About Sora.
Sora (¥½¥é) is the protagonist of the Kingdom Hearts series. He is an upbeat teenager who may seem simple minded at times, but possesses a strong sense of justice and an unwavering heart. At times, he is impulsive and quick to anger, but he is always sincere about what he says and does. He comes from Destiny Islands and is close friends with Riku and Kairi.
He is voiced by Haley Joel Osment in the English versions of the Kingdom Hearts video games and by Miyu Irino in the Japanese versions.
Kingdom Hearts
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Sora is fourteen years old at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts and lives on the Destiny Islands with his friends, Riku and Kairi, and several other children, including Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka. Sora and his two close friends seek to see the world beyond the islands and begin to build a raft. However, a strange dark force storms the islands and Sora is swept away from his home and separated from his friends. He drifted though the Dark Corridor, an interdimensional pathway, and ended up at a place known as Traverse Town.
Here he meets Donald Duck and Goofy, the respective Royal Court Mage and Captain of the Royal Guard of Disney Castle. Like Sora, they encountered a dark force and that very force is responsible for the disappearance of their king, Mickey. The three of them decide to look for their friends together, especially since Donald and Goofy believe Sora will be the one to defeat the dark force because he bears a weapon known as the Keyblade.
In Traverse Town, Sora finds Riku and discovers that neither of them can find Kairi. Riku, seeing that Sora has befriended Donald and Goofy, comes to believe that Sora has forgotten about him and Kairi and decides to find Kairi on his own. Sora ends up traversing multiple worlds to stop the Heartless, the creatures that embody the darkness, and also rescue the Seven Princesses of Heart, who are the key to opening the final keyhole that will unlock Kingdom Hearts, the objective of the villains controlling the Heartless.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details about plot elements in Kingdom Hearts II follow.
When Kairi is revealed to be one of the Seven Princesses of Heart, Sora discovers that Riku believes that her heart has been stolen by the Heartless. In reality, Sora has held Kairi's heart within him the entire game since she passed through him in the very beginning. In order to return her heart Sora uses Riku's keyblade to remove his heart and her's, becoming a Heartless himself for a short period before being restored to normal. Riku had been introduced to the darkness by Maleficent and possessed by Xehanort who at the time is being called Ansem , the true villain of the game. Sora and his friends manage to defeat Xehanort. However, as Sora is about lock the door to darkness, Riku and King Mickey are on the other side of doorway and are sealed in the world of darkness.
As the worlds begin to reset themselves, Kairi and Sora are separated. Sora promises to return to her as soon as he finds Riku and the doorway to light.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
After being separated from his friends, Sora wandered down on a long meandering path with Donald and Goofy searching for way to find Riku and Mickey, encountering Pluto on the way. When they reach a crossroad and called it a night, a mysterious man in a long black hooded cloak appears and informed Sora that "ahead lies something you need, but to claim it, you must lose something dear." The man disappears and only one path remains. The trio follows the path which leads them to a mysterious fortress known as Castle Oblivion. They enter the castle hoping to pick up some clues as to the whereabouts of their friends only to discover as they ascend the floors of the fortress, the more memories they lose and the more uncertain they become.
Little do they know, their memories are being manipulated by a mysterious organization who seek to capture and manipulate Sora. To do this, they use Namin¨¦, a young witch who can rearrange the chains of memories and create new links. In order to make Sora forget Kairi, Namin¨¦ begins to replace his memories of her with herself. Meanwhile, a conflict between the Organization's members leads to several encounters between Sora and Riku, whose memories of Kairi also have been replaced with ones containing Namin¨¦.
Their uncertainty builds to a point where they end up in Twilight Town, a place that Sora is fairly certain that he has never been in, thus should not exist in his memory. Organization member number 4, Vexen, revealed that it is a place that exists on the other side of Sora's heart, but is eliminated by Axel, the 8th member of the Organization, before he can explain anything.
Axel ends up betraying Marluxia, the Lord of Castle Oblivion, revealing that Marluxia and Larxene, the newest members of their group, intended to use Sora to overthrow the order. Axel manipulated Namin¨¦ into doing what she believes it right and she reveals to Sora that she never existed in his memory and that she has been replacing the person most important to him. Riku appears to them again and is defeated by Sora. Larxene comes forth to eliminate Sora and Riku, who is revealed to actually be replica of the real Riku, created by Vexen.
Sora defeats Larxene and forgives a regretful Namin¨¦ for her actions. She promises to restore the memories of the trio once they reach the 13th Floor of Castle Oblivion, where Marluxia is waiting for them. Once Marluxia is defeated, Namin¨¦ asks that they step into machines they will rearrange their memories back to the way they were at the cost of breaking the links she created. While they know that they will forget Namin¨¦, Sora promises her that while she is forgotten, she will remain in his heart, never lost.
Kingdom Hearts II
The redesigned Sora for Kingdom Hearts II.One year after the events of Chain of Memories, Sora, Donald and Goofy awake in Twilight Town with their memories restored, although they cannot remember what happened in Castle Oblivion. Continuing their journey to find Riku and King Mickey, they set out travel across new worlds, meeting old friends and enemies from the original Kingdom Hearts game, battling the Heartless and a new threat, the remaining members of the Organization they encountered in Chain of Memories.
Soon after exploring Twilight Town, Sora and company head off to Disney Castle. Sora obtains new attire from Merryweather, Flora and Fauna, the fairies from Sleeping Beauty, and a new power: using his friends' hearts to take on "Drive Forms".
Throughout the game, Sora expresses his determination to bring Riku back home with him to Destiny Islands, where Kairi is patiently waiting for them. The quest gets a lot more complicated when Kairi herself is kidnapped by Axel, that Pete (who works for the resurrected Maleficent) and the Organization XIII are causing trouble in the other worlds and that King Mickey refuses to give information regarding Riku. As well, Sora must discover why some of the members of the Organization XIII address him as "Roxas".
Eventually, Sora, with the help of the Twilight Town kids (three friends of Roxas) and Axel, manages to find the route of the "World that Never Was": the World of Kingdom Hearts itself. Reunited with his friends Riku and Kairi, he and the others attempt to stop Xemnas, the leader of the Organization.
In the end, Sora and Riku are seperated from Mickey, Goofy, Kairi and Donald. They fight Xemnas on their own and defeat him, though they remain stranded in the World that Never Was. As Sora and Riku share their own thoughts from the adventures they went through, Sora finds a message in the bottle washed up in the shore, wherein it held Kairi's letter. The Door of Light appears, and both Sora and Riku use it to return to their homeworld: Destiny Islands.
Reunited at last with all his friends, the story ends with Sora returning Kairi's lucky charm, saying "I'm home".
Keyblade
Sora's Weapon, the KeybladeThe main weapon in Kingdom Hearts, the Keyblade, is the only thing that can lock the worlds, thus preventing the Heartless from consuming the heart of a world. It is the only weapon that can destroy the Heartless and Nobodies completely, though because of it, the wielder (Sora) is constantly pursued by them. They are mainly drawn to Sora's heart, not the Keyblade as in the case of Roxas. The Kingdom Key is the Default form of Sora's Keyblade. It can be upgraded via keychains, each of which change its appearance and powers.
About Riku.
Riku (¥ê¥¯) is a fictional character from the video games Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II. Riku is the best friend of Sora, the protagonist, but there has been a lot of conflict between the two.
He is voiced by actor David Gallagher for the English versions of the Kingdom Hearts games and by Mamoru Miyano in the Japanese versions.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details about plot elements in Kingdom Hearts II follow.
Kingdom Hearts
Riku, as he appeared in Kingdom Hearts.When Kairi came to their island, Riku and Sora developed a friendly rivalry for her affection. At 15 years old, Riku is one year older than his friends, and comes across as serious, cool, and detached. He is actually quite curious about the world beyond the islands, and wishes to explore it. At the beginning of Kingdom Hearts, he, Sora and Kairi start to build a raft in hopes to sail to another world at the start of the game.
However when the Heartless attack the islands, their plans go awry and they are separated. Riku seems to have no fear of the darkness which they bring, and goes into it willingly. He ends up at Hollow Bastion via use of the Dark Corridor, where the sorceress Maleficent finds him. After discovering the new worlds Maleficent showed him, Riku finds Sora, along with Donald Duck and Goofy in Traverse Town, but Kairi remained missing to both boys.
Subsequently, Maleficent convinced Riku that Sora abandoned him and Kairi for his new friends. Riku joined Maleficent and started searching for Kairi, even if it meant making attempts on Sora's life. Maleficent also revealed to Riku that he is the true wielder of the Keyblade, taking what was his birthright and the king's men at Hollow Bastion. However, because Riku's heart was tainted with darkness, Sora regained the Keyblade. The true villain behind the Heartless, Xehanort, made his presence known and took advantage of Riku's desire to get stronger, possessing Riku's body as his own.
After a vain attempt to fight Xehanort, Riku's heart is sent into the World of Darkness, where King Mickey obtains his own Keyblade at the same time. At the end of the game, Riku regains his body after Xehanort is destroyed and assists Sora in closing the door to Kingdom Hearts. Unfortunately, it is necessary for Riku and King Mickey to stay behind the door in order to close it, leaving Sora with one request: "Take care of her."
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Due to being "half-dark", Riku somehow escaped the World of Darkness via the Dark Corridor and appeared in the deepest basement of Castle Oblivion alone. This was theorized by Vexen as because Riku's existence resonated with that of Sora, who was at Castle Oblivion at the time.
While Sora ascended the 13 floors of Castle Oblivion from the ground level, Riku had to move up from the 13 basement floors of the castle to ground level. Like Sora, Riku's powers were being sought by members of a mysterious organization with the darkness in his heart and manipulate him to counter Sora, who was being sought by three other members of the Organization. This proved to not be an easy task, as Riku was said to be afraid of the darkness, or rather, that allowing it into his heart would mean his corruption and downfall. In the worlds created from his memories, only the evil figures Riku encountered appeared before him. He also met DiZ.
However, each time Riku was nearly overcome with darkness, a light was always there to guide him and assure him that he was not evil despite being dark. The light was King Mickey, who ended up helping Riku overcome his darkness. Riku realized the darkness is a part of him and his friends will not hate him for being dark and decided to fight those who intend to use it against him, even when Namin¨¦ offered to seal the darkness from him forever. Riku and Mickey confronted the remains of Xehanort's heart, which lived on Riku's heart as a corruption of the darkness within him, and defeated him.
Having come to terms with who he is, Riku turned into a being halfway between light and dark in the "twilight". This allowed him to gain powers far beyond what he had before, which he used to overcome Xehanort at the ground level of Castle Oblivion. Knowing that he is neither completely dark nor completely light, he and Mickey leave Castle Oblivion walking the path between, not of "twilight", but the road to "dawn". Riku also knows that despite his victory, a trace of Xehanort still remains.
Gameplay
Unlike Sora, Riku plays with a closed deck, which means that he is unable to create, arrange, and rearrange his own deck. Instead, his deck changes as he proceeds deeper into Castle Oblivion.
Riku has the ability to enter "Dark Mode" when he has broken enough cards and when he takes enough damage. But returns to normal when he is completely depleted of DP (Dark Points [DP can be raised when he levels-up]). When in Dark Mode, Riku becomes more agile; he can jump higher, evade at larger distances, even jump towards the target enemy's back, and his combos become much stronger. It is only when Riku is in Dark Mode that he can use his 3 main sleights; Dark Break, Dark Firaga (non-elemental), and Dark Aura. Advantages of his closed deck is that he can use any of the boss cards he has and he can reload his deck much faster. The disadvantage is that Riku has a harder time of healing during battle, as his King Mickey friend card (and the Oogie Boogie enemy card) is his only card that can restore HP.
Kingdom Hearts II
Riku's role in Kingdom Hearts II is minor until the very end. As of Chain of Memories, he and King Mickey are seen walking the road to "dawn" dressed in the cloaks of Organization XIII. But despite wearing these garments, neither of them are associated with the Organization.
Riku encountered Roxas when the rogue Nobody was attacked by the Heartless sometime after the events of Chain of Memories, but before Kingdom Hearts II begins. The two end up dueling (events of Another Side, Another Story: Deep Dive), with Riku demanding to know how someone other than Sora could wield a keyblade and Roxas losing in the end. The audience sees that Riku is blindfolded; his reason is because he has to hide the fact that Xehanort's heart resides within him, giving his eyes a shade of orange similar to Xehanort's.
Later, Riku is reunited with DiZ, whom he met earlier in Castle Oblivion, and from embracing the darkness took on the appearance of Xehanort for good. His sword Soul Eater changes into a Keyblade, which he names "The Road to Dawn". Riku agrees to help DiZ as they share a common objective: eliminate Xemnas, the Superior of the Organization XIII and the Nobody version of Xehanort. Riku also asks that King Mickey, his companion throughout his journey, promise to help Sora under the condition that Mickey is not to reveal Riku's whereabouts, plans, or appearence.
The Road To Dawn, Riku's Keyblade.Riku remains in Xehanort's form for the grand majority of the events in Kingdom Hearts II, only encountering Sora once in the Land of Dragons (while remaining cloaked) and then in the "World that Never Was" for the final portion of the story, during which he is selectable as a party member. He also appears before Kairi when she escapes albeit the work of Namin¨¦ and the two girls are attacked by Saix. Namin¨¦ identifies Riku immediately, despite his change in appearence. While reluctant to show his face, Kairi (wishing to see Riku after so long) removes his hood and takes everything in a stride, knowing that Riku's heart is still within him and that he is clearly only wearing Xehanort's appearence and nothing more. The energy from the explosion caused by DiZ's machine managed to restore Riku to his "true form", leaving a slightly older looking Riku.
As of the finale in Kingdom Hearts II, Riku has ceased using his trademark Dark Form, and uses, among others, the abilities Dark Shield and Dark Aura. He also seems to have an unlimited supply of Hi Potions which he generously uses on Sora whenever Sora reaches critical condition.
After Xemnas' defeat, he and Sora end up in the World of Darkness where the two had time to reflect on everything they went through and their mutual respect for each other on a dark moonlit beach (the one featured in Deep Dive & start of KH2). When the Door to Light appears, Riku goes home to Destiny Islands with Sora and is happily reunited with all of his friends (Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy).
Gender: Male Location: The epitome of my evolution.
Account Restricted
Yeah um..Sora would be like Z0mg I' m so sad abotu everything and then Riku wll be hsi gay self than they'lll Mario and Luigi will whoop[ their asses. Seriously Mario and Luigi are gods in the game world, Sora will NEVER be as powerful as they are. besides Sora's a cry baby.
Not when the bros have star power, along with every other power-up, available to them. Do you even have any idea how many amps the Mario Bros. series have come up with? They have something to handle any situation.
Fire Mario + Star power = flaming Sora and Riku, and I don't just mean in the homosexual sense.
__________________ -"My internet is currently so bad I'm time traveling. Don't worry about it."
-"You have the best problems, Scenario. You really do. haermm"
KMC Community Forums
May 1st, 2006 01:50 AM
Mario Bros win.
