Kingdom Hearts

Lore & Background

The Kingdom Hearts series is directed by Tetsuya Nomura, who is also the games' character designer. Nomura has stated that unlike working with Final Fantasy characters, keeping the main character Sora alive and interesting over multiple games is a challenge. He also stated that though many of the Disney characters are not normally dark and serious, there were not many challenges making them so for the story, and despite this, their personalities shine because they maintain their own characteristics. Though Disney gave Nomura freedom in the characters and worlds used for the games, he and his staff tried to stay within the established roles of characters and boundaries of the worlds. When deciding which worlds to include in the game, the development staff tried to take into account worlds with Disney characters that would be interesting. The inclusion of specific Final Fantasy characters was based on the opinions of fans and the development staff. Another criterion for inclusion was whether the staff felt the characters would fit into the storyline and in the Kingdom Hearts universe. For the first Kingdom Hearts, Nomura was hesitant to include Final Fantasy characters he did not design (e.g., from Final Fantasy VII or VIII) because he was unfamiliar with their backgrounds. For Kingdom Hearts II, he changed his mind and included more such characters, feeling more confident after the first game's success and also responding to input from his staff. Throughout the development of the games, Nomura has often left certain events and connections between characters unexplained until the release of future games. Nomura did this because he feels that games should have room for fans to speculate and use their imagination. He stated that with speculation, even though a game may get old, people can still be happy with it.

In Their Own Story

The series centers on Sora, a cheerful 14-year-old boy who lives on the Destiny Islands with his childhood friends Riku and Kairi. When the Islands are attacked by creatures of darkness known as the Heartless, Sora comes into possession of a weapon of light called the Keyblade, and he embarks on a journey alongside Donald Duck and Goofy to protect other worlds from the Heartless, Nobodies, and other forces of evil. Riku is a childhood friend and rival of Sora who originally appeared as a non-playable character in the original game, where he is introduced as a 15-year-old boy. Kairi is the main female protagonist of Kingdom Hearts and Sora and Riku's best friend. She is a non-playable character in most games, but debuts as a playable character in the Re Mind scenario of Kingdom Hearts III. As one of the seven Princesses of Heart, she was cast adrift from her homeworld of Radiant Garden at a young age as part of Xehanort's experiment to locate the key bearer. Roxas is the initial player-controlled character of Kingdom Hearts II, who is featured during the game's prologue segment. He is introduced as a youth living in a virtual simulation of Twilight Town, who discovers himself to be Sora's Nobody, having been born when Sora transformed into a Heartless to restore Kairi's heart during the events of the first game. Axel is the Nobody of a Radiant Garden citizen named Lea. He is Organization XIII's resident assassin, entrusted with killing the group's traitors, and the original Organization's eighth member. Xion is the de facto fourteenth member of the Organization who is introduced in 358/2 Days. Terra is introduced in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep as an apprentice Keyblade wielder who trains alongside Aqua and Ventus at the Land of Departure.

Reader's Guide

Players primarily control Sora, though there are numerous characters that join his party as computer controlled members. Most characters were introduced in the original game Kingdom Hearts, with subsequent installments featuring new original, Disney, and Final Fantasy characters. Dream Drop Distance introduces characters from Square Enix's The World Ends with You, while Kingdom Hearts III introduces characters from Pixar franchises. Various types of merchandise modeled after the characters' likeness have been produced, including figurines and jewelry. The characters have garnered praise from several video game websites and magazines for the quality of their voice acting and visual style. Comments have focused on the accurate presentation of Disney characters, the unique visual style of Square Enix characters, how well all the characters blend together, and the consistent quality performances from voice actors. Sora is the sole playable character in the original game. Riku has a playable role in the "Reverse/Rebirth" story mode of Chain of Memories, the multiplayer mode of 358/2 Days, and the core story of Dream Drop Distance. He is also a computer-controlled party member in the final level of Kingdom Hearts II, and is temporarily playable during a sequence where Sora is incapacitated in the game's final boss battle. Riku is also briefly playable at several points in the "Dark World" in Kingdom Hearts III and in its Re Mind expansion. Kairi debuts as a playable character in the Re Mind scenario of Kingdom Hearts III. Roxas serves as the main protagonist of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Axel appears in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as a mentor for Roxas. Xion is introduced in 358/2 Days. Terra is introduced in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.

Did You Know?

• The series is the result of a collaboration between Square and Disney Interactive.
• Nomura has stated that Sora's name can be interpreted as 'sky', as the Japanese word for sky is sora (空).
• Nomura has stated that Kairi's name can be interpreted as 'sea', as the on'yomi pronunciation of the Japanese word for 'sea' is kai (海).