollow Bastion visit of the first game caused lingering consequences for the rest of the series afterwards, especially the moment when Sora stabs himself with a keyblade that unlocks peoples hearts to free Kairi's heart.
- Birth by Sleep was one for the entire universe as well, as it featured the beginning of Master Xehanort's efforts to put his long plan into motion.
- Dream Drop Distance, being the penultimate game in the series before the Xehanort Saga's conclusion, ties story elements from practically the entire series and shows how it's all connected, as well as having some major reveals about the Heart, Xehanort, Nobodies, and Organization XIII.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?:
- The Nobodies. Sora in particular sticks to his 'You don't exist, you don't feel anything' mantra right until the end, even after one of them pulls a Heroic Sacrifice for his sake yet comes back to life as a human, because of it.. One might think he was speaking directly to Disney's censors. Meanwhile other, non-Nobody villains succumb to The Heartless, a Karmic Death, get One-Winged Angel enough to get covered by this trope or survive for a while. To Sora's credit, once he actually gets some room to just process everything that went down in Kingdom Hearts II, he is the first to avert this trope and he isn't shy about calling himself and others out for their bullshit.
- To a further extent, Nobodies unlucky enough to not have a human appearance are treated less than the ones that do. Just imagine a Dusk in place of Roxas or Namine or any member of Organization XIII.
- White Void Room: Most of the rooms in Castle Oblivion. Most notably Naminé's. The justification in the game is that these rooms are altered by the memories of those inside the room, so they are blank white by default.
- Whole Plot Reference: Half of the time, the plot of a Disney world will be a truncated version of the film it's based on with Sora's party and the Heartless shoehorned in. The other half of the time, an original story is told in the world's setting that may or may not take place after the events of the world's film. For example, the Toy Story world in III tells an original story set between the second and third film, the Lilo and Stitch world in Birth by Sleep is a prequel to the original film, and the Nightmare Before Christmas stories have all been originals that vaguely reference the original film.
- A Wizard Did It: The reason casting fire spells works in Atlantica and The Caribbean, or how casting electricity-based spells doesn't completely fry the party. Kingdom Hearts III reveals that spells work differently when cast underwater.
- Xanatos Gambit: As of Dream Drop Distance we have this predicament: Either the Keyblade wielders face Xehanort and forge the χ-blade in the process starting a new Keyblade War, or he attacks and takes the Princesses of Heart by force and creates it anyway.
- Zipperiffic: Like you wouldn't friggin' believe. Pretty much the only things that don't have zippers in these games are the classic Disney designs (i.e. anyone who's not Donald, Goofy or even Mickey).
—But don't be afraid.
You hold the mightiest weapon of all.
So don't forget:
You are the one who will open the door.
You hold the mightiest weapon of all.
So don't forget:
You are the one who will open the door.
The Hero Requires Motivation
Played straight. The Love Interest is killed by the Big Bad to motivate The Hero for the Final Battle, all in one scene.
Example of:
Stuffed into the Fridge
Stuffed into the Fridge
Index
A piece of promotional artwork for Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ that showcases the main characters of the series up to Kingdom Hearts II; Sora appears twice in the center in two different outfits with his design from Kingdom Hearts II next to Roxas (left) and his original design next to Riku (right), with the members of Organization XIII at the bottom.
Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (formerly Square). It is the result of a collaboration between Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios. Kingdom Hearts is a crossover of various Disney settings based in a universe made specifically for the series. The series features a mixture of familiar Disney, Final Fantasy, The World Ends with You and Pixar characters, as well as several new characters designed by Tetsuya Nomura.[1] In addition, it has an all-star voice cast which includes many of the Disney characters' official voice actors.
The series centers on Sora's search for his friends and his encounters with various Disney and Final Fantasy characters along the way. Players primarily control Sora, though there are numerous characters that join Sora's party as computer controlled members. The majority of the characters were introduced in the original game Kingdom Hearts. Subsequent installments have featured several new original, Disney, and Final Fantasy characters, Dream Drop Distance introduces characters from Square Enix's The World Ends with You, while Kingdom Hearts III introduces characters from Pixar's Toy Story series and Monsters, Inc..[2][3][4]
Various types of merchandise modeled after the characters' likeness have been produced, including figurines and jewelry. The characters have garnered praise from several video game websites and magazines for the quality of their voice acting and visual style. Comments have focused on the accurate presentation of Disney characters, the unique visual style of Square Enix characters, how well all the characters blend together, and the consistent quality performances from voice actors.
- 2Original characters
- 2.1Main playable characters
- 2.2Other characters
- 3Disney and Square Enix characters
Creation and influences[edit]
Early concept art of Riku, Kairi, and Sora, original characters created for the series
The Kingdom Hearts series is directed by Tetsuya Nomura, the character designer of the games. Nomura has stated that unlike working with Final Fantasy characters, keeping the main character Sora alive and interesting over multiple games is a challenge.[5] He also stated that though many of the Disney characters are not normally dark and serious, there were not many challenges making them so for the story, and despite this, their personalities shine because they maintain their own characteristics.[6] Though Disney gave Nomura freedom in the characters and worlds used for the games, he and his staff tried to stay within the established roles of characters and boundaries of the worlds.[5] When deciding which worlds to include in the game, the development staff tried to take into account worlds with Disney characters that would be interesting.[7]
The inclusion of specific Final Fantasy characters was based on the opinions of fans and the development staff.[8] Another criterion for inclusion was whether the staff felt the characters would fit into the storyline and in the Kingdom Hearts universe.[9] Nomura was hesitant to use characters he did not design because he was unfamiliar with the background work of such characters.[10] For Kingdom Hearts II, he changed his mind after receiving pressure from his staff.[8] Throughout the development of the games, Nomura has often left certain events and connections between characters unexplained until the release of future games. Nomura did this because he feels that games should have room for fans to speculate and use their imagination. He stated that with speculation, even though a game may get old, people can still be happy with it.[11]
Original characters[edit]
Main playable characters[edit]
Sora[edit]
- Voiced by: Miyu Irino (Japanese); Haley Joel Osment (English)[12]
- Young Sora
- Voiced by: Takuto Yoshigana (Japanese); Luke Manriquez (English)
Sky Kingdom Server
Sora (ソラ) is the main protagonist of the Kingdom Hearts series, and the sole playable character of the original game.[1] He is portrayed as a cheerful teenager who lives on the Destiny Islands with his two childhood friends, Riku and Kairi. When his world is beset by creatures of darkness known as the Heartless, Sora comes into possession of a weapon of light called the Keyblade,[13] and he embarks on a journey alongside Donald Duck and Goofy to protect other worlds from the Heartless and nobodies and other forces of evil.
Riku[edit]
- Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (Japanese); David Gallagher (English)
- Young Riku
- Voiced by: Eiji Shima (Japanese); Ty Panitz (English)
Riku (リク) is a childhood friend and rival of Sora who resides with him and Kairi on the world of Destiny Islands.[1] Originally appearing as a non-playable character in the original game, where he is introduced as 15 years old, he has a playable role in the 'Reverse/Rebirth' story mode of Chain of Memories, the multiplayer mode of 358/2 Days, and the core story of Dream Drop Distance. He is also a computer-controlled party member exclusive to the final level of Kingdom Hearts II, and is temporarily playable during a sequence where Sora is incapacitated in the game's final boss battle. Riku is also briefly playable at several points in the 'Dark World' in Kingdom Hearts III. His signature weapon is the 'Soul Eater' sword, a manifestation of the darkness in his heart. During the first game, Riku is revealed to be the rightful owner of Sora's Keyblade, which is bequeathed onto the five-year-old Riku by Terra during the events of Birth by Sleep; however, his reliance on the power of darkness causes the Keyblade to reject Riku in favor of Sora. In Kingdom Hearts II, the 16-year-old Riku acquires another Keyblade of his own, the 'Way to the Dawn'; this Keyblade is later broken in Kingdom Hearts III, leading him to obtain a new Keyblade, 'Braveheart'.
During the invasion of Heartless in Kingdom Hearts, Riku immerses himself in darkness to discover new worlds beyond his home. Arriving at Hollow Bastion, Riku is manipulated by Maleficent into aiding her plans for world conquest in exchange for knowledge to restoring Kairi's missing heart. He is later tricked into allowing Xehanort's Heartless, Ansem, to possess his body. Following Ansem's defeat, Riku helps Sora and King Mickey close the door to Kingdom Hearts, remaining on the other side with the king. In Chain of Memories, DiZ helps Riku escape from the dark realm. Initially rejecting his darkness out of guilt for his betrayal, Riku resolves to wield both powers of light and darkness to battle Ansem, whose essence lingers in his heart. In Kingdom Hearts II, Riku is forced to harness Ansem's power to capture Roxas in order to restore Sora's missing memories, assuming the Heartless's physical appearance as a result; after the Heartless is destroyed by DiZ's exploding heart encoder, Riku returns to his regular appearance, and he and Sora return to the Destiny Islands together following Xemnas's defeat. In Dream Drop Distance, he and Sora undertake a Mark of Mastery exam in preparation for Xehanort's return. Riku is promoted to Keyblade Master after venturing into Sora's dreams twice in the form of a Dream Eater to protect him from Xehanort. He subsequently embarks with Mickey in A Fragmentary Passage to rescue Aqua from the realm of darkness.
Nomura has stated that Riku's name can be interpreted as 'land', since the on'yomi pronunciation of Japanese word for 'land' is riku (陸),[14][15] similar to how Sora's name is identical to the Japanese word for 'sky', sora (空).[16] Riku's character represents one of the series' main themes, 'the light and the dark sides of hearts,' alongside Sora.[17] On the character's role in Dream Drop Distance, Nomura emphasized Riku as the game's main focus as it shows the character's growth across the series.[18]
Roxas[edit]
- Voiced by: Kōki Uchiyama (Japanese); Jesse McCartney (English)
Roxas (ロクサスRokusasu) is the initial player-controlled character of Kingdom Hearts II, featured during the game's prologue segment. Introduced as a youth living in a virtual simulation of Twilight Town, he discovers himself to be Sora's Nobody, born when Sora transformed into a Heartless to restore Kairi's heart during the events of the first game. He is also revealed to be a defector from Organization XIII, serving as the main protagonist of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days in which revolves around his circumstances as a Keyblade user in Xemnas's plan leading to his defection.[19] While he merged back into Sora's body, Roxas becomes a separate being in a Replica body created in Kingdom Hearts III. Roxas originally uses Sora's Kingdom Key Keyblade before acquired Ventus's Kingdom Key, turning the two Keyblades into Oathkeeper and Oblivion.
Terra[edit]
- Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (Japanese); Jason Dohring (English)[20]
Terra (テラTera) is one of the three playable characters of Birth by Sleep. He is a Keyblade wielder who is trained by Master Eraqus alongside Aqua and Ventus, developing a strong sibling-like bond and sharing his dream of becoming a Keyblade Master with them;[21] gameplay-wise, he performs slower, heavier-hitting attacks than Aqua and Ventus. During an exam to obtain the Mark of Mastery, Master Xehanort manipulates the trials to stimulate the darkness that resides inside of Terra, for which he is denied the rank.[22] He is thus easily manipulated by Xehanort's encouragements to channel his darkness into power,[23] ultimately turned into the first of Xehanort's vessels. Terra is ultimately freed from Xehanort's control and restored to normal during the events of Kingdom Hearts III.
Ventus[edit]
- Voiced by: Kōki Uchiyama (Japanese); Jesse McCartney (English)[20]
Ventus (ヴェントゥスVentusu), commonly nicknamed 'Ven' (ヴェン), is one of the three playable characters of Birth by Sleep who is later revealed to be a member of the Dandelions who survived the Keyblade War before being displaced from his time by Xehanort. Throughout the plot of Birth by Sleep, Xehanort intended Ventus to recreate χ-blade for his agenda. After Ventus sacrifices his heart to prevent the χ-blade's completion, his comatose body is sealed within Castle Oblivion while his heart takes refuge within Sora's, which factors into the physical appearance of Roxas.[24] In Kingdom Hearts III, Sora becomes aware of Ventus's heart within him and uses the power of waking to send it back to his body, reviving him. Ventus later aids Sora and his allies in the final battle with Xehanort.
Aqua[edit]
- Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese); Willa Holland (English)[20]
Aqua (アクアAkua) is a Keyblade Master who serves as one of the three playable characters of Birth by Sleep, and the sole playable character of A Fragmentary Passage, a direct sequel bundled in Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. She is also playable during one fight in 'Kingdom Hearts III', against Vanitas. She is a nimble character who specializes in magic attacks while dealing weak physical damage. As the only one among her friends to achieve the rank of Keyblade Master by the start of the game, she is tasked by Master Eraqus to watch over Terra and retrieve Ventus when he runs away from home.[25][26] While attempting to protect Ventus and save Terra from Xehanort's control, she becomes trapped in the realm of darkness, where she remains suspended in time throughout the series while fending off the unless swarms of Heartless. In Kingdom Hearts III, Sora rescues her from the realm of darkness, and she joins him in the final battle against Xehanort.
Other characters[edit]
Kairi[edit]
- Voiced by: Risa Uchida (Japanese); Hayden Panettiere (KH, KHII, BBS), Alyson Stoner (other appearances) (English)[12]
- Young Kairi
- Voiced by: Sumire Morohoshi (Japanese); Ariel Winter (English)
Easeus data recovery wizard 9.0 serial. Kairi (カイリ) is the main female protagonist of Kingdom Hearts, and the best friend of Sora and Riku. As one of the seven Princesses of Heart, she is cast adrift from her homeworld of Radiant Garden at a young age as part of Xehanort's experiment to locate the key bearer, which eventually brings her to the Destiny Islands, piquing Sora and Riku's interest in other worlds. In Birth by Sleep, it is revealed that her arrival on the islands is the result of an encounter with Aqua, who gives the four-year-old Kairi a protective charm to shield her from the darkness as well as Kairi gaining the ability to wield a Keyblade after touching the one belonging to Aqua.
During Kingdom Hearts, the 14-year-old Kairi's heart is stolen by the Heartless, sending her body into a coma while her heart takes refuge within Sora's. Upon learning her identity as a Princess of Heart and the location of her heart, Sora sacrifices his own heart in order to release hers and return it to her body. Soon after, Kairi finds Sora's Heartless and restores him to human form. Kairi later remains behind on the restored Destiny Islands to await Sora's return from his journey.[27] In Kingdom Hearts II, Kairi is kidnapped by Organization XIII to motivate Sora towards acting in their wishes. She escapes with the help of Naminé and Riku, receiving her Keyblade 'Destiny Embrace' from the latter to fight alongside Sora.[28] After Sora and Riku defeat the Organization's leader Xemnas, Kairi reunites with them at the Destiny Islands. In Dream Drop Distance, she is summoned by Yen Sid to train as a Keyblade wielder in order to combat Xehanort's reconfigured Organization XIII. In Kingdom Hearts III, Kairi ended up killed by Xehanort, during the events at the Keyblade Graveyard, as his way to motivate Sora into helping him recreate the χ-blade. After defeating Xehanort, Sora heads out by himself to search for a way to use the 'Power of Waking' to restore Kairi. In the final scene of the game, Kairi is shown alive again on Destiny Islands holding Sora's hand as tears fall from her eyes, then Sora fades away.
Nomura has stated that Kairi's name can be interpreted as 'sea',[15] as the on'yomi pronunciation of the Japanese word for 'sea' is kai (海).[14]
Xehanort[edit]
- Voiced by: Akio Ōtsuka (Ansem, Terra-Xehanort, Master Xehanort; KHIII), Norio Wakamoto (Xemnas), Chikao Ōtsuka (Master Xehanort; BBS, 3D), Takanori Okuda (Young Xehanort) (Japanese); Richard Epcar (Ansem, Terra-Xehanort), Paul St. Peter (Xemnas), Leonard Nimoy (Master Xehanort; BBS, 3D), David Gallagher (Riku, Young Xehanort; BBS), Billy Zane (Ansem; KH), Benjamin Diskin (Young Xehanort 3D, KHIII) Rutger Hauer (Master Xehanort; KHIII) (English)
Xehanort (ゼアノートZeanōto, English: /ˈzeɪ.ənɔːrt/) is the foremost antagonist of the Kingdom Hearts series, introduced in the original game as a sentient Heartless named Ansem before being revealed in Kingdom Hearts II to have assumed the identity of his mentor Ansem the Wise.[29][30] The prequel Birth by Sleep further reestablishes Xehanort as an elderly Keyblade Master from the Destiny Islands who acquired the means to transplant his heart into the bodies of others, which he uses to orchestrate the events of the games up to Kingdom Hearts III to suit his agenda. Throughout the series, Xehanort is driven by an obsessive interest in the Keyblade War, a historic cataclysm that resulted in the universe's present, fragmented state.[31] In Birth by Sleep, he attempts to use the hearts of his pupils Ventus and Vanitas to forge the χ-blade and unlock Kingdom Hearts to incite another war, desiring a new world where light and darkness exist in perfect balance.[32][33] However, he is defeated through the combined efforts of Ventus, Terra, and Aqua, sustaining amnesia in the process.[34] In Dream Drop Distance, Xehanort returns to his original form following the destruction of Ansem and his Nobody, Xemnas, who are revealed to have been created to reenact his original plan by gathering seven 'guardians of light' and thirteen 'seekers of darkness' in the form of the Princesses of Heart and Organization XIII respectively; he also uses time travel to assemble Ansem, Xemnas, and other versions of himself from across time into a new Organization, sending their hearts into replica bodies to co-exist with their present self.[35] In Kingdom Hearts III, Xehanort acquires the χ-blade and summons Kingdom Hearts after his past selves are eliminated during a showdown between the Organization and Sora's group. Upon losing to Sora, Xehanort surrenders and allows his heart to pass on together with his former friend Eraqus.[36]
The character's name is an anagram of 'no heart' and 'another' with the additional letter 'X'.[11][37] The character's other featured incarnations are:
- Ansem, Seeker of Darkness (闇の探求者アンセムYami no Tankyūsha Ansemu), Xehanort's Heartless and the main antagonist of the first Kingdom Hearts. He uses Maleficent to gather the Princesses of Heart and produce the Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, later possessing Riku's body to regain his human appearance; as revealed in Dream Drop Distance, his incorporeal form allows him to travel to the past to initiate Xehanort's teenage self.[38][35] Following Ansem's destruction, his presence continues to linger within Riku's heart in Chain of Memories until it is destroyed by Ansem the Wise's malfunctioning heart encoder in Kingdom Hearts II.
- Xemnas, Xehanort's Nobody and the main antagonist of Kingdom Hearts II. He is the founder and 'superior' of the first Organization XIII, whom he manipulates into constructing an artificial Kingdom Hearts to turn them into vessels for Xehanort's heart, as revealed in Dream Drop Distance. His name is an anagram of 'Ansem' with an additional letter 'X'.
- Terra-Xehanort, the fusion of Xehanort's heart and Terra's body, first seen in Kingdom Hearts II as Ansem the Wise's amnesiac apprentice.[34] He is created in Birth by Sleep when Xehanort deceives Terra into embracing his inner darkness, subsequently replacing his own aging body's with Terra's to prolong his own life while confining Terra's heart within a Heartless thrall; this act also influences his Heartless and Nobody's younger appearances.[39][citation needed] In Kingdom Hearts III, Terra's heart takes back control of his body and expels Xehanort's heart with Sora's help.
- Young Xehanort, Master Xehanort's adolescent self and the primary antagonist of Dream Drop Distance, whom the Heartless Ansem sends from the past to assemble the 'real' Organization XIII from his other incarnations.[35] He loses his memories of the future upon returning to the past, but is motivated by the destiny 'etched in [his] heart' to carry out all of his future self's plans.[40]
Naminé[edit]
- Voiced by: Iku Nakahara (Japanese); Brittany Snow (KHII), Meaghan Martin (Re:COM onward) (English)
Naminé (ナミネNamine) is a girl with the ability to change, rearrange, or erase the memories of Sora and those close to him, for which she is called a witch.[41][42] Introduced in Chain of Memories, she is revealed in Kingdom Hearts II to be Kairi's Nobody, created when Sora releases Kairi's heart from within himself during the events of the first game. Originating at Castle Oblivion, she is forced by Marluxia to alter Sora's memories so he remembers her as a close friend from the Destiny Islands, allowing Marluxia to manipulate him. She later defies Marluxia to reveal the truth to Sora, and oversees the year-long process to restore Sora and his friends' memories to their original state.[43] Naminé also saves Riku in 'Reverse/Rebirth' from Zexion, disguising herself as Kairi.[11] In Kingdom Hearts II, Naminé visits Roxas in the virtual Twilight Town to help him discover his true identity as Sora's Nobody. Naminé returns in the game's final world to help Kairi escape from the Organization's dungeon, after which she merges with Kairi to complete her. A bodiless Naminé would later play a role in Kingdom Hearts III in summoning the Lingering Will to help Sora against Terranort, Riku providing the body of the second Riku Replica for Ansem, Ienzo and Even to use to give Naminé a body of her own.
Riku Replica[edit]
- Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (Japanese); David Gallagher (English)
The Riku Replica is a Replica created from the data Vexen had gathered on Riku in Castle Oblivion. Normally resembling Riku in Dark Mode with use of his Soul Eater sword, the Replica first appears in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and its remake Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories as one of its antagonists. Originally a subject to test the real Riku, the Replica was later exploited to become a puppet of Marluxia who had his memory altered to use in his plans of using Sora to take over the Organization. The Replica eventually learns the truth of his origins, helping protect Naminé before he left and aided Axel in disposing of Zexion before facing Riku one final time. While the Riku Replica returns in Kingdom Hearts III, revealed to have been inside Riku since their last fight, a second one is created to fight for Organization XIII with the original replica defeating the second by removing its heart with the vessel later used to create Naminé's new body.
Organization XIII[edit]
Organization XIII (XIII機関Jūsan Kikan) is a group created by Xehanort in his plan to acquire the χ-blade, introduced as thirteen Nobodies who seek the power of Kingdom Hearts to become complete humans, with Xehanort's Nobody Xemnas ranked first as their leader.[11] With the exception of Xemnas using Ansem's name, each Organization member's name is an anagram of their original self's name with the letter 'X' inserted.[44] While Nobodies initially lack true emotion and morality at first,[45] they gradually grow hearts over time. In Dream Drop Distance, it is revealed that the Organization's true purpose is to serve as vessels for Xehanort's heart in his plan to forge the χ-blade, with a second, 'real' Organization XIII being assembled from Xehanort, Xigbar, Saïx, and Vexen using the Replica technology to create artificial bodies for Xehanort's Heartless, Xemnas, Young Xehanort, Vanitas, Luxord, Demyx, Marluxia, Larxene, and Xion. The first Organization's members also serve as computer-controlled party members of 358/2 Days, and are playable in the game's 'Mission Mode'. Excluding Xemnas and Roxas, the initial members and their original names are, in order of rank:
- Xigbar (Braig), a marksman armed with two 'arrowguns' (rayguns) and the power of spatial manipulation, introduced in Kingdom Hearts II. His role as the group's second-in-command is further expanded in subsequent games, revealing him to be an incarnation of the ancient Keyblade wielder Luxu who caused the first Keyblade War and feigned being Xehanort's collaborator and 'seeker of darkness' to observe his actions. Xigbar and Braig are voiced by Hōchū Ōtsuka in Japanese and James Patrick Stuart in English, while Luxu is voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda in Japanese and Max Mittelman in English.[46]
- Xaldin (Dilan), an eloquent warrior who uses the power of wind to wield six lances at once, introduced in Kingdom Hearts II. Xaldin and Dilan are voiced by Yōsuke Akimoto in Japanese and David Dayan Fisher in English.
- Vexen (Even), a researcher and scientist who conducts various experiments for the Organization, introduced in Chain of Memories. He carries a shield and controls ice. While restored in Dream Drop Distance, Vexen returns to the Organization as one of Xehanort's 'seekers of darkness' in Kingdom Hearts III to sabotage Xehanort's schemes before his restored human self resumes his duties as Ansem's apprentice. In Japanese, the characters are voiced in most appearances by Nachi Nozawa, with Shigeru Chiba replacing him in Kingdom Hearts III; in English, Vexen and Even are voiced by Derek Stephen Prince.
- Lexaeus (Aeleus), a stalwart warrior who is the Organization's most physically powerful member, introduced in Chain of Memories. His weapon is an 'axe sword', a long-bladed axe capable of shattering solid rock through his manipulation of earth. In most appearances, Lexaeus and Aeleus are voiced by Fumihiko Tachiki in Japanese and Dave Boat in English.
- Zexion (Ienzo), the youngest of the Organization's founders, who has the ability to create illusions. Initially appearing as a non-combatant in Chain of Memories, later games reveal his weapon to be a lexicon. Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts III, his restored human self supports Sora's group by using the Replica that Vexen secretly provided him to reconstruct Roxas. Zexion and Ienzo are voiced by Akira Ishida in Japanese and Vince Corazza in English.
- Saïx (Isa), Xemnas' second-in-command and Axel's former friend from Radiant Garden, introduced in Kingdom Hearts II and later made into one of Xehanort's thirteen 'seekers of darkness'. He draws power from the heart-shaped moon of Kingdom Hearts to assume a berserk state and transform his weapon, a claymore. In Kingdom Hearts III, his restored human self makes peace with Lea as they live in Twilight Town. Saïx and Isa are voiced by Ginpei Sato in Japanese and Kirk Thornton in English.
- Axel (Lea), a Radiant Garden resident and the Organization's resident assassin, who controls fire to emblaze his chakram-like weapons. Introduced in Chain of Memories as a double agent under orders to dispatch the traitorous members at Castle Oblivion, Axel's friendship with Roxas causes him to develop a more compassionate side by Kingdom Hearts II. In Dream Drop Distance, his restored human self becomes a Keyblade wielder and guardian of light. Axel and Lea are voiced by Keiji Fujiwara in Japanese and Quinton Flynn in English.
- Demyx, a laidback member who controls water with his sitar music, introduced in Kingdom Hearts II as a member Xehanort selected for being the Nobody of an ancient Keyblade user and later made into his thirteen 'seekers of darkness'. He is noted for his lack of combat skill and tendency to shirk his duties off onto other members, yet helped Vexen act against the Organization in Kingdom Hearts III. Demyx is voiced by Kenichi Suzumura in Japanese and Ryan O'Donohue in English.
- Luxord, a courteous gambler who manipulates time and carries a deck of cards as his weapons, introduced in Kingdom Hearts II as a member Xehanort selected for being the Nobody of an ancient Keyblade user and later made into his thirteen 'seekers of darkness'. Luxord is voiced by Jouji Nakata in Japanese and Robin Atkin Downes in English.
- Marluxia, is the steward of Castle Oblivion when introduced as the antagonist of Chain of Memories, Xehanort having selected him for the Organization for his original self being an ancient Keyblade user which made him one of his thirteen 'seekers of darkness'. In most appearances, Marluxia is voiced by Shūichi Ikeda in Japanese and Keith Ferguson in English.
- Larxene, a ruthless female member and Marluxia's comrade introduced in Chain of Memories who Xehanort selected for the Organization for her original self being an ancient Keyblade user which made her one of his thirteen 'seekers of darkness'. She has electricity-based powers and carries a set of knives as her weapons. In most appearances, Larxene is voiced by Yūko Miyamura in Japanese and Shanelle Workman in English.
- Xion, the de facto fourteenth member of the Organization, introduced in 358/2 Days. Similar to Roxas, she wields a Keyblade and appears to lack memories of her past. She eventually discovers her true identity as an artificial human 'replica' created from Sora's memories to duplicate Roxas' powers, which forces her to sacrifice her existence and all memories related to her in order to protect her friends. She was later revived as the final member of Xehanort's thirteen 'seekers of darkness' before opposing them. Xion is voiced by Risa Uchida in Japanese; in English, Xion is voiced by Alyson Stoner in 358/2 Days and KHIII, and by Hayden Panettiere in Birth by Sleep and Dream Drop Distance.
Ansem the Wise[edit]
- Voiced by: Genzō Wakayama (Japanese); Christopher Lee (KHII, Days), Corey Burton (other appearances) (English)
Ansem the Wise (賢者アンセムKenja Ansemu) is the former sage king of Radiant Garden, first appearing in the 'Reverse/Rebirth' storyline of Chain of Memories as a bandaged figure known as DiZ (ディズDizu). His true identity is uncovered in Kingdom Hearts II, simultaneously revealing the similarly named antagonist to be an impostor.[30] Nine years prior to the first game's events, Ansem studies the darkness in people's hearts for the benefit of his world after taking an amnesic Terra-Xehanort under his wing. After meeting with King Mickey and learning his research may be connected to a crisis happening in other worlds, Ansem ceases his experiments. But Xehanort regains his memories as he and his accomplice Braig secretly continue the experiments alongside Ansem's other pupils—Dilan, Even, Aeleus, and Ienzo—the former using Ansem's name as his own. Exiled to a world of nothingness by his apprentices, Ansem disguises himself as DiZ, an acronym for 'Darkness in Zero', and escapes to exact revenge on Organization XIII.[47]
In Chain of Memories, DiZ guides Riku through Castle Oblivion under the guise of Xehanort's Heartless. Together with Riku and Naminé, DiZ oversees the restoration of Sora, Donald, and Goofy's memories throughout 358/2 Days, moving them from Castle Oblivion to Twilight Town for safekeeping. When Roxas unwittingly begins absorbing Sora's memories, DiZ orders Riku to retrieve Roxas, whom he places inside a simulation of Twilight Town to eventually merge with Sora. In Kingdom Hearts II, DiZ's plans fall apart when Sora does not function as he wants upon awakening.[48] Realizing the harm he has brought upon Sora and his friends, DiZ becomes remorseful and loses his lust for revenge. Ansem reveals himself to Mickey at the World That Never Was while attempting to digitally encode Xemnas' Kingdom Hearts within a machine. The hearts overload the machine and cause it to self-destruct, Ansem allowing himself to be engulfed by the blast to atone for his mistakes.[49]
In the epilogue of Birth by Sleep, having implanted a data copy of himself within Sora's mind as revealed in Dream Drop Distance, Ansem is revealed to have ended up in the Realm of Darkness where he relays his intact memories of Sora to Aqua. During the events of Kingdom Hearts III, Ansem is dragged back to the Realm of Light by Xehanort's Heartless and Nobody before being rescued by Vexen's indirect intervention. Following Xehanort's defeat, Ansem resumes his role as ruler of Radiant Garden.
Vanitas[edit]
- Voiced by: Miyu Irino (Japanese); Haley Joel Osment (English)
Vanitas (ヴァニタスVanitasu) is a Keyblade wielder and antagonist who first appears in Birth by Sleep, created by Master Xehanort from darkness extracted from Ventus's heart as part of the man's plan of forge the χ-blade.[50][51] While initially faceless, Vanitas acquired Sora's face as the result of Ventus connecting his heart of the newborn Sora's as depicted in the game's opening cutscene.[20] Acting on his own whim rather, Vanitas proceeds to lure Ventus away from home in order to strengthen him into his equal to commence their reunion while attacking him and his friends with the Unversed manifesting from Vanitas's negative emotions.[52][53] While Vanitas succeeded in merging back into Ventus during their final confrontation at the Keyblade Graveyard, their reunion produces an unstable χ-blade,[54] which is destroyed along with Vanitas in a metaphysical battle against Ventus within their combined heart. However, briefly appears alongside Young Xehanort in Dream Drop Distance in reaction to the presence of Ventus's heart within Sora's, Vanitas is inducted into the True Organization XIII one of the thirteen Seekers of Darkness in Kingdom Hearts III with the intention of reclaiming Ventus's heart. During Kingdom Hearts III Vanitas describes himself, Ventus, and Sora as brothers due to the connection Sora and Ventus share and how they helped define Vanitas as a person.
While developing Birth by Sleep, Nomura created Vanitas's relationship with Ventus under suggestion from the game's Osaka development team, as he enjoyed the idea of adding more connections between characters. He chose the name 'Vanitas'—Latin for 'emptiness'—for its similarity to Ventus's name, and because its Japanese translation, kara (空), could be reinterpreted as Sora's name, which means 'sky'.[20] A secret boss based on Vanitas called the Vanitas Remnant (ヴァニタスの思念Vanitasu no Shin'en) appears in Birth by Sleep.
In the English version of 'Kingdom Hearts III', Vanitas speaks in a raspier voice, since Haley Joel Osment has to voice Sora in the same scenes as him.
Eraqus[edit]
- Voiced by: Makio Inoue (Japanese); Mark Hamill (English)
- Young Eraqus
- Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (Japanese); Drake Bell (English)
Eraqus (エラクゥスErakūsu) is introduced in Birth by Sleep as one of the few remaining Keyblade Masters alongside Xehanort, revealed to be descended from the Keyblade users that survived the Keyblade War. In charge of the Land of Departure, he is both a mentor and father figure to Terra, Aqua and Ventus, and is noted for being biased against the existence of darkness in favor of light,[55] a key factor behind his eventual falling out with Xehanort. Nomura described his relationship with Xehanort as that of old friends and classmates.[56] At the start of the game, Eraqus passes Aqua the Mark of Mastery but denies Terra, basing his decision on the darkness in Terra's heart.[57] He sends Terra and Aqua to deal with the appearance of the Unversed and the disappearance of Master Xehanort, and also sends Aqua to retrieve Ventus, fearing that Xehanort will use Ventus to create the χ-blade. When Ventus confronts him over this and confirms his fears, Eraqus attempts to destroy Ventus to foil Xehanort's plan, but is stopped by Terra.[58] After battling with his student, he is struck down by Xehanort and fades away, leaving his Keyblade behind. However, the game's secret ending reveals that Eraqus had hidden his own heart within Terra, allowing Terra to resist Xehanort's influence after being possessed by him.[59] Eraqus makes a return appearance in Kingdom Hearts III, emerging from Terra's restored body to help Xehanort pass on with the two agreeing to entrust the future to the next generation.
Eraqus' name is an anagram of 'Square', referencing series developer company Square Enix.[22][60] He also bears a resemblance to Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi.[61] An additional boss modeled after Eraqus' armor, called the Armor of Eraqus (アーマー・オブ・ザ・マスターĀmā obu za Masutā, lit. 'Armor of the Master'), appears in Birth by Sleep Final Mix as an opponent in the Mirage Arena.
Foretellers[edit]
The Foretellers are a group of Keyblade Masters trained under the Master of Masters, each a leader of one of the five Unions that were established to gather light and combat darkness First appearing in Kingdom Hearts χ, the Foretellers were each given a copy of the Book of Prophecies which detailed their master's prediction of the future and the manifestation of worlds. After the Master disappears, Luxu instills paranoia among the Foretellers, with the resulting infighting eventually leads to the Keyblade War and the destruction of the world. With the exception of Ava, the Foretellers appear in the epilogue of Kingdom Hearts III when summoned by Luxu and informed of the events that occurred in their absence.
- Ira (イラ, English: /ˈiːrə/) is the 'reliable' leader of the Unicornis Union, symbolized by a unicorn. Prior to disappearing, the Master of Masters assigns Ira to lead the other Foretellers in his place.[62] Ira is voiced by Yūichirō Umehara in Japanese and Matthew Mercer in English.[46]
- Invi (インヴィ) is the 'virtuous' leader of the Anguis Union, symbolized by a snake. She acts as the Foretellers' moderator while also observing them and reporting her findings to Ira.[62] She is voiced by Kana Hanazawa in Japanese and Karissa Lee Staples in English.[46]
- Aced (アセッドAseddo) is the 'fearless' Leader of the Ursus Union, symbolized by a bear. As Ira's second-in-command, Aced comes to doubt Ira's leadership and acts of his own accord to prevent the Keyblade War.[62] He is voiced by Subaru Kimura in Japanese and Travis Willingham in English.[46]
- Gula (グウラGūra) is the 'coolheaded' Leader of the Leopardos Union, symbolized by a leopard. A lone wolf with little attachment to the other Foretellers, he is assigned the role of identifying the traitor among the group.[62] He is voiced by Kaito Ishikawa in Japanese and Kevin Quinn in English.[46]
- Ava (アヴァ, English: /ˈɑːvə/) is the 'prudent' Leader of the Vulpes Union, symbolized by a fox. Under her master's orders, she secretly recruits Keyblade wielders from various Unions to establish the Dandelions, a group who are sent to another world to ensure their survival after the prophesied Keyblade War.[62] Sending the Dandelions off when the Keyblade War draws near, Ava ends up causing the event when she confronts Luxu over the truth behind the Lost Page. Ava is voiced by Yume Miyamoto in Japanese and Isabela Moner in English.[46]
Dandelions[edit]
The Dandelions are a group of Keyblade wielders recruited by Ava, each deemed strong enough to resist the darkness. They are sent to another world before the Keyblade War to prevent being caught in the battle and to help rebuild the world in its aftermath. In the new world, five of the Dandelions, including Ventus and Lauriam, are chosen to retain their memories of the Keyblade War and become the new Union leaders, forming the joint group Union Cross to ensure the event would never repeat itself. The other Dandelions, like Elrena, had their memories rewritten to forget the events leading to the Keyblade War.
- Ephemer (エフェメラEfemera) is a Keyblade wielder from a different Union than the player, his allegiance depending on the player's chosen Union. Being chosen as a Dandelion, Ephemer is sent away from the Keyblade War as one of Foretellers' successors. He becomes the leader of Union Cross and guides the group's decision-making. He later appears in Kingdom Hearts III to help Sora in spirit. Ephemer is voiced by Yūto Uemura in Japanese and Michael Johnston in English.[46]
- Skuld (スクルドSukurudo) is a girl from the same Union as Ephemer, her first friend from the Union. She joins the player in investigating Ephemer's whereabouts following his disappearance, eventually becoming a member of Union Cross.
- Brain (ブレインBurein) is one of the Keyblade wielders selected to serve in Union Cross. Having obtained the Book of Prophecies, he believes the new world is destined to fall and begins working to change the future.
- Strelitzia (ストレリチアSutorerichia) is one of the Keyblade wielders selected to serve as one of the new Union leaders, being both Lauriam's younger sister and a comrade of Elrena. Before she is able to convince the player to join the Dandelions, she is attacked by an unknown individual who takes her place and she fades from existence.
Others[edit]
- Hayner (ハイネHaine), Pence (ピンツPintsu), and Olette (オレットOretto) are three teenagers who live in Twilight Town. Virtual replicas of the three serve as Roxas' friends in DiZ's simulation of Twilight Town at the start of Kingdom Hearts II, while their real counterparts help Sora infiltrate Organization XIII's stronghold through the digital town. They also briefly encounter Roxas during 358/2 Days. In Kingdom Hearts II, the three are respectively voiced by Kazunori Sasaki, Hayato Taya, and Yuka Hirasawa in Japanese, and by Justin Cowden, Sean Marquette, and Jessica DiCicco in English. In Kingdom Hearts III, Sasaki and Hirasawa are replaced by Makoto Sutō and Yuna Watanabe in Japanese, while all three English actors are replaced by Zachary Gordon, Tristan Chase, and Ashley Boettcher.
- Chirithy (チリシィChirishii) is a cat-like species of Dream Eater created by the Master of Masters, with each Keyblade wielder receiving one to aid in their endeavors. Due to an empathic link to their Keyblade wielders, a Chirithy transforms into a Nightmare if their user is tainted by darkness, with the appearance of one starting the chain of events leading to the Keyblade War. Ventus's Chirithy makes an appearance in Kingdom Hearts III, guiding Sora in the Final World before reuniting with Ventus. Chirithy is voiced by Tomoko Kaneda in Japanese and Lara Jill Miller in English.[46]
- The Master of Masters (マスター・オブ・マスターMasutā obu Masutā) is the mentor to Luxu and the Foretellers who vanishes before the events of Kingdom Hearts χ. He possesses an eye with prophetic vision that allows him to transcribe the Book of Prophecies, embedding the within the 'No Name' Keyblade and passing it down to maintain his future sight until it is acquired by Xehanort at the beginning of the series storyline. In Back Cover, he is shown to have a playful and mischievous personality that conceals his true nature. The Master of Masters is voiced by Tomokazu Sugita in Japanese and Ray Chase in English.[46]
Disney and Square Enix characters[edit]
Mickey Mouse[edit]
- Voiced by: Takashi Aoyagi (Japanese); Wayne Allwine (KH–Days), Bret Iwan (BBS onward) (English)
Mickey Mouse is depicted in the Kingdom Hearts series as the king of Disney Castle, frequently referred to in-game as 'King Mickey' or simply 'the King' (王様Ōsama). He is also an experienced Keyblade Master, alternatively wielding a golden version of Sora's 'Kingdom Key' retrieved from the realm of darkness, and the 'Star Seeker' he is seen using during his apprenticeship to Yen Sid in Birth by Sleep. Mickey is absent for most of the original game,[7] which sees him departing his world to discover a solution to the Heartless' invasion, leaving instructions for Donald and Goofy telling to find and protect the Keyblade wielder.[63] He has a more active role fighting alongside Sora and his allies in later installments, which first required the approval of Disney.[11] He is a playable character in Kingdom Hearts II, stepping in to replace Sora whenever the player is defeated during certain boss battles until he is able to revive Sora. He is also available for play in the 'Mission Mode' of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as an unlockable character.
Donald Duck and Goofy[edit]
- Donald Duck
- Voiced by: Kōichi Yamadera (Japanese); Tony Anselmo (English)
- Goofy
- Voiced by: Yuu Shimaka (Japanese); Bill Farmer (English)
In various games, Donald Duck and Goofy serve as the player's main computer-controlled partners.[13] They are both depicted as members of Disney Castle's royal court; Donald is a magician who is proficient with a variety of spells, and Goofy is a peaceful knights' captain who performs supportive and defensive techniques with a shield.[13] In Kingdom Hearts, Donald and Goofy embark on a journey to find their missing king, with orders from a letter left by Mickey to find the Keyblade wielder. They accompany Sora for this reason, initially viewing him as little more than a means to track down the king,[64] and abandoning him upon the discovery that Riku is the rightful owner of Sora's Keyblade. However, both eventually grow to care for Sora as a friend and remain with him. The two are also unlockable characters for play in 358/2 Days's 'Mission Mode'.
Maleficent[edit]
- Voiced by: Toshiko Sawada (Japanese); Susanne Blakeslee (English)
Maleficent, an evil fairy and the antagonist of the 1959 film Sleeping Beauty, appears as a secondary antagonist in the Kingdom Hearts series. During the first game, she leads a group of other Disney villains—Hades from Hercules, Jafar from Aladdin, Ursula from The Little Mermaid, Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Captain Hook from Peter Pan—to capture the Princesses of Heart and harness the power of Kingdom Hearts, which she intends to use to conquer all worlds.[65] In reality, she is an unwitting pawn of Xehanort, who first informs her of the princesses during the prequel Birth by Sleep as part of his own plan to gather components for the χ-blade.[66] Her defeat results in her becoming trapped in the realm of darkness,[67] but she returns after her raven forces Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather to recall their memories of her, allowing her to resume her conquest of worlds.[68] Following Maleficent's attempts to acquire a new lair after losing Hollow Bastion, she and Pete proceed to search for the Master of Master's Black Box for much of Kingdom Hearts III before witnessing Luxu summoning the Foretellers.
Pete[edit]
- Voiced by: Tōru Ōhira (KHII–HD 2.5), Katsuhiro Kitagawa (KHIII) (Japanese); Jim Cummings (English)[69]
Pete is included in Kingdom Hearts II as Maleficent's bumbling henchman who first encounters Sora's group while amassing a Heartless army for her, unaware of her earlier defeat. Originally a steamboat captain based on his depiction in Steamboat Willie, Pete is banished to another dimension by Queen Minnie for incessantly causing mischief around Disney Town under the masked superhero guises 'Captain Justice' and 'Captain Dark', as seen in Birth by Sleep. He becomes indebted to Maleficent when she frees him, and he vows to help conquer the worlds in return.[70] He makes recurring appearances throughout Kingdom Hearts II and later installments, menacing Sora's group alongside Maleficent and various other Disney villains. A version of Pete based on his depiction in Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers also appears in the 'Country of the Musketeers' world based on the film.
Yen Sid[edit]
- Voiced by: Takashi Inagaki (Japanese); Corey Burton (English)
Yen Sid is the sorcerer from 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' segment of Fantasia, appearing as King Mickey's old mentor and a retired Keyblade Master who resides in the Mysterious Tower. He first appears in Kingdom Hearts II, where he informs Sora's group of their task at hand on Mickey's behalf.[71] In addition to providing counsel to the main characters of Birth by Sleep, he proctors Sora and Riku's Mark of Mastery exam in Dream Drop Distance to prepare them for an inevitable showdown with Master Xehanort, training Kairi and Lea to serve as two of the potential seven 'guardians of light' as well.
Princesses of Heart[edit]
The Princesses of Heart, known as the Seven Princesses (セブンプリンセスSebun Purinsesu) in the Japanese language version, are maidens whose hearts are made of pure light, devoid of darkness with the original character Kairi as one such maiden. The roster of the other Princesses included five official Disney Princesses—Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella from the Disney film of the same name, Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and Jasmine from Aladdin—and Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Kingdom Hearts III introduces potential replacement members in Rapunzel from Tangled and the sisters Anna and Elsa from Frozen.
Throughout the original game, Maleficent kidnaps the princesses for their ability to summon the Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts when brought together. Xehanort's Heartless 'Ansem' later uses six of the princesses' hearts to forge a Keyblade with the power to unlock people's hearts, intending to free Kairi's heart from Sora's. Sora restores their hearts after using Ansem's Keyblade on himself to revive Kairi, destroying it. The other princesses remain at Hollow Bastion to contain the darkness spilling from the Keyhole until the door to Kingdom Hearts is sealed, subsequently returning to their homeworlds.[13] In the prequel Birth by Sleep, it is revealed that Master Xehanort seeks out the Princesses of Heart, spurring Maleficent into gathering them as well; it is later explained in Dream Drop Distance that the princesses' hearts represent the seven fragments of light broken off from the χ-blade, which Xehanort intends to use in his plan to forge the weapon. To prevent this, Yen Sid prepares to substitute the princesses with seven Keyblade wielders to clash with Xehanort's reformed Organization XIII.
Party members and summons[edit]
Several games in the Kingdom Hearts series feature computer-controlled characters that are added to the player's party in a specific world. The first game features six different party members in addition to Donald and Goofy: Tarzan in the Deep Jungle; Aladdin in Agrabah; Ariel in Atlantica from The Little Mermaid; Jack Skellington in Halloween Town from The Nightmare Before Christmas; Peter Pan in Never Land; and the Beast from Beauty and the Beast in Hollow Bastion, a world exclusive to the series. In addition, there are six characters that can be acquired as summoned allies in the game: Simba from The Lion King, Genie from Aladdin, Dumbo, Bambi, Tinker Bell from Peter Pan, and Mushu from Mulan. Chain of Memories features the same party and summoned characters from the first game, with the inclusion of Cloud Strife as an additional summon.
Aladdin, Jack, and the Beast return as party members in Kingdom Hearts II, with Ariel appearing in a non-playable capacity, and Peter Pan appearing as a summon in tandem with Tinker Bell. Simba is featured as a full party member in The Lion King's Pride Lands, while Mushu becomes a supporting ally in tandem with new party member Mulan in the film's Land of Dragons. Other new party members include Final Fantasy X character Auron in the Hercules-inspired Olympus Coliseum world, Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean's Port Royal, and Tron in Space Paranoids. Chicken Little and Stitch are included as new summons.
Birth by Sleep removes the standard party system utilized by previous games, instead using characters as temporary partners during certain portions of the game. These characters are Prince Phillip in Enchanted Dominion, based on Sleeping Beauty; Hercules and Zack Fair in Olympus Coliseum, with the latter being based on his Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core appearance; and Stitch, named 'Experiment 626', in the Lilo & Stitch-inspired Deep Space.
Dream Drop Distance has the Spirit Dream Eaters act as Sora and Riku's party members. In the opening battle against Ursula on the Destiny Islands, Riku acts as a cooperation member to Sora.
Hercules and Jack Sparrow return as party members in Kingdom Hearts III, with new party members including Rapunzel and Flynn Rider from Tangled, Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story, James P. Sullivan and Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc., Marshmallow from Frozen, and Baymax from Big Hero 6, all in worlds based on their respective films.[2][72][73] Ariel, Meow Wow, Wreck-It Ralph, Simba, and Stitch also appear as summonable 'Link' characters.[2][72][74][75]
Other Disney characters[edit]
One of the common elements in the Kingdom Hearts series is the inclusion of levels based on various Disney and Pixar films, as well as related media. Several key characters from the films appear in their respective worlds, closely following their roles from the film and play a small role in the main story.
Several characters from the Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck universes appear in the Kingdom Hearts series, most of them appearing at the original world Disney Castle and its adjacent urban area, Disney Town. Minnie Mouse is portrayed as the queen of Disney Castle who rules in the absence of her husband, King Mickey. Daisy Duck, Donald Duck's girlfriend, is Queen Minnie's lady-in-waiting. Pluto reprises his role as Mickey's pet and makes recurring appearances throughout the series, accompanying Donald and Goofy's search for the king in the first game. Chip and Dale act as Disney Castle's technicians, managing the Gummi Ship that Sora's party uses to travel between worlds; they play a major role in Coded, where they construct the machine used to digitize the contents of Jiminy Cricket's journal. Donald's nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie appear as shop owners in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, where they attempt to save up money to go on their own adventure. Scrooge McDuck appears in Kingdom Hearts II and Birth by Sleep, where he attempts to open business venues such as a transit system between worlds. The Beagle Boys, as depicted in Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, reprise their roles from the film as Pete's minions in the Dream Drop Distance level 'Country of the Musketeers'. Other characters such as Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, and Clara Cluck make minor appearances in Kingdom Hearts II and Birth by Sleep.
Characters from other Disney films also play prominent roles in the games' story. Jiminy Cricket appears as a chronicler of Sora's travels, recording information about the people, places and events they encounter in his journals;[76][77] he also retains his role from Pinocchio as the title character's conscience. Merlin from The Sword in the Stone acts as Sora's mentor in performing magic, and he keeps an enchanted book that allows players access to the Hundred Acre Wood world based on Disney's Winnie the Pooh franchise. The Fairy Godmother from Cinderella appears in Merlin's house in Kingdom Hearts, where she transforms 'summon gems' collected throughout the game into summoned allies; she also appears in Birth by Sleep as a resident of her original world, the Castle of Dreams. The One Hundred and One Dalmatians are featured in a side-quest in the first game, where players retrieve Pongo and Perdita's 99 puppies scattered throughout the game's worlds in exchange for prizes. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather from Sleeping Beauty appear in Kingdom Hearts II, where they provide Sora with new clothes that grant him access to Drive Forms. Kingdom Hearts III includes Remy from Pixar's Ratatouille as the host of a cooking minigame in Twilight Town.[78]
Other Square Enix characters[edit]
In addition to Disney elements, Kingdom Hearts features characters from other Square Enix-developed titles, most prominently Final Fantasy. A majority of the games include Moogles, small creatures that are a recurring element throughout the Final Fantasy series; they serve to run shops where players can create and purchase items used in the game.
Kingdom Hearts prominently depicts several Final Fantasy characters as residents of the ruined world Radiant Garden, known as Hollow Bastion prior to Kingdom Hearts II. Led by Squall Leonheart from Final Fantasy VIII, who goes by the name 'Leon' (レオンReon) out of shame for his inability to save his home, the group also includes Final Fantasy VII characters Aerith Gainsborough, a flower girl and healer; Yuffie Kisaragi, a friendly ninja; and Cid Highwind, an expert in the games' 'Gummi Ship' feature. These characters form the 'Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee' in Kingdom Hearts II, with the goal of rebuilding their destroyed world following Maleficent's defeat, using the home of Merlin as a base. In both games, Leon and Yuffie are featured as opponents in the Olympus Coliseum.
Ruler Of The Sky Kingdom Hearts Online
Youthful versions of Final Fantasy X characters Tidus and Wakka, as well as Final Fantasy VIII character Selphie Tilmitt, make recurring appearances as residents of the Destiny Islands. The three serve as optional sparring partners early in the first game.
Cloud Strife appears in Kingdom Hearts at Olympus Coliseum, based on Disney's Hercules. In the game, he is a mercenary hired by Hades to kill Hercules in exchange for the whereabouts of Sephiroth, who is an optional boss included in the North American, PAL, and Final Mix releases of the game. Cloud and Tifa Lockhart later appear in Kingdom Hearts II as allies of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee; Sephiroth also returns here as an optional boss, and is depicted as the embodiment of Cloud's darkness.[79]
Younger incarnations of Final Fantasy VIII characters Seifer Almasy, Fujin, and Raijin—the latter two named 'Fuu' and 'Rai', respectively—appear in Kingdom Hearts II as members of Twilight Town's self-proclaimed disciplinary committee. Twilight Town also depicts Final Fantasy IX's Vivi Ornitier as an admirer of Seifer, and Final Fantasy VI's Setzer Gabbiani as a champion of the local Struggle sport; neither character was designed by Nomura, who included them under pressure from his staff.[8]
The Gullwings from Final Fantasy X-2—Yuna, Rikku and Paine—are depicted as fairy-like creatures in Kingdom Hearts II, where they are initially sent by Maleficent to spy on the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee, but later switch sides to help Sora's group in exchange for treasure.
The main characters of The World Ends with You—Neku Sakuraba, Yoshiya 'Joshua' Kiryu, Shiki Misaki, Daisukenojo 'Beat' Bito, and Raimu 'Rhyme' Bito—appear in Dream Drop Distance as players of a Reapers' Game in Traverse Town.[80] They are depicted as figments of their original selves, saved from fading out of existence by Joshua following Shibuya's destruction.
Merchandise[edit]
Kingdom Hearts character figurines; a Play Arts figure of Roxas appears in the center and Formation Arts Volume 1 & 2 figures are arrayed around him.
The characters of the Kingdom Hearts series have had various types of merchandise modeled after their likeness. Square Enix has released a collection of Formation Arts figurines that feature several of the main characters from the first game.[81][82] A series of Play Arts action figures has also been released.[83] Other merchandise includes jewelry and key chains modeled after character apparel and accessories.[84] The characters are also featured on posters,[84] desktop wallpapers,[85] and trading cards that are part of the Kingdom Hearts Trading Card Game.[86]
Reception[edit]
Overall, the characters within the Kingdom Hearts series have been well received and have garnered praise for the quality of their voice acting as well as their visual style. IGN, GameSpy, and Game Informer all praised the animation quality of the characters.[87][88][89] IGN's David Smith's impressions of the characters were very positive, referring to them as an 'engaging cast', and stating the 'characters' acting is helped immensely by the facial expressions and body'. The design of the characters created specifically for Kingdom Hearts was seen as the highlight of the first game, stating 'the majority of its best visual moments are based on original designs'. One complaint he expressed was 'the odd bit of cheating with the lip-synching, where textured facial features are substituted for full 3D animation'.[87] GameSpy stated the Disney characters 'slide perfectly into Square's visual style', and complemented the realistic characters from Pirates of the Caribbean, describing them as 'remarkably accurate'.[88]
GameSpot commented the first game created a 'fascinating world' using the Disney and Final Fantasy characters.[90] GameSpy stated the inclusion of the Disney and Square Enix characters was handled well.[88] The main character Sora has also received press comments. In January 2007, Sora was listed the 4th biggest dork of 2006 by Game Informer, citing the Atlantica singing portions of the game.[91] IGN listed him as a possible character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl;[92] though he was not chosen as the 'reader's choice'.[93]
GameSpy praised the voice cast and voice acting in the first and third games.[88][94]G4TV awarded Kingdom Hearts II 'Best Voice Over' in their 2006 G-phoria Awards.[95]Game Informer praised the voice acting of the third game, particularly the performances by Haley Joel Osment, Christopher Lee, and James Woods. They also stated the voice talent 'shines across the board.'[96] Reception towards the voice acting in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, however, was decidedly mixed, with praise aimed at the performances of Jesse McCartney, Mark Hamill and Leonard Nimoy, while Willa Holland and Jason Dohring's performances received a more mixed reaction, with GameSpot referring to Dohring's performance as 'abysmal'.[97]
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
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- ^ abcFrank, Allegra (July 15, 2017). 'Kingdom Hearts 3 gets a new trailer and its first Pixar-based world'. Polygon. Archived from the original on July 15, 2017. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
- ^Wallace, Kimberly (July 16, 2017). 'Nomura Shares More Details On Kingdom Hearts III And Its Toy Story World'. Game Informer. GameStop. Archived from the original on July 16, 2017. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
- ^Pereira, Chris (February 10, 2018). 'New Kingdom Hearts 3 Trailer Shows Monsters Inc. World, New Gameplay Details Revealed'. GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
- ^ ab'Nomura Interview TechTv'. Kingdom Hearts Ultimania. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007. Retrieved July 18, 2007.
- ^'Playstation.com Europe – E3 Interview'. Kingdom Hearts Ultimania. Archived from the original on April 18, 2007. Retrieved September 20, 2007.
- ^ ab'KHU Interview w/Tetsuya Nomura'. Kingdom Hearts Insider. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
- ^ abcBoulette, Bryan (November 27, 2005). 'Nomura Divulges Kingdom Hearts II Details'. RPGamer. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved July 23, 2007.
- ^'Tetsuya Nomura 1st 1UP Interview'. Kingdom Hearts Ultimania. Archived from the original on June 10, 2007. Retrieved September 20, 2007.
- ^'Dengeki – Kingdom Hearts 2 Progress Report'. Kingdom Hearts Ultimania. Archived from the original on June 8, 2007. Retrieved July 27, 2007.
- ^ abcde'Kingdom Hearts II Ultimania – Tetsuya Nomura Interview'. Kingdom Hearts Ultimania. Archived from the original on July 10, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
- ^ ab'Kingdom Hearts Voice Talent Announced'. GamePro. April 30, 2003. Archived from the original on January 13, 2009. Retrieved September 30, 2008.
- ^ abcdBirlew, Dan (2003). Kingdom Hearts Official Strategy Guide. BradyGames Publishing. ISBN0-7440-0198-6.
- ^ ab'Riku Biography'. IGN. Archived from the original on March 14, 2008. Retrieved January 2, 2008.
- ^ ab'Scenario Mysteries Interview'. KingdomHearts3.net. May 14, 2007. Archived from the original on February 21, 2013. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
- ^'Sora Biography'. IGN. Archived from the original on November 13, 2007. Retrieved January 2, 2008.
- ^'Kingdom Builder'. Nintendo Power. Nintendo of America (276): 40–41. March 2012. ISSN1041-9551.
- ^Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Ultimania. Square Enix. May 2012. pp. 426–430. ISBN978-4757536159.
- ^Square Enix (March 28, 2006). Kingdom Hearts II. PlayStation 2. Square Enix U.S.A., Buena Vista Games.
Axel: Your mind's made up? / Roxas: Why did the Keyblade choose me? I have to know. / Axel: You can't turn on the Organization!
- ^ abcdeキングダム ハーツ バース バイ スリープ アルティマニア (in Japanese). Square Enix. 2010. ISBN978-4-7575-2788-1.
- ^Square Enix PDD 5 (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. PlayStation Portable. Square Enix.
Terra: Being a Keyblade Master is all I've dreamed about! / Aqua: Well you're not the only one. / Terra: I know. You, me and Ven all share the same dream.
- ^ ab'Weekly Famitsu'. Enterbrain (in Japanese): 266–267. November 5, 2009.
- ^Square Enix PDD 5 (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. PlayStation Portable. Square Enix.
Master Xehanort: The darkness is nothing to fear. /../ And yet..how frustrating that Eraqus refutes its power. Why, you could train with him forever and still..you'd never be a Master in his eyes. / Terra: But why? Help me understand, Master Xehanort. What is it that I have failed to learn? / Master Xehanort: You are fine as you are. Darkness cannot be destroyed. It can only be channeled.
- ^Gantayat, Anoop (October 2, 2007). 'Nomura Discusses Kingdom Hearts'. IGN. Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
- ^Square Enix PDD 5 (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. PlayStation Portable. Square Enix.
Master Eraqus: I told Terra this could be a second chance to show the Mark of Mastery..and I meant it. However, that flicker of darkness he displayed during the examination—I can sense it runs very deep. If he were to— If those powers were to prove too much for him to handle, I want you to bring him back to me at once. It's for his own good. I could not bear to lose any of you to the darkness. / Aqua: Of course. I would never let that happen. I promise you I will bring Terra back. Only this time, you'll see he has what it takes to be a Master. He's not as weak as you think.
- ^Square Enix PDD 5 (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. PlayStation Portable. Square Enix.
Aqua: Wait, Ven! / Eraqus: No! He mustn't! You have to bring him back!
- ^Square (November 15, 2002). Kingdom Hearts. PlayStation 2. Square Electronic Arts.
Sora: Kairi. Remember what you said before? I'm always with you, too. I'll come back to you. I promise! / Kairi: I know you will!
- ^Square Enix (March 28, 2006). Kingdom Hearts II. PlayStation 2. Square Enix U.S.A., Buena Vista Games.
Riku: Take it. / Kairi: This time..I'LL fight. You know Sora's completely hopeless without us! C'mon, Riku!
- ^Square Enix (December 7, 2004). Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Game Boy Advance. Square Enix U.S.A.
Axel: He became a Heartless, Larxene—and you know what happens to people who do. / Larxene: People who lose their hearts also lose their minds, their feelings.. They're consumed by the darkness. / Axel: Right. But that didn't happen to Sora. He held on to his feelings, even as a Heartless. Only one other man ever managed to do that.
- ^ abSquare Enix (March 28, 2006). Kingdom Hearts II. PlayStation 2. Square Enix U.S.A., Buena Vista Games.
Mickey: Well, the man in the picture is definitely the one who tried to take over Kingdom Hearts—the one you fellas defeated. But, what you actually fought was his Heartless. Ya see he wasn't really Ansem. He just went around telling everybody that he was. /../ Sora: We went through all that trouble to defeat an impostor? / Mickey: Yep. A fake. But he still had to be stopped.
- ^Square Enix 1st Production Department (July 31, 2012). Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Nintendo 3DS. Square Enix.
Yen Sid: As a Keyblade Master, Xehanort had a gift like few others. But such great minds are often plagued by a single great question. What is the essence of the human heart that weakens us, or empowers us? The answer, he believed, would be found in the 'Keyblade War.'
- ^Jupiter (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Playstation Portable. Square Enix, Disney Interactive Studios.
Xehanort: Light and darkness, they are a balance—one that must always be maintained. /../ You and I can do the worlds much greater good, by wielding light and darkness in equal shares.
- ^Jupiter (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Playstation Portable. Square Enix, Disney Interactive Studios.
Xehanort's Report 8: I believe a balance of light and darkness is what sustains our World, but too much of the darkness has been stamped out, disrupting that balance. Someone must tear down this tyranny of light and reorganize the World around the darkness which then creeps back in.
- ^ abJupiter (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Playstation Portable. Square Enix, Disney Interactive Studios.
Braig: Oh c'mon, you don't even know your pal? Please tell me the amnesia was just a sick joke. Boy, this is some cliché.
- ^ abcSquare Enix 1st Production Department (July 31, 2012). Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Nintendo 3DS. Square Enix.
Young Xehanort: I am Xehanort from the most distant past. My future self gave me a task—to visit the splintered versions of myself in many worlds, and ensure they gathered here today.
- ^Nakamura, Toshi (June 20, 2013). 'Here Are Some Things To Expect in Kingdom Hearts 3'. Kotaku. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
- ^Studio BentStuff, ed. (2005). Kingdom Hearts II Ultimania (in Japanese). Square Enix. ISBN4-7575-1621-5.
- ^Square (November 15, 2002). Kingdom Hearts. PlayStation 2. Square Electronic Arts.
Ansem: So, I shall release you now, Princess. Complete the Keyhole with your power. Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!
- ^Jupiter (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Playstation Portable. Square Enix, Disney Interactive Studios.
Xehanort: At last, our moment is here. Out with the old and brittle vessel, and in with a younger, stronger new one! I swore I would survive..and be there to see what awaited beyond the Keyblade War! And now it is your darkness that shall be the ark that sustains me!
- ^Square Enix 1st Production Department (July 31, 2012). Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Nintendo 3DS. Square Enix.
Young Xehanort: I will return to my own time, and grow into the man who becomes all these others. While I know this future now that I have lived it, returning to my own time will erase the memories and experiences I have gained here. Still, my appointed path is now etched in my heart, which will first lead me to seek the outside world.
- ^Square Enix (December 2, 2008). Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories. PlayStation 2. Square Enix U.S.A., Buena Vista Games.
Larxene: The girl you've been trying to protect all this time..is really a manipulative witch who shackles peoples' hearts!
- ^Square Enix (March 28, 2006). Kingdom Hearts II. PlayStation 2. Square Enix U.S.A., Buena Vista Games.
Naminé: I'm a witch with power over Sora's memories and those around him. / Roxas: A witch? / Naminé: That's what DiZ called me.
- ^Jupiter (December 7, 2004). Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Game Boy Advance. Square Enix U.S.A., Disney Interactive.
Naminé: I'm sorry. It's the only way. You have to choose, Sora. You can lose your memories of this castle and reclaim your old memories.. or keep your memories here and give up the memories that you've lost. / Sora: I have to choose? / Naminé: Yes. / Sora: Put me back the way I was. / … / Donald: We have to sleep in these to get our memories back? / Naminé: You'll be fine. It might take a little time, but I'll take care of you. / Goofy: But when we wake up, we won't remember you anymore..
- ^'Kingdom Hearts II Tetsuya Nomura interview'. Video Game Blogger. Archived from the original on January 31, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2007.
- ^Square Enix (March 28, 2006). Kingdom Hearts II. PlayStation 2. Square Enix U.S.A., Buena Vista Games.
Yen Sid: Nobodies may seem to have feelings, but this is a ruse—they only pretend to have hearts.
- ^ abcdefghiSquare Enix Business Division 3 (January 24, 2017). Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover. PlayStation 4. Square Enix. Scene: Credits.
- ^Square Enix (March 28, 2006). Kingdom Hearts II. PlayStation 2. Square Enix U.S.A., Buena Vista Games.
Secret Ansem's Report 3: If the light of hope has been extinguished, I shall henceforth walk with darkness as a friend. Here, in the realm of nothingness to which I have been relegated. Darkness in the midst of nothing. 'Darkness in Zero.' Thus, I shall be known as DiZ. Discarding the stolen name 'Ansem'.. And going in search of revenge.
- ^Square Enix (March 28, 2006). Kingdom Hearts II. PlayStation 2. Square Enix U.S.A., Buena Vista Games.
Ansem the Wise: I made so many plans. But when Sora became an acting force, they all fell apart. All my research amounted to nothing, compared to that one boy's heart.
- ^Square Enix (March 28, 2006). Kingdom Hearts II. PlayStation 2. Square Enix U.S.A., Buena Vista Games.
Ansem the Wise: Sora, it's all up to you now. And Roxas—I doubt you can hear me—but.. I am sorry.
- ^Square Enix PDD 5 (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. PlayStation Portable. Square Enix, Disney Interactive Studios.
Master Xehanort: You must know about the boy by now, the one in the mask. His name is Vanitas. A creature of pure darkness. One of my making. /../ Vanitas is the darkness that was inside your friend.
- ^Square Enix PDD 5 (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. PlayStation Portable. Square Enix, Disney Interactive Studios.
Master Xehanort: Reclaim the part that left you. Clash with him! Pure light against pure darkness, to forge the ultimate key. The all-powerful χ-blade!
- ^Square Enix PDD 5 (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. PlayStation Portable. Square Enix, Disney Interactive Studios.
Master Xehanort: What do you make of Ventus? / Vanitas: He ain't gonna cut it. Somebody's gotta break that loser in.
- ^Square Enix PDD 5 (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. PlayStation Portable. Square Enix, Disney Interactive Studios.
Ventus: The Unversed..come from you? / Vanitas: It happened when you and I were split into two. The negativity took shape as these monsters. They are what I feel—a horde of fledgling emotions under my control. I released them in all the worlds I could, hoping to lure you away from home and isolate you from your Master. We needed to make you stronger. The Unversed were the perfect opponents.
- ^Square Enix PDD 5 (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. PlayStation Portable. Square Enix, Disney Interactive Studios.
Our union was not finished. The χ-blade shouldn't stay broken like this. Join me now, and we can complete the χ-blade!
- ^Square Enix PDD 5 (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. PlayStation Portable. Square Enix, Disney Interactive Studios.
Master Eraqus: Remember that darkness lurks in every heart. Darkness is our foe. Would that we could be rid of it. You must destroy it. Push the darkness down—give it no quarter in your heart.
- ^'Kingdom Hearts:Birth by Sleep Interview'. Weekly Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain: 262–263. November 5, 2009.
- ^Square Enix PDD 5 (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. PlayStation Portable. Square Enix, Disney Interactive Studios.
Master Eraqus: We have deliberated and reached a decision. Terra, Aqua, you both performed commendably. However, only Aqua has shown the Mark of Mastery. Terra, you failed to keep the darkness within you sufficiently in check. But, there is always next time. That is all.
- ^Square Enix PDD 5 (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. PlayStation Portable. Square Enix, Disney Interactive Studios.
Ventus: Master! What are you.. / Master Eraqus: The χ-blade has no place in this or any world. Xehanort has made his purpose clear..and I am left with no choice. Forgive me..but you must exist no more.
- ^Square Enix PDD 5 (September 7, 2010). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. PlayStation Portable. Square Enix, Disney Interactive Studios.
Master Xehanort: As I recall, you couldn't even handle your own darkness. How, then, will you triumph over mine? / Terra: You'll find out soon enough. / Master Xehanort: Oh? So that's how it is, is it? Someone else has set foot in your heart. Eraqus, you sly fox..
- ^野村哲也氏独占インタビュー! TGSサプライズ映像の内容に迫る - ファミ通.com. Famitsu (in Japanese). September 28, 2009. Archived from the original on September 10, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
- ^Brian Ashcraft (October 15, 2009). 'Who Does This New Kingdom Hearts Character Look Like?'. Kotaku. Archived from the original on March 15, 2010. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
- ^ abcdeSquare Enix Business Division 3 (January 24, 2017). Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover. PlayStation 4. Square Enix.
Chirithy: And so the reliable Ira, who wore the mask of the unicorn, was given his role to take over for the Master and to lead the others. Similarly, the virtuous Invi, who wore the mask of the snake, was given her role to watch over the others with a fair eye. The fearless Aced, who wore the mask of the bear, was given his role to support their brand-new leader Ira. The prudent Ava, who wore the mask of the fox, was given her role to prepare exceptional Keyblade wielders for the world after. The coolheaded Gula, who wore the mask of the leopard, was given his role to uncover the mystery of the Book of Prophecies.
- ^Square (November 15, 2002). Kingdom Hearts. PlayStation 2. Square Electronic Arts.
King Mickey's Note: Donald, Sorry to rush off without sayin' goodbye, but there's big trouble brewin'. Not sure why, but the stars have been blinkin' out, one by one. And that means disaster can't be far behind. I hate to leave you all but I've gotta go check into it. There's someone with a 'key'—the key to our survival. So I need you and Goofy to find him, and stick with him. Got it? We need that key or we're doomed!
- ^Square (November 15, 2002). Kingdom Hearts. PlayStation 2. Square Electronic Arts.
Goofy: Hey, why don't ya come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel. / Sora: I wonder if I could find Riku and Kairi.. / Donald: Of course. / Goofy: Are you sure? / Donald: Who knows? But we need him to come with us to help us find the king.
- ^Square (November 15, 2002). Kingdom Hearts. PlayStation 2. Square Electronic Arts.
Riku: So, I see the path has emerged at last. / Maleficent: Yes. The Keyhole to the darkness. [..] I will use its power to rule all worlds.
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King Mickey: I should've seen it, as soon as Maleficent started gathering the seven princesses of heart. / Master Xehanort: Yes. They were all my doing. I used the evil fairy to find seven pure lights for me, just as I prepared thirteen vessels to fill with pure darkness.
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Zexion: I picked up two scents in the castle's lowest basement. One of them was Maleficent, but— / Vexen: Absurd. The witch is gone. She cannot return from the realm of darkness of her own volition.
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Goofy: Pete's been causin' trouble for ages! His Majesty banished him to another dimension a long time ago. I wonder how he escaped. / Pete: You wanna know how, eh? Well, Maleficent busted me out, that's how! And now your world—no, no, no, all the worlds—are gonna belong to yours truly. Cause Maleficent's gonna help me conquer 'em!
- ^Square Enix (March 28, 2006). Kingdom Hearts II. PlayStation 2. Square Enix U.S.A., Buena Vista Games.
Yen Sid: Yes..the King has been quite busy of late. Therefore, it would seem that the task of instructing you three falls upon my shoulders.
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Queen Minnie: Oh, and to chronicle your travels, he will accompany you. / Jiminy Cricket: Over here! Cricket's the name. Jiminy Cricket, at your service.
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