Main Characters of Kingdom Hearts
Main protagonists
Sora
Sora (ソラ, Sora) is the primary protagonist of the Kingdom Hearts series, and the character that the player has direct control over throughout almost the entire series. He is an original character created by Tetsuya Nomura for the Kingdom Hearts series.[1] Sora's weapon is the Keyblade.[15] Though not the original wielder of the Keyblade, Sora was chosen over Riku because Sora chose light, while Riku opened himself to darkness. Nomura has stated that Sora's name can be seen as "sky";[16] the Japanese word for sky is sora (空, sora). Over the course of the games, Sora grows older and matures. Nomura wanted to help illustrate this by having his fighting style in Kingdom Hearts II reflect his maturity. The combat system was completely reworked in the game for this.[3] He is voiced by Haley Joel Osment in the English version and Miyu Irino in the Japanese version.
At the beginning of the series, Sora is 14 years old and lives on Destiny Islands along with his two friends, Riku and Kairi.[17] When their world is attacked by a group of corrupted hearts known as the Heartless, the three are separated. During the invasion, he obtains the Keyblade. Soon after, Sora meets Donald Duck and Goofy, who join him on his search for his friends. To blend in with the inhabitants of the various worlds they visit, the group's appearances are altered by either Donald's magic or, in Kingdom Hearts II, by Sora's magical clothes. Some examples include a dolphin-like merman and a brown lion cub.[18] Sora later meets Riku on several occasions, but the two clash over saving Kairi. Riku is later possessed by Ansem, Xehanort's Heartless. After fighting him, Sora sacrifices himself to restore Kairi's heart to her body, and becomes a Heartless. Soon after, he is brought back by Kairi. Sora, Donald, and Goofy then fight and defeat Ansem, and with the help of Riku and King Mickey on the other side, they seal the door to Kingdom Hearts.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy then resolve to find Riku and the King. While traveling they find a fortress known as Castle Oblivion. Upon entering, they begin to lose their memories and Sora's memories begin to be manipulated by the Organization that is controlling the castle. The Organization use Naminé to make Sora forget Kairi and replace his memories of her with herself. Sora discovers the truth behind the events that have taken place and after defeating the Organization members he meets with Naminé. She puts Sora, Donald, and Goofy to sleep for one year to restore his memories to their state prior to entering Castle Oblivion.[19] The three awake a year later in Twilight Town and learn about the Nobodies and Organization XIII. Sora also obtains a new ability, "Drive Form", from the fairies Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, which allows him to transform into more powerful forms and access to new abilities.[18][20] Sora and the others begin their quest to confront Organization XIII. They eventually find King Mickey and Riku who assist in fighting the organization's leader, Xemnas. Sora and Riku are separated from the others to fight Xemnas one last time. After defeating him they find their way back to Destiny Islands, where they are reunited with Kairi, Donald, Goofy and Mickey.
Donald Duck
Donald Duck is the court wizard of Disney Castle and a loyal servant to King Mickey.[15] Donald is voiced by Tony Anselmo in the English version and Kōichi Yamadera in the Japanese version. He is a short-tempered, powerful magician on a quest to find King Mickey Mouse. In Kingdom Hearts, he and Goofy embark on a journey to carry out the missing king’s orders to follow the Keyblade wielder. Donald is one of Sora's two companions who go with him to every world. At the end of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, he, Sora, and Goofy are put to sleep for a year while their memories are fixed by Naminé.[19] In Kingdom Hearts II, he awakens with his friends and continues to fight the Heartless along with the Nobodies and Organization XIII. This version of Donald, like Sora and Goofy, undergoes several transformations on different worlds to blend in with the inhabitants.[18]
Goofy
Goofy is the captain of the Royal Knights of Disney Castle. Goofy is voiced by Bill Farmer in the English version and Yū Shimaka in the Japanese version. Under the king’s orders, he accompanies Donald on the quest to find the key.[15] In Kingdom Hearts, he and Donald embark on a journey to carry out the missing king’s orders to follow the Keyblade wielder. Goofy is one of Sora's two companions who go with him to every world. At the end of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, he, Sora, and Donald are put to sleep for a year while their memories are fixed by Naminé.[19] In Kingdom Hearts II, he awakens with his friends and continues to fight the Heartless along with the Nobodies and Organization XIII. This version of Goofy, like Sora and Donald, undergoes several transformations on different worlds to blend in with the inhabitants.[18]
Riku
Riku (リク, Riku is Sora and Kairi's best friend and an original character created by Tetsuya Nomura for the Kingdom Hearts series.[1] Nomura has stated that Riku's name can be seen as "land";[16] the Japanese on'yomi pronunciation of land is riku (陸, riku). Riku is voiced by David Gallagher in the English version and Mamoru Miyano in the Japanese version. He is playable in the second story mode of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and during a portion of the final boss fight in Kingdom Hearts II.
At the beginning of the series, he is 15 years old and lives on Destiny Islands with his friends.When their world is attacked by the Heartless, the three are separated.[17] Riku ends up at Hollow Bastion where he is found by Maleficent. Under her influence, he becomes an antagonist to help Kairi. Riku eventually becomes possessed by Xehanort's Heartless, the main antagonist of the first game, and is sent to the realm of darkness, where he helps Sora seal the door to the realm of darkness.
In Chain of Memories, he awakes in the same fortress Sora had arrived at and begins traversing to the top from the basement. Along the way, Riku confronts the remaining darkness in his heart, and also encountered DiZ, a mysterious stranger. Upon reaching the top he finds Naminé, who is attending to a sleeping Sora to restore his memories. Riku then chose to find a balance between his light and darkness. A replica of Riku was created by Vexen in Castle Oblivion during the events of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and was referred to simply as the Riku Replica.[21]
After the events in Chain of Memories, Riku confronted Roxas in order to assist DiZ in reuniting him with Sora. During the fight, he used the power of darkness, which converted Riku into the form of Xehanort's Heartless. For most of the story, Riku remains in this form, helping Sora in secret and never showing his face, not wanting Sora or anyone else to discover what had become of him. Riku returns to his original form by the destruction of a machine intended to convert Kingdom Hearts into data. Afterwards, Riku and Sora battle and defeat Xemnas. In the end, they end up on a dark beach, and discuss how strong their friendship is and how much each of them wanted to be like the other, before a portal opens to Destiny Islands. The two use the portal and are sent home.
Kairi
Kairi (カイリ, Kairi) is a friend of Sora and Riku, and one of the seven "Princesses of Heart". She is an original character created by Tetsuya Nomura for the Kingdom Hearts series.[1] Nomura has stated that Kairi's name can be seen as "sea";[16] the Japanese on'yomi pronunciation of sea is kai (海, kai). Kairi is featured in only Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. She is voiced by Hayden Panettiere in the English version and Risa Uchida in the Japanese version.
She is originally a resident of Hollow Bastion, but she was sent to the Destiny Islands by Xehanort a few years before the events of Kingdom Hearts.[22] At the beginning of the series, she is 14 years old.[17] During the events of the first game, her heart was separated from her body which led to Sora and Riku both searching for a way to revive her. Kairi's heart was discovered to be in Sora's body, at which point he gives up his heart in order to restore hers, transforming himself into a Heartless. Soon after, Kairi finds Sora's Heartless and restores him back to human form. After Ansem's defeat, Kairi is left behind on the reforming Destiny Islands and separated from Sora at the end of Kingdom Hearts. Sora promises to return to her with Riku, and Kairi waits on the island for their return.
In Kingdom Hearts II, Kairi and all of Sora's friends slowly begin to remember Sora. After Sora's memories had been restored by Naminé, Kairi sends the letter drifting to the sea in hopes of that it will find its way to him. She is later confronted by Axel, who hopes to use Kairi to lure Sora to him. With the help of Pluto, Kairi evades him and heads to Twilight Town, but is captured by Axel soon after. However, Saïx takes Kairi from Axel and imprisons her and Pluto in a jail cell in The World That Never Was. She escapes her cell with the help of Naminé and they are saved from Saïx by Riku, in the guise of Xehanort's Heartless. Riku gives her a Keyblade in which she uses to fight off the Heartless that Saïx summons.
King Mickey
King Mickey is the ruler of Disney Castle.[23] King Mickey is voiced by Wayne Allwine in the English version and Takashi Aoyagi in the Japanese version. He is only playable in certain battles in Kingdom Hearts II; if Sora and his friends are defeated, King Mickey will step in to fight in Sora's place until he is defeated or resurrects Sora. Mickey's inclusion in the series was initially restricted to a small cameo for only one scene.[4] The larger role he played in the sequels first required the approval of Disney.[8] He left his world when the Heartless began to attack. While he had Donald and Goofy find and protect the Keyblade Master, Mickey was on a mission of his own. In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II, he returns wielding the Keyblade of the dark realm. His story will be further explored in the upcoming mobile phone game Kingdom Hearts coded.
* Stewi3 * ---- Friday, November 23, 2007 1:15 PM
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