Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
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Image:Clothes.jpg Sora (ソラ) 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.
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Kingdom Hearts
Sora is fourteen years old at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts and lives on the Destiny Islands with his best friends Riku and Kairi, and others 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 corridors of darkness, 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.
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 the dark Keyblade to remove his heart and hers, becoming a Heartless himself for a short period before being restored to normal. Maleficent introduced Riku to the darkness and he was possessed by Xehanort (who at the time was called Ansem), the true villain of the game. Sora and his friends manage to defeat Xehanort. As Sora investigates the door to darkness, Riku and King Mickey appear on the other side of the door and together they seal it from both sides; with Sora's keyblade from the realm of light and Mickey's keyblade from the realm of darkness.
As the worlds begin to reset themselves, Kairi and Sora are seperated. 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 Naminé, a young witch who can rearrange the chains of memories and create new links. In order to make Sora forget Kairi, Naminé 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 Naminé.
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 Organization. Axel manipulated Naminé into doing what she believes was right. She revealed 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 Naminé 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, Naminé asks that they step into machines that 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 Naminé, Sora promises her that while she is forgotten, she will remain in his heart, never lost.
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 the Tower and Sora obtains new attire—on the advice of master sorcerer Yen Sid—from Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, the fairies from Sleeping Beauty. In a nod to the film, the three fairies at first all want Sora's new outfit to be their respective color, until finally Sora convinces them to stop fooling around. In the previous game Sora had discovered that his heart had become one with those of Donald and Goofy since they been together for so long that the keyblade had united their hearts; which is why in this game he was able to combine with them to gain new forms and attain special powers for each of them (all which resulted in different attires since his clothes had been designed by the fairies to change according to the way Sora's heart did).
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 more complicated when Kairi herself is kidnapped by Axel. Pete (who works for the resurrected Maleficent) and Organization XIII are causing trouble in the other worlds, and King Mickey refuses to give information regarding Riku. Sora must also discover why some of the members of 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 to the "World that Never Was": the stronghold of the Organization, where Kingdom Hearts itself resides. Reunited with his friends Riku and Kairi, he and the others attempt to stop Xemnas, the leader of the Organization.
Sora and Riku are separated 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 thoughts about their adventure and friendship, a bottle containing Kairi’s letter washes onto the shore. The Door to the Light appears, and both Sora and Riku use it to return to their homeworld: Destiny Islands.
Reunited at last with all his friends, Sora returns Kairi's lucky charm and Kairi saying "You're home." At the end of the credits, Sora asks Riku how he think the Door to Light came. Riku replies that it was because of Sora's heart. Kairi runs up to them and give them a bottle she found, containing a letter from King Mickey. The games end on the trio reading the letter, its contents a mystery to the gamer.
Keyblade
Image:Kingdomkey.jpg The 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 one of the few weapons 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. Roxas, as Sora's Nobody, was able to use the Kingdom Key only while Sora slept. In the occasions when Roxas used the Oathkeeper and Oblivion Keyblades he was simply using the same conjure that all the other members of Organization XIII used.
It is said that the Keyblade has the power to save the world, but also is said that it has the power to create chaos, such as the fact that it opened the Underdome, which was to be locked forever. The Keyblade also has the ability to close and open all kinds of doors and locks.
The Kingdom Key is the main form of Sora's Keyblade. It can be upgraded via keychains, each of which change its appearance and powers.
Even though the realm of light Keyblade meant for Riku went to Sora, Riku still comes into possession of two Keyblades: Way to the Dawn, a Keyblade from the "in-between world" that used his Soul Eater as a base; and a dark artificial Keyblade created from the hearts of the Princesses of Heart. King Mickey also wields the Keyblade, which has inverse colors to the Kingdom Key.
World transformations
When Sora enters certain worlds in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, his appearance changes to make him able to travel in that particular land.
- In Atlantica from The Little Mermaid, Sora becomes a merman. He has no shirt, and his body from the waist down transforms into a dolphin tail. This version of Sora has unique swimming abilities, and is able to breathe underwater. Sora cannot Drive in this form. Dialogue prior to entering Atlantica in the first game reveals that Donald is the one who transforms Sora into that form.
- In Halloween Town of The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sora dons a Halloween costume, making him appear to be a vampire-like creature. If not for his fearsome appearance, the macabre inhabitants of the town would not receive him. Sora has no special abilities in this form and when Driving, his mask changes rather than his clothes.
- In Space Paranoids, inspired by Tron, Sora appears in robot-like armor, blue in color; essentially the appearance of nearly all non-evil human being or program in the computer world of the Tron universe. Coincidently, the design of Sora's helmet bears a passing resemblance to the Temjin series of Virtual On. Sora has no special abilities in this form and when Driving, Sora's circuit lines change color to reflect the Form transformed into. In this form, the appearance of Sora's keyblade also is changed to have glowing blue circuit lines as well.
- In Timeless River, inspired by Steamboat Willie, Sora's costume and his appearance turn black and white, and his face, arms, and figure take on characteristics of 1920's cartoon characters. Also, like everyone else inside of Timeless River, he is in his first appearance design (from the first Kingdom Hearts game). He has no special abilities in this form, and when Driving, the icon by the HP Bar tints color slightly to reflect the Form transformed into.
- In the Pride Lands from The Lion King, Sora undergoes the most drastic of the World Transformations. He becomes a brown lion cub, and his hairdo is replaced by a mane; the crown-shaped pendant around his neck is still present, and he runs around with the keyblade in his mouth. Sora cannot Drive in this form or perform summons, although he is able to move with increased agility.
Drive
In Kingdom Hearts II, Sora has a new ability; he is able to "merge" with party members in order to take on forms and become more powerful, depending on which party member Sora fuses with.
Each form also grants Sora a special ability he can equip to himself for use in his normal form only, which is received when he upgrades the Form level for that Form to Level 3 (which can be further enhanced at level 5 and 7). Although these special abilities that Sora can use are not as powerful in his normal form, it enables for him to be able to use any of these abilities at any time.
- Valor Form, called Brave Form in the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts II, is accomplished by merging with Goofy; Sora dons a red outfit and gains the ability to wield two Keyblades. This Form of Sora has impressive offense attacks, and his speed is increased greatly, but is unable to use magic. To level up in this form depends on the number of hits landed on any enemy with your double keyblade attack. The ability you receive with the Valor form grants Sora a High-Jump ability.
- Wisdom Form is brought about by fusing with Donald; Sora's outfit turns blue and his Keyblade grows longer. His physical attack is replaced with a magic blast, called Shoot; Sora's other magical skills are doubled. In Wisdom Form, Sora hovers and glides along the floor instead of standing on it, letting him attack or use magic while running. To level up in this form depends on how many Heartless you destroy. The special ability for the Wisdom Form is a Swift Ground Dash technique.
- Master Form is a combination of Valor and Wisdom Forms, achieved by fusing with both of your current party members. Sora's clothes are colored yellow and black. In this form, Sora weilds two Keyblades. However, unlike the previous Valor form, Sora's left handed Keyblade floats instead of being held, this allows a longer swinging range and more power. Although both strength and magic is increased in this form, the boosts are not as high as Valor and Wisdom. Master Form also uses up the drive gauge faster than the previous forms. To level up in this form depends on how many drive orbs that you pick up. The special ability for the Master form gives Sora access to a midair double jump dodge.
- Final Form is the most powerful of all Sora's Drive forms. As with the other Drives, Sora's clothes go through a drastic change, switching from the standard black to a lusterous silver. As with Valor and Master forms, Sora wields two Keyblades, however, Sora does not actually hold onto the Keyblades, they simply float around him until they're needed. As with Master form, the levitation of the Keyblades allows extra swinging range and extra power to be achieved and the Final Form also uses up it's drive gauge faster than Valor or Wisdom Form. The Keyblades could also swing on their own without pressing the attack button when gliding, jumping, and landing. The Final Form also allows Sora to float around like in Wisdom form, letting you attack with the Keyblades while floating by. As with all the other forms, a special ability can be achieved by leveling up the Final form. The Final forms special ability allows Sora to use the Glide ablility. To level up in this form depends on how many Nobodies you destroy.
- AntiForm is triggered by an unseen counter and chance that increases as the player uses certain drives more often and the chances increase or decrease in certain situations (Entering "Final" form does not increase or decrease the chances of entering Antiform in the U.S. version). AntiForm renders Sora completely black with glowing yellow eyes, similar to those of a Heartless. He is seemingly feral; he runs on all fours and attacks with his claws. While in AntiForm, Sora is unable to use the Keyblade, magic, items or reaction commands and he takes 50% more damage than normal. However, Sora's combo potential is drastically increased. Whenever the AntiForm is invoked it always drops the normal drive meter down to zero and the amount of time you have in the AntiForm depends on the drive meter level of the form that Sora was trying to transform into. Unlike the rest of the regular Drive forms the AntiForm possesses no special abilities that can be equipped to Sora, and Sora cannot revert from this form into his regular one at will, unless all enemies on-screen have been defeated or he has exited from the active fighting area.
Other Forms
- Card Form occurs when Sora encounters Gambler Nobodies controlled by Organization XIII's tenth member, Luxord, or Luxord himself. When Sora loses against them in a draw of cards, he is transformed into a playing-card version of himself. He cannot use the Keyblade, magic, items, drives, summons or limits while in this form, and can only attack by throwing himself at enemies until the Form gauge reaches zero.
- Die Form occurs similarly to Card Form; Sora can transform into a die with his face on it by losing a game to a Gambler Nobody or battling Luxord. He has the same limitations as a card, and his only attack is rolling into enemies.
Sora cannot revert from these forms at will; in both cases, he must wait for the onscreen "Form" bar to drop to zero in order to return to his regular form.