#Kingdom hearts theory

[starrieisdelusional]

why kairi might be the one who manipulated sora's memory

yes you read that right, and no i did not mis-type this (if you're thinking hey that should be namine!)

i was going back a few times to kh3 and i found many patterns and cutscenes in 3 that can be compared to previous installments of the game, even side by side, this one particularly caught my eye:

crazy am i right

so remember that scene in 3 where sora falsely exclaimed "the light in the darkness" to be kairi? (it's actually riku) where sora and kairi goes enters the light to made it back to the real world

previous clip in link because tumblr isn't working with me ("riku, answer me!!" comparison with "okay! i have to protect them (aitsu)! Namine can you hear me?")

as you've seen in the comparison i realized it probably a direct paralell to namine's fake meteor shower scene back in COM Sora's side. And these lines of dialogue in particular interest me

it got me thinking, and i think that kairi purposely did something to sora's memory at some point in their lives. The exact when i'm not too sure, but she had inserted herself into some of riku's part in sora's life as sora's taisetsu na hito (special someone)

i know this sounds crazy, but i think there's a valid reason to this theory

Why??

the motive is clear: that kairi is lonely. i personally relate to her character struggle, loneliness can be suffocating, just like how namine portrayed hers that resulted to the events in COM

kairi's main theme has always been about 'seperation' and being left behind by sora and riku. so it would make sense for her to crave attention

kairi might feel sad that sora and riku doesn't pay attention to her unlike how they pay attention to each-other, so i don't see it as off character for her to insert herself into a fake picture if she had the chance, especially as the love interest of her crush

she even said this back in KH1 which sora responded with "Huh!? What's gotten into you?"

or is it done out of malicious intentions? there might be a possibility for that, but i don't think it is as it goes against kingdom hearts thematic story that stays consistent over the years, that portrays every character struggle in a sympathetic way that honestly you can relate too

(xehanort is even a subject to this in dark road)

i think that kairi felt really guilty about it and didn't realized the impact that she had done to sora and riku's relationship. or maybe she thrived for it, because even if the affection is not real, kairi is still loved and remembered by someone as their precious person, and it feels nice especially with someone like sora

snippet from kh3 novel

in the novels, there's a strong hint that kairi cut her hair because riku cut his, which contributes a lot to the theory of kairi wanting to be sora's precious person (riku) where she somewhat mimics his behavior (she probably realized deep down sora cares more about riku than her)

Passing Memories

i think this also made sense lore wise, because why else would sora suddenly lost his memory of riku? and i don't think sora's sort-of infatuation with kairi is caused by comphet alone

forgotten promises is a recurring theme in sora and riku's relationship, everything up to this point has always leads to hidden thoughts and burried memories, you have to dig deeper if you want to find a connection between sora and riku, the examples currently are:

whatever is happening between soriku

passing memories jp name of oblivion keyblade that is owned by roxas

riku is the TRUE light

necklace theory: the fact that THE necklace is everywhere in the game but is never brought up like ever

aitsu (check full discussion on the internet)

COM the game (just everything related to COM, the only game with riku and sora beside DDD? it's sus if you ask me)

compared to sora and kairi who's relationship always seems shallow and on the surface. i think it made more sense with the 'why' factor answered, because every time sora is thinking of riku, kairi would replace herself in his position, just like the light-tunnel scene in kh3

the 'oathkeeper' (promise charm) and 'oblivion' (passing memories) also reflected sora keeping his promise to kairi, but forgetting about his to riku, riku might not be affected in the same way that sora does, so this happens:

+ the multiple and many instances, riku is straight up covered by kairi

some of those instances:

kairi is true darkness (ex: sea is metaphor for darkness)

xion (is said to be kairi but proven also to also be riku)

the final world

Power?

honestly, i think kairi is more than she lets on (like LUXU), let's talk about her nobody:

i think it's already suspicious that namine has the power to mess with sora's memories (because she's from kairi's body and sora's heart?) when existing nobodies like roxas and xion for example has powers directly tied to their somebodies (kingdom key), xehanort doing xehanort things, marluxia possessing the same rose petals as his somebody counterpart, (and a lot more...)

so, with a game like kingdom hearts, does namine's powers really came out of no where? we know that sora doesn't have the ability to manipulate people's memories, so who else could it be?? kairi's powers might even be more powerful

this would also aligns with the theory 'riku is light-kairi is darkness' because even at front value the game is telling you 'hey kairi is LIGHT and riku is DARKNESS' time and time again its always the reverse in certain situations, but you never got to wonder what it actually mean

yes riku is the light, but why is kairi the darkness?? yes she sort-of brings demise as xehanort's pawn, but is it really just that?

lastly, kairi is a princess of heart, and might even came from the lost masters era as it is decorated and spammed with stars (every symbol is replaced by stars i'm not joking)

it's very on-theme with the 'traitor' plot point that has been consistent in every khux game, so... (i have a theory that kairi is master ava, or master ava is her grandma, OR kairi is mom... or skuld)

in addition to all of this, i also think that kairi can also be a creature, maybe she's actually a chirithy:

however i do think as opposed to riku as a dreameater (spirit), kairi is a nightmare chirithy, as seen in their color pallet (might be a coincidence but who knows)

[silly-dude5]

Kingdom Hearts Mini-Theory

Usually, most character's DTTH have them in/near the center. Except for the ones with split hearts.

Ventus had his heart split by Xehanort, which created Vanitus. The only other DTTH that is similar to theirs, is Sora and Riku's, which could mean their hearts are split with each other somehow. They even have similar positions. I don't have too much evidence to back it up, but I think it's worth mentioning.

Maybe what Mickey said was literal...

[the-kh-files]

The Hard Truth

Sora will not end up with another character until the end of the series (maybe not even then).

And here's why:

Nomura is very pragmatic. He knows full well that pairing Sora up would alienate the half of the fandom that supports an alternate pairing (I figure about 50% are SoRiku and 50% are SoKai).

So you can expect this to be drawn out for a long time to come, with more ambiguous, sorta friendly/sorta romantic, moments between Sora and his two best friends. Because once that line is crossed, a lot of people are going to be very disappointed and the revenue is going to go way down.

Call me cynical, but it happened with the X-Files, and it's gonna happen with KH.

[violethowler]

I am firmly of the opinion that the idea behind the New Seven Hearts in Kingdom Hearts 3 makes perfect sense and is entirely consistent with the themes of the narrative. In a series that consistently hammers in the message that light and darkness cannot exist without each other and must ideally be in balance, and how there is always darkness in every heart, the idea that there are at least seven people at a time who are naturally devoid of any darkness whatsoever throughout their entire lives from birth to death sticks out as contradictory to this messaging.

So the idea that it’s a temporary position that’s passed on from person to person without requiring the previous holder to die first makes a ton of sense in light of the symbolism behind what light and darkness represent that I’ve talked about multiple times in my Constructing Kingdoms videos: Light in KH fundamentally represents focus on others and darkness represents focus on yourself, with the conflict between the two representing conflicts like selfless vs selfishness, community vs isolation, conformity vs individuality, etc.

In that context, the idea that being a heart of pure light is a temporary state works as a potential metaphor for how even the most selfless people who are constantly doing things to help others around them still naturally have to take time to take care of their own needs – physically, mentally, and emotionally – or else they’ll ultimately burn out. (There are also a few meta elements when you factor in the workings of the KH universe when it comes to the Disney worlds, but I’ll save those for later so i don't get distracted lol).

However...

I do think it's a missed opportunity that we were introduced to the idea through the Organization going after new Princesses in KH3, rather than through BBS dropping the bombshell that Minnie was a PoH in the pre-KH1 era.

Think about it.

In her KH2 escort mission she exclusively light-based magic, and her attempt to seal off the Disney Castle audience chamber demonstrates a knowledge of how to ward off darkness, similar to how six of the Seven Princesses in KH1 were able to hold back the darkness coming out of the Final Keyhole using their own power until Sora returned to seal the Keyhole. Her sealing of the audience chamber not being effective at keeping out Heartless could even be retroactively explained by her Light magic being weaker after she gave up her PoH power.

A single mention of Minnie being a PoH in the BBS era would be enough to plant the possibility in players’ minds of more Princesses outside of the 7 we’d already seen without taking away screentime and narrative focus from the Wayfinder trio’s story.

Nomura has talked about how he likes giving players things to think about and speculate over when it comes to the story in the games that he's been involved in, and the fact that Minnie is obviously still alive in the present-day narrative would’ve given fans tons of questions to speculate over as we waited for KH3:

Did this mean that Princesses can pass on their pure light status without dying the way that similar mantles commonly work in a lot of fantasy media? Or is she still a PoH in the present day and there were always more than just the seven that Maleficent needed to open the door to Kingdom Hearts in KH1?

Would we be seeing new Princesses in KH3? And if so, would it be a new set of seven, or will some of the PoH we know be keeping their positions a little longer?

If we do get new Princesses in KH3, would we get to see the transition happen or would it just happen off-screen between games? Did the ones who passed their mantle on already do so and we just didn’t know it?

Would any of the new Official Disney Princesses be Princesses of Heart if or when they appeared in KH? If so, which ones?

If not the new Official Princesses, what about Mulan, Ariel, Tinkerbell, or Esmeralda – the few Official Princesses (the latter two of which only formerly) – to appear in KH but not be a PoH? Would any of them become one in the future? Or were they former ones who had already passed on their mantles like Minnie had?

And since Alice’s inclusion in KH1 means that being an Official Disney Princess is not a prerequisite for PoH status, what other iconic female characters from Disney properties – both those that had already shown up in KH and those who had yet to appear – might be candidates for former or future PoH?

Imagine how excited people would've been if Larxene's line in the KH3 trailers about Elsa being one of the New Seven Hearts was confirmation of theories that the fandom had been debating back and forth over for almost a decade, rather than introducing a whole new concept that most fans had never thought of before.

[starrduzt]

What would Sora's actual keyblade look like??

okay, guys, hear me out.

All the keyblade wielders can manifest a keyblade that is uniquely theirs as a reflection of their heart, marked by their character symbol as the keychain. It doesn't matter if this person was officially bequeathed. Y'know like Kairi, Roxas and Axel.

Now, we know that once it's summoned, the keyblade can be used by anyone. For example, The Master of Masters keyblade being passed down through teachers to their students since ancient times, Eraqus' keyblade to Aqua, and Mickey's keyblade to Riku.

Let's focus on Riku's for a second.

In KH3, Way to the Dawn breaks in the realm of darkness. Then Mickey makes a whole new keyblade and gives it to Riku to use for the time being, so he's got something to fight with. Riku is able to use this keyblade with no issues and no drawbacks - as if it were his own. But what's that on the keychain?

Mickey's character symbol. Sure, Riku's using it just fine, but it's still not his and it's not a reflection of his heart. Thanks to the wayfinder trio in BBS, we know keyblades can grow and change with the wielder's heart, and even old ones can be reforged again when the person really goes deep into their own heart. So Riku has the ability to resummon Way to the Dawn with a few tweaks to match his current self.

Now lets assume Mickey's symbol is also just the overarching world symbol cause ✨️Disney✨️ and alla dat. Sora's keyblade was summoned after touching the light within Riku.

Sora's keyblade is not his, but the Keyblade of the Realm of Light. It's the keyblade born from the realm just as the Kingdom Key D is born from the realm of darkness. (Later on Riku says his keyblade went to Sora, just cause he was the closest nearby BUT in the same breath he also says only one person can wield a keyblade soo.... I'm not inclined to believe him.) This is further supported by the X-Blade, which is supposed to be the ultimate convergence of light and dark, is just two Kingdom Keys. Also the only keyblade that has Sora's character symbol, is associated more closely with Riku so that design is kicked out.

Sooo.... if Sora's keyblade is just being borrowed, what would his own actually look like?

[hollowwhisperings]

Kingdom Key & Kingdom Hearts: A SoRiku Theory

The Kingdom Hearts series (& its creators) actively emphasizes the ways that its primary protagonist, Sora, is a "normal, ordinary boy". Yet Sora wields the iconic Kingdom Key, the Ultima Keyblade & even a x-blade (as forged by Xehanort): Sora's Story has been that of a Chosen One, even as he fits the archetype of one "Unchosen".

This theory explores the nature of Choice within the KH series, specifically in the context of "Destiny" and prophecies. It employs the "Riku is The Light" & "Necklace" theories, as well as elements of "Sleeping Realm". It also casts Riku as one of those Strange Women in Ponds who Distribute Swords as a Basis of [Galactic World Order].

Sora's story seemingly begins as a Classic Hero's Journey only for such a reading to fall flat when Expectations such as "Getting The Girl" and "Becoming a Keyblade Master" pointedly do not happen.

The driving force of the KH series has always been Riku: Riku wished to see worlds beyond his home, knowing the truth of the KH Multiverse well before proof literally crashlanded in the form of Kairi (a literal shooting star).

It is Riku's Heart that drew the attention of the Worlds at large to the Destiny Islands: the brightness of his light lead Terra, Aqua & Xehanort to meeting Sora in the first place.

Terra chooses Riku as a future Keyblade Master.

Aqua chooses Sora for the sake of preserving Riku's Light, the events of BBS teaching her that the strongest lights cast the longest shadows.

Xehanort chooses Riku as a Dark Vessel, whispering to him & encouraging him to doubt, to mistrust.

It is assumed, by Sora and by Riku, that Riku was also the person responsible for "opening the door" to the Darkness that felled the Destiny Islands. Yet throughout his childhood, each attempt by Riku to open the mysterious door on the play island failed and, when Darkness Falls, it is Kairi who is found at its source (Kairi, who had been expelled from her home by a version of Xehanort & whose heart harboured yet another fragment of the Seeker of Darkness).

Regardless of whether he truly opened the Destiny Islands to Darkness, Riku believed it & through Darkness did he find "freedom" to explore the Worlds Beyond, just as he had always dreamed... except for one, rather significant detail becoming derailed: Sora's presence by Riku's Side.

The two were separated and Sora was almost lost: even with Darkness swallowing Riku whole, the light within his Heart acted in time to save Sora by entrusting to him 'Kingdom Key'. Riku's Keyblade. A physical manifestation of Riku's Heart.

(notably, the "Kingdom Key-D" found by King Mickey was found not too far from the scene where Kingdom Key manifested: it is plausible that this keyblade was also manifested by Riku's Heart, perhaps alongside its 'Light' counterpart - I'd need to check the timeline to see how such a theory holds up)

Kingdom Key was entrusted to Sora, a subconscious act of Riku's Heart that mirrored an earlier act of protection Riku gave to Sora: on the night where Kairi fell to the Destiny Islands, a young Sora felt frightened and a young Riku swore to protect his dearest friend. This oath was sworn in turn sworn by Sora to Riku. They sealed these oaths with tokens they held close: while Sora's charm gifted to Riku remains unknown, Riku entrusted Sora with a crown charm he had had since infancy.

When Riku was 5, Riku entrusted Sora with his Crown. Both boys swore to protect the other.

When Riku was 15, Riku's Heart entrusted itself to Sora in the form of 'Kingdom Key'.

When Riku was ~16, he subconsciously protected Sora by becoming the latter's Dreamel Eater. Within the same timeframe, Riku sacrificed himself entirely to save Sora at the Keyblade Graveyard (an act of sacrifice, an act of True Love).

At every instance where Riku has been at a crossroads, knowingly or not, his Heart has Chosen Sora's: Riku, presumed descendant of Ephemera and a child of the Destiny Islands, has always & continues to choose Sora.

When the pair were reunited in KH2 and confronted the threat of Xemnas, the two fought as one & passed their keyblades between each other intuitively

When the pair existed in parallel realms of Sleep, separated but connected, their heartbeasts joined to form a Waltzing variation of the melody 'Dearly Belove'. They then fought in sync with a Combined Blade, formed from the keyblades "Mirage Split" and "Nightmare's End", acting again as two halves of a whole.

When Riku was to meet his end in the Realm of Darkness, far within the abyss, Sora appeared to him and they once again wielded their Combined Blade. Beast had once reaponded to a 15 year old Riku's questioning of his impossible arrival to Hollow Bastion, where Beast's Beloved Belle was held hostage, that he had "simply believed": belief brought Sora to Riku in the Realm of Darkness, belief brought Sora to the Final World in the wake of Riku's Ultimate Sacrifice.

The premise of Kingdom Key & its counterpart, Kingdom Key-D, being Manifestations of Riku's Heart & indicative of Riku's being the "Child of Destiny" does run into some Logistical Obstacles.

One, if Riku's Keyblade is being wielded by Sora (& Mickey, assuming the two keys were originally one) then whose keyblade is Riku wielding?

Two, how can Riku's Heart manifest multiple keyblades? Posession by Ansem Seeker of Darkness explains 1 of the "extra" keyblades (the key of "all hearts"). The bequeathing ceremony by Terra could explain another. Kingdom Key-D is definitely connected to Kingdom Key yet never specifically associated with Riku, evem being wielded by King Mickey (a stranger to Riku, at that point).

To the first: if Riku's keyblade is being wielded by Sora (& its counterpart by King Mickey), how can Riku wield another keyblade in KH1 even before getting possessed?

There are several immediate & varyingly plausible explanations: Riku's nature as a "Child of Destiny" allowing his Heart to churn out keyblades on demand like some Fey Lady of Avalon; or the other keyblades were not actually manifested by Riku at all.

While I greatly enjoy the imagery of Riku playing the "Lady of the Lake" to Sora's "Arthur" in KH1, given Sora's opening dream sequence already set Riku as being stuck in a Body Of Water (which is additionally representative of Darkness), it is Stretching Things to assume all other Plot Focused keyblades were ALSO fished out from Riku's Heart.

Perhaps Riku's Heart simply conjured new keyblades in response to Sora's Heart taking in new quests: Riku's Heart supplying keys to the metaphoric doors of Sora's Heart Hotel.

It is more likely, however, that the "new" keyblade wielded by Riku (the one currently known as "Braveheart") is a manifestation of SORA'S Heart: Riku entrusted his crown & his heart to Sora, first on the night of the Meteor Shower & then on the night the Islands Fell; Sora, in turn, entrusted his sword & heart to Riku. It explains how each boy readily wields the keyblade of the other & fits within the theme of their hearts beating in sych.

Riku choosing Sora, Riku's entrusting his Heart (literally & figuratively) with Sora, resulted in Destiny Itself 'choosing' Sora: if Riku represents Kingdom Hearts, the subject of his love would naturally become beloved by the Worlds in turn.

Sora acting as "[the] One Sky, One Destiny" due to Sora having the 'Heart' of Destiny through its child (Riku)'s love.

Sora is not only Riku's Dearly Beloved, Sora is THE "Dearly Beloved": beloved by the Worlds, entrusted with their Hearts & appointed their Savior. And all because, dull and ordinary boy that he may be, it is Sora's naturally normal self that Riku fell in love with. Sora may not be any more innately special than anyone else but Sora is special to RIKU, the love between them (knowingly or not) serving as the driving force of their stories & of Destiny itself.

[mr-deblob]

Just a thought, but what if the Quadratum Riku’s currently jumped to isn’t the Quadratum that Sora’s stuck in? They both look like Tokyo, but real-world locales have been used in fiction all the time. Verum Rex looks based in Tokyo too. The games aren’t strangers to the idea of multiple iterations of the same world.

So maybe Riku traveled to the Quadratum of Verum Rex while Sora’s one step further into his unreality/our reality. Maybe Yozora’s guarding the portal to the “truer” Quadratum and is keeping an eye on Riku because of that, knowing that someone who comes from that side of reality is searching for the Sora he’s meant to save/protect.

[embraceyourdestiny]

tell me about the two vanitases. vaniti

Post I made a while ago about it (might be slightly awkward / messy bc it’s from 2 years ago) :)

Essentially, at the end of bbs Vanitas and ven have a “battle of hearts” (similar to Roxas and sora in kh2) and Vanitas, as the weaker heart, loses and retreats back into his “origin”, ven’s heart. We see sparkles dissipate into vens stain glass, signifying that Vanitas has become embedded into ven’s heart. THEN ven becomes embedded in Sora’s heart, thus making a sort of matryoshka effect inside of sora;

sora<-(inside, ven [<-inside, vanitas])

Cut to ddd where sora is DEEP inside his own heart and thus coming across a lot of shit embedded within. Including Vanitas who appears as a fractured vision saying Sora’s heart is a prison “even if he’s not the prisoner.” Upon hearing this most people’s immediate thought would be *terra/aqua voice* ven!! But most people miss the hidden layer (cleverness intended) that would also mean Vanitas since he’s inside ven. Of course if someone is locked inside a prisoner in jail that also means they’re in the prison, whether them also being locked up was intentional or not

Cut to kh3. The first instance we see Vanitas is monsters inc. but we don’t see Vanitas first, we see the manifestation of his power because as he explains he needed enough energy to come back to life. The clever part about this is this only happens because sora is there with ven in his heart, thus physically bringing Vanitas’s heart to a place where he can regenerate and, if the plan works out, extract himself/ven from Sora’s body. There’s an extra bonus that the power becomes even more potent by upsetting sora and therefor having a STRONG sense of negativity which had been building in our poor boy all game, and as Ansem The Wise said, sora is able to make things be real and that means he was able to make Vanitas come back to life without whatever Xehanort did to make him, even though he didn’t mean to

Then Vanitas gets bodied by scully and thrown into a door, seemingly gone forever

Then like 3 seconds later we see him again in the land of departure. But. Wait. Didn’t scully just throw him to somewhere in Connecticut?

Act II: The second Vanitas

This Vanitas is a replica Xehanort pulled from the post. Xehanort had no fucking clue where Vanitas went after bbs bc he just disappears and honestly he clearly didn’t care because hes always known could just make another one so he does. The reason I know this isn’t monsters inc Vanitas is because one that’s impossible, it was 100% intentional this scene happens after yeetus Vanitas, and two Vanitas acts. Different. For one he’s much more brazen than he was in MI, instead of just his long winded monologuing he’s actually goading them on and being arrogant and feisty and trying to fight, immediately transporting us back to the kind of personality he had before. You know. Ven kicked his ass. And he also teleports and does magic and is way stronger than MI Vanitas because that Vanitas had just formed. There’s no possible way he had all his strength back after being rebirthed for 3 seconds so the fact that he was able to hold his own against aqua who’s been fighting nonstop for 10 years definitely raises an eyebrow and points to this theory because how was that possible and why didn’t he fight in MI if this was the case.

Some people have pointed out that it’s weird Vanitas wears a cloak of darkness in MI and thinking about it I think there’s two answers. The first is he was weak and I think it’s possible the cloak could protect him, esp if he’s not fully darkness anymore bc he has his own heart, has regenerated on his own instead of being extracted by Xehanort’s dark power, and was touched by two very powerful lights for like 10 years (they probably got their light cooties on him lol) and two, I think he was hiding from Xehanort. Vanitas likely knew of his plan since his conception even though he might not have fully understood was it was and therefore he would’ve known what was going on in kh3 and been like “shit. I’m not following the plan bc I’m not even a part of the plan anymore so Xehanort can’t find out.” Because if you remember in com DiZ says the cloaks can hide you from anyone and if Xehanort knew Vanitas was back he would at the very least force him to do his plan again or at the worst destroy him because he’s an unknown factor

Then sora fights replica Vanitas and he goes back into the past and somewhere out there Vanitas is walking around the streets of New York (or shibuya) having no clue what the fuck is going on

So yes. Two Vanitases bc we can’t get enough of this boy. Two of them

[heartkade]

Thinking about the theory of Luxu taking Brain’s body and then sending his heart to the future to be recompleted. if its true, it shows how important Brain is to the series & how caring Luxu as a person is (thoughts continued below)

We already know Luxu was super worried and cared about the Dandelions from the beginning, throughout all the events he was concerned over their safety

but he didn’t just watch… his emotions and thoughts led him to directly involving himself with them when he shouldn’t have, thus marking him the “traitor”

Imagine how Luxu felt when the first Dandelion he actually gets to speak to is during the apocalypse. and it’s a kid who says he’s sacrificing himself to make sure at least his friends can live on in the new world

Brain, who Luxu throughout his observing realized put all the puzzle pieces together on his own and remained coolheaded in the face of extreme danger. who must’ve seriously impressed Luxu because yeah he did not want this kid to die.

Going by the theory, right then & there he yoinked Brain’s body and sent his heart to the future. so that Brain could be spared from the destruction, be recompleted and given the chance to live again.

bc realistically, Brain would have likely Not survived the total collapse minutes later without a lifeboat 😬

Luxu’s personal thoughts on self-sacrifice has persisted to present day too! the below text is from his official character file set during that one KH3 Olympus scene:

and its kinda interesting how Luxu kept the naming pattern of his subsequent vessels really similar, also. Bragi, Braig…

I really doubt he selects only people who have the letters B-R-A-I in their names by coincidence. I think he names his new identities purposefully this way. so what if it was to remember Brain?

With Luxu going through so many lifetimes, maybe he wanted to ensure Brain’s memory was never forgotten in all of those years; and this contributed to Brain’s later revival in Scala. since to be recompleted, there must be a person at the destination who has memories of you. Luxu would’ve been the only person who remembered him at this time period. and he would’ve kept Brain’s hat the entire time for that reason too

..though since Luxu still does this naming thing, perhaps it’s in honor of Brain? the genius Dandelion from the age of fairytales, who may have been his first vessel kickstarting a very long saga. because honestly he’s so important, without Brain’s sharp thinking, the Dandelion leaders wouldn’t have escaped & the current world of kingdom hearts as we know it would not exist.

We also have no idea if those two meet again. my theory is they could’ve created a secret plan together in missing link, which is the reason why this era was not recorded in the book. Luxu covers the MoM’s eye in the trailer.

anyways I’m super excited to see what major things these two do next!!

[mythicalartistx]

Strelitzia is actually Experiment X and it's not hard to see why

Since Skuld being Experiment X is almost disproved because of the time stamps relating to Missing Link... I have another theory

Who X truly is that nobody else have ever thought of—

It's Strelitzia

But first I'm going to discuss why Skuld theory no longer works

Spoilers for Melody of Memory, Union X, and Luxu's identity

There is a theory that Skuld is X, the person that was founded by Ansem and experimented on. X is also what drove Isa (Saïx) and Lea (Axel) to do what they did. They often talked to her and planned to help her escape but before they could she was moved. they planned to infiltrate the organization to save her, however they soon lost sight of what their goal was.

In Missing Link it is noted it is place full of Ephemer's descendants. However, in Dark Road, Xehanort has a "dream" vision when talking to (Player) of the adventures Player had and refers that a girl with dark hair (Skuld) looking like his mom.

It is noted that X had amnesia and it seems many people after going through the time travel pods loose memories. Kairi who was experimented and forced to travel to destiny Islands forgot her memories as well. Ven forgot his memories (though it could be from abuse from Xehanort and being separated from Vanitas). But Player also loses their memories in KHML

Which is why it makes the most sense that Strelitzia is X.

It's probably implied they get together. Now his mother is implied to be Skuld meaning they had kids and then she has Xehanort awhile afterwards. This means after their time something happens for her and the others to come back. It wouldn't make sense for her to be X and then go back to Ephemer.

But what if he also took her to Ansem and he did experiments on her. After all, Luxu helped showed where Terra—Xehanort was so how come he couldn't do the same for Experiment X. Ansem then did experiments on her. After that Luxu eventually took her and brought her to Quadratum where she stays.

Strelitzia dies but after the dandelions go off, many of the characters see Strelitzia. It is even shown that Luxu or maybe even MOM might have taken Strelitzia somewhere else such as the Quadratum... Where we do end up seeing her in the KH4 trailer

It adds up the most and there's little reason why it can't work.

[starrieisdelusional]

An In-depth Look on the Day of the Meteor Shower (The Necklace and The Sword)

a soriku endgame deep dive: part 2

This is part of my soriku endgame deep dive series, a series where i'll try to dissect everything and anything related to soriku.

Part 2 is going to be more of an analysis rather than a prediction. Specifically about the necklace theory, about Sora's and Riku's meteor shower memory. More specifically, my variation of the memory, and why I think it was Sora who made the promise first (with toy sword), then Riku made his vow back (necklace).

I'm not saying that other interpretations are invalid, this is just one other way to look at it. I will also be writing my opinions and thoughts on the matter, and how this version impacts sora and riku's relationship.

Start of Analysis

What actually happened

To start off, I want to say that I'm not a certified KH fan (a lot of things under my assumptions could be wrong), since I'm still considered to be somewhat a new fan (i got introduced to KH in 2019) and i haven’t actually played any game except 1/3 COM GBA. So take this with the grain of salt.

I assume that most fans believe the necklace theory memory goes as follows: Sora got scared of the meteor, Riku made his vow with his toy sword, Riku gave the necklace to Sora.

And I thought so too for a while because of Riku's heavy association with the word 'protect' and 'vow', but after reading multiple posts and thinking about it for a while, i think it goes more like this: Riku is upset (for reasons that is not the meteor shower), Sora cheers him with his toy sword (sora did not chew onto the actual matter, opting instead to make a promise, to be together with riku), Riku gave the necklace to Sora (riku then made his vow to protect sora).

For the longer version:

Riku got jealous when Sora's started to hang out with his new friends (Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie) and stormed off. Sora noticed that something is off and the FF gang sent him off to go catch after THAT GUY (aitsu). Sora and Riku argues, coincidentally a meteor shower started happening.

It’s probably a pretty scary experience for a 5 YO and a 6 YO who were standing alone on the islands at night at that time, and this situation might be more frightening than your usual meteor shower (given that it is chunks of a world being destroyed near the islands).

But even if he's scare to the point of tears, Sora still forces himself to put on a brave front for riku. He shakily assures Riku not to worry with the toy sword that he's holding. Sora promises to always be together (issho ni 一緒に) with him, to fight alongside him and to protect him.

In that moment Riku was probably really stunned at this kid, who’s such a crybaby at his core and stupid but brave at the same time and somehow managed to spark weird feelings inside of him. So Riku muttered a thanks, and gave his necklace to Sora, vowing to protect him and never let him go.

Why this version?

another disclaimer that my version could be wrong, but even with variations of details my key points are still: sora's promise is symbolized by his sword, riku by his necklace.

now let's actually get into the analysis!! (tbh this is just my reasoning on why i chose this, why i chose that etc)

AITSU: Destiny Islands

i based my interpretation on the aitsu scene of card destiny islands that happened in COM

Yes this infamous scene.

Every world on COM is a manifestation of Sora’s heart, so i believe the actual memory played out in a similar fashion with how this scene goes 

🔽 selphie wakka tidus urging sora to go meet THAT GUY (aitsu)

🔽 riku banter of "oh sora ur so pathetic without me"

🔽 sora finding namine here (in literal chaos -> meteor shower), “i finally found you!!”, namine (riku) clenches fist. And here sora brings his keyblade (sword) 

*and this is probably the closest thing we've ever got to a real life action scene of the necklace theory

riku’s psychology (pre-ddd)

a.k.a. why i think riku's promise is symbolized as sora's necklace, not sora's necklace + sword

Riku’s main flaw that I’m focusing here is his drive to be ‘the best’ which manifests in the form of his tendency to be possessive and being dishonest about his feelings

Via BBS, from a young age riku has already stated that he wants to ‘protect the things that matters’ (daiji na mono), hinting at his obsession for things (necklace and sora) that he holds dear to him. 

Sora recalls that namine had her paopu charm since she was a baby, which made sense that the necklace holds great importance to riku as a family heirloom, one of the ‘important stuff’ (daiji na mono) that he wants to protect.

This later aligns with how ‘things that matters’ evolved with riku’s character because at the night of the meteor shower:

riku’s ‘important stuff’ (daiji na mono), turns into -> ‘precious stuff’ (taisetsu na mono) referencing to sora / riku's heirloom that sora is holding onto, because now that object has multiplied the value of worth

and later to -> ‘precious person’ (taisetsu na hito), because riku finally realized 'the things that matters' or precious person is Sora, and by realizing that his love became more unconditional, because he is discarding himself (the necklace) in the process

(Beautiful no? I think so too)

And to add, this possessiveness is what caused him to go ballistic in the first place when he saw that 

Sora has the Kingdom Key (Riku is the original owner of said key; via nomura interview, riku is the light) 

Sora has discarded him AGAIN for his NEW friends: donald and goofy 

Riku thinks sora discarded him for real this time because other than new companions, for once Sora is better and stronger than Riku so he won’t need Riku anymore to protect him

Second, in KH1, Riku is described more as a cool, older guy, who teases sora a lot, and is better at everything than sora.

It is important to note that soriku dynamic KH1 is a bit different in comparison to it's KH3 counterpart. Although they both might look the same at front value, if you squint, KH3 riku became more of a reliable figure, giving guidance, protection, admiration, and a safe-space for sora

Unlike KH1 where it’s sora who’s more of a safe-space for riku because atp because riku masks his dislike and true feelings behind playful teasing and bantering, the most damning example: riku’s paopu scene, riku putting up a ‘cool guy’ front 24/7 non stop no break, and sanctuary is written for soriku renunion (yes this is true, you can search it up) which had reverse lyrics how cool is that.

*lyrics of sanctuary (KH2 Opening)

In KH3 you can see that both Riku’s actions and words are more genuine, he is actually honest about what he felt, and give honest encouragement to Sora, example his sacrifice scene at KB Graveyard (in english there's a slight mistranslation)

“Sora, I believe in you, you won’t give up”

Opposed to this which was previously used by Riku to motivate Sora in KH1 (example scene is sora's fight againts ansem in KH1 & roxas riku Days fight):

“Giving up already? Come on Sora, I thought you were stronger than that!”

*this is riku talking on screen

So following all of this, i’d say it’s more fitting if riku's vow is symbolized by necklace not sword because by this action:

The necklace is a way of saying that Riku entrust his heart / identity to Sora without explicitly saying it

A reminder for Riku for the precious vow that he made 

An implicit bind that Riku unconsciously forced on Sora that says together means TOGETHER FOREVER and that you can never escape from me EVER

Which: if riku is the one who first raised his sword to made his promise, it would be more of a ddd/kh3 riku thing and riku would not gave his necklace to sora because he would not want to bind sora to be forever with him as that is a selfish thing to do

Yes, Riku may also raise his sword to offer protection in that scene, but it was done after the necklace / vow is made on sora.

Sora’s association with the sword

Okay but does that actually changes anything?

Yes, because the promise is now mutual because its no longer just riku being unhealthily obsessed with Sora, it also goes the other way, via FF kids convo:

It also fits Sora’s character to dashingly comforts Riku with his words and assurance because if he doesn’t exactly understand what’s going on, Sora always managed to find his way around people’s heart

And, it also fits with Sora’s character issue, the tendency to mask and ignore things that really needed to be discussed with a happier, cheerful front in order to distract them from the actual problem.

Now for Sora = Toy Sword relation

Reminder that I don't play Kingdom Hearts so this is based on what I know, in Kingdom Hearts dive to the heart, there are 3 weapon types or path that you can choose to manipulate your stat, the dream shield, path of the guardian (goofy or riku), dream rod, path of the mystic (donald or kairi), or dream sword, path of the warrior (sora or mickey)

And then there’s also this panel during COM Riku Boss Fight II, when Sora reminisced about sparring with Riku. The sequence is Sora fades to his memories, an image of child sora with the toy sword is conjured, then sora spare with riku.

There is also the previously mentioned keyblade (sword) that Sora is holding when coming into contact with namine on card destiny island, when everything is surrounded by chaos (view AITSU: Destiny Island panel 1)

And now I'm going to take parts from Kingdom Key & Kingdom Hearts analysis which help me conjured this whole post in the first place. In KH1, Riku's light touches Sora, bestowing him with his keyblade (crown)

And how Sora had also entrusted his sword (heart) to riku

What I'm saying is, at the night of the meteor shower, sora and riku had exchanged symbols (the heart and the crown) to eachother at the night of the meteor shower when sora gave protection with his sword (heart) and riku with his necklace (crown)

THIS IS GOING BASED ON THE FACT THAT THEIR SYMBOL IS SORA = CROWN, RIKU = HEART

*these are the chess pieces of sora (crown), riku (heart), kairi (star) in kh3 (there are still more, but mainly these symbols is always used in sora and riku's visuals)

Moreso if crown = sora, heart = riku from the beginning it would not make sense with their character origin because crown can be meant as chosen one, special one, royalty, which sora has been stated multiple times to be just an ordinary boy despite the bajillion crown symbolism on him while the heart means to connect with people which is more associated with sora rather than riku who's whole theme is isolation and hidden truths

alternatively, sora has given his heart to riku, while riku has given his throne to sora on the night of the meteor shower which also aligns with the boys character issues: need of validation (sora) and need of affection (riku)

Scene Analysis

now with the assumption that sora -> sword, riku -> necklace, a few scenes started to hit a little deeper

KH1 Hollow Bastion

here riku is basically saying "i don't want your heart anymore, you can have it back" but he can't directly took the necklace so the kingdom key will have to do

COM Riku Boss Fight II

the line "you always try to warm your way into my heart!" and "it never mattered to you" from repliku makes so much sense because the real riku probably feels manipulated by sora's false promises and empty words, that it tricked him to gave up his precious family heirloom and essentially his heart that he trusted to sora

**in addition, repliku started tweaking after sora implies that they should work together (issho ni) instead of fighting

and many more.... (we've hit the image limit)

there's probably a lot more scene that can be seen in a different perspective with this mindset in mind especially in kingdom hearts I and chain of memories, but those are the MAIN examples that i've listed (i might do more in the future, i'll put a link when i do!!)

THE ENDD!!!!!!

that being said, this analysis had come to an end!!!! tysm for reading!!

other parts

part 1 (the paopu fruit)

[ok4ru]

People keep saying Remus is Kairi Grandpa and I agree with it but I think it would make sense if he was Kairi great- great Grandpa.

This is the only way it makes sense to me:

Remus> Remus son> Remus grandkid kid> Kairi!

"But, wouldn't Kairi's mother be around Eraqus and Xehanort age then? No, I believe Kairi Grandma is Master Ava and that she came around after the events of Dark Road.

(I can make a post but not now...)

So, she may be somewhat around or close to their ages then. Ava could have met Remus kid eventually and dated then had a kid around the time Xehanort and Eraqus probably finally Masters.

Which has to be true because by the point of Eraqus, Xehanort and Kairi Grandma are really old in BBS... (Eraqus has to be the youngest he looks 40 or 50 some who...)

As for being related to Remus he could also be related to his brother or one of his kids we don't know how many he has btw!!

[the-kh-files]

The Xehanort Problem

One of the most brilliant feats in the series so far is the way it leaves the player to deal with their unresolved feelings after Xehanort's defeat.

I remember finishing the game and being so angry that Xehanort was allowed to simply ascend into the heavens with his best friend without so much as a freaking apology to Sora & Co.

Actually, I was livid about it, even months afterward. The unfairness of it all! The lack of closure, of justice! It was wrong! It was cruel to Sora and all the others Xehanort hurt that he should get off scott-free and just seamlessly pass into the afterlife without any punishment whatsoever.

I told my husband about my frustrations, and how I wished Nomura at least gave you the option to curb stomp the guy real good, just once, before his ascension, when my husband said something admittedly profound:

If you did that, you would become Xehanort.

And suddenly, my anger evaporated, and I realized the story-telling trap I'd fallen into: The way the game allowed me to feel what Xehanort himself may have felt at the end of Dark Road and to realize the inevitable outcome of such feelings. By wanting revenge, one becomes the enemy, and perhaps that's why the Nomura didn't allow for a violent end. Perhaps that's why he made Sora, in his character's typical goodness and innocence, willing to just let his enemy go. Because otherwise, he would become the evil he'd just defeated.

It was then I realized that, while I was playing a game, I myself had been played by a master storyteller.

[snowwpines]

the true kh3 remind ending is a mix of both.

and i can prove it.

taken from the good and bad endings respectively of kh3 re:mind. notice the exact same shot usage. sora on the bottom when yozora disappears. yozora on the bottom when sora disappears, followed by a pan out, and a flash of light. the good ending has sora back in the final world and yozora WAKING UP IN QUADRATUM (who wakes up there anyway, ignorant of endings, but keep reading!) (this is specifically important because sora in the good ending is still, supposedly, trapped in the final world. however, if the bad ending were real, it would give us a legitimate explanation as to why sora is in quadratum in kh4.) (assumably) (this is important!!!) even focus is drawn to each characters respective left arm, with yozora losing his as he disappears first, same exact thing with sora. luxord going “impressive, is it not?” as yozora looks around outside the car.

i’d like to remind you of the kingdom hearts 4 trailer: sora woke up in quadratum. who didn’t return to the final world in the “bad ending” of kh3 remind? sora. who disappeared in a similar way to yozora in remind? sora. yozora woke up in quadratum, and it appeared to be his first time there (“impressive, is it not”!!) from luxord’s words. who woke up in quadratum, his first time there, and was immediately presented with a view of the city? sora.

these parallels are INTENSE. they’re in your face when you notice them. sora waking up in quadratum directly parallels the good ending for re:mind, with yozora having been the one to wake up.

so, to say, in short:

sora was crystallised, and due to the parallels with yozora, we can say in confidence that nomura is probably mixing both endings, to have both yozora and sora in quadratum. this is why sora wakes up in quadratum, because yozora disappeared, and he too woke up in quadratum.

thank u, next.

edit:

of course, yozora DOES wake up in the bad ending too, but it’s likely just a whole establishment, he would’ve woken up anyway. in fact, him being awake even in the bad ending cements to me that yozora isn’t just “in the final world” no he’s ALSO in quadratum. like. yozora’s was a dream. sora’s was very much, probably, real! because he used the power of waking. yozora wakes up differently in the kh3 bad ending for remind, luxord doesn’t wake him up, in fact, there’s nothing said at ALL but these parallels are too intense to ignore. also cements to me that nomura is mixing the endings about and throwing it up into the air. yozora beats sora, or sora beats yozora, at the cost of themselves within this final world dream-place thing, both wake up in quadratum. i simply made this post because i wanted to toss my hat in the ring on the whole “remind ending.”

so yeah. sora gets crystallised, yozora disappears and wakes back up, but the important thing is there’s a parallel present here: they both went out similarly within the final world, and both woke up in quadratum with a SUPPOSED immediate ally. hell, yozora could’ve just disappeared after beating sora, but due to the whole “file name” i’d like to believe sora defeats yozora, and then something happens to him (be it he disappears, or is crystallised) but either way, they both woke up the same way, went out the same way, and are both in quadratum. that’s the important part of this theory.

my point is, i suppose: yozora would’ve woken up anyway, but the bad ending was the catalyst for sora’s own awakening in quadratum. it’s likely he wouldn’t have awoken had he stayed in the final world.

both endings are quite literally leaking into eachother. bleeding into one another. both endings are true. both are real. but only one is the reason sora is in quadratum, and that’s the bad ending. likely, the one yozora dreams while in the car. (the true ending being both what sora could’ve dreamt of happening, but the “true true” ending is a mix of the two dreams.)

[luridaemos]

i have a theory that maybe vanitas is actually sora's darkness now that was know he's not ven's..?

it's been in my mind for so long for so so so long but when you realize that kingdom hearts 1 when sora turns into a shadow all kairi does is return his form back to normal, right? right.

returns him to normal BUT he's still just a heartless. he's just a heart like ansem. end of kh1 is just humanoid heartless vs humanoid heartless right? right.

so it's not until kh2 when he meets up with roxas and he returns that sora is completed right? bc that was the whole point, sora wasn't complete so that's why xion and roxas had to go back it wasn't just his memories but sora himself. right.

so that whole time during 2 sora has anti form up until the end, which essentially is him using too much power and essentially fluctuating between his heartless form and himself. nomura himself confirmed it's due to becoming a heartless in 1 and that story-wise it's due to using too much power... it represents his darkness. right.

he also said that rage form is something different to anti-form. that it's representative of his anger. emotions.

and yknow who shows up in 3 when that debuted? the man of emotions himself:

so all this just to say i've been thinking about how both ven and van are from years into the past, and that vanitas ultimately wasn't ventus' to begin with. (ventus was a being of pure light if I'm understanding correctly.)

vanitas' form was created before either of them met sora too. it's stated that vanitas was removed from ventus and then ventus then went to meet sora. so where did vanitas' form actually come from?

it's possible that:

ventus was able to transform him into a sora clone simply because fate said so, it was always meant to happen like the closed loop for heart ansem sending young xehanort to scala.

ventus somehow was able to alter vanitas' form after the removal while inside of sora's heart

vanitas' form looked like this before the Darkness hivemind was separated/fragmented

so i'm thinking if Sora continues to have the rage form ability or some kind of upgraded emotion-based darkness form... maybe it's related to vanitas somehow? either something removed from sora and sent into the past or something that grows from sora and into something like vanitas? it very well could just be that vanitas' return, sora's rage form, their confrontation being in monsters inc which has swapped to "this ships runs on happy faces" + yeeting vanitas, sora seeing vanitas' face, sora refusing to accept that vanitas chose to be darkness is all just to show the player sora's emotional state.

that sora himself refuses to acknowledge the darkness' that he harbors could be bad in any way, avoids confronting his negative emotions properly, and feeding into the toxic positivity that he's carried since the first game...

but idk i think it'd be really interesting if that's a deeper reason for why vanitas looks the way he does. that he could potentially be darkness that sora had cast aside and stuck with ventus long enough to essentially become intertwined with him. idk i also kind of think this could go along with MoM's whole thing of wanting to get as far away from Darkness as possible. sora's on a path to rejecting darkness in his heart, but with guidance from riku who went through accepting his own it's possible that maybe sora's meant to be the one to accept vanitas as he is instead of ventus.

if anyone has thoughts about this lemme know, i'd love to see others thoughts

[brick-van-dyke]

I have so many thoughts about Namine and Ventus rn but all I'll say is potential parallel between Namine and Strelitzia, and how this could mean Namine is in danger of the same things repeating or just having some sort of future parallel associated with Strelitzia.

Particularly with how Namine is connected to the Book of Prophecies like we see with Jiminy's Journal in Coded (imo maybe because Kairi is a princess of heart and has some sort of connection to the OG X-Blade and maybe Lux and all that??), but especially just the concept that maybe Kairi, Ventus and Namine will all be the ones in more danger form Darkness and how this, specifically, may offer a way for Repliku and Vanitas to return of their own volition, potentially from the Realm of Darkness since it was made more or less clear that dark beings go there when defeated (Maleficent and Repliku post Chain of Memories for example). Though as for how one would do this, seeing as Vexen stated that escaping by yourself is almost impossible, I still can't help but wonder. Especially seeing how much it would work with their development as characters and actually pushing them to consider if they really don't want to exist or if they do but want to escape the pain of their circumstances. It would also work well with exploring how darkness can be a way for hearts to protect itself from breaking/ being harmed: like how anger born from fear is literally just the fight reaction of fight or flight, and just generally the whole "light within darkness; darkness within light" analogy.

This is very unorganised but I have a lot of thoughts here and I'm just very. Thinky rn at around 12:30am-ish lmao