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“Kingdom Hearts” is one of the most popular and beloved video game franchises to date. Released nineteen years ago in 2002, “Kingdom Hearts” is an action role-playing game (RPG) developed by gaming company Square Enix and directed by Tetsuya Nomura, director of “Final Fantasy VII.” The series is unique in the sense that it hosts not only Square Enix characters but also Disney characters. The unconventional union of these two intellectual properties came about when producer Shinji Hashimoto of Square (before the company merged with Enix) pitched the idea for the game to a Disney executive in an elevator (( Gantayat, Anoop. “TGS 2004: Tetsuya Nomura Q&A.” IGN, 30 June 2016. )). The first game of the franchise, “Kingdom Hearts,” follows the story of a 14-year-old boy named Sora as he travels through different “worlds” modeled after Disney movie settings. While on this adventure he makes friends with Disney and “Final Fantasy” characters alike as he looks for his friends from his homeworld and tries to stop “the darkness” from destroying these worlds.
On the surface, the game appears like a fun cross-over fan-fiction with original characters come to life. However, the story of “Kingdom Hearts” is a lot more than fictional entertainment and a romp through your favorite Disney movie. It’s all about friendship and the connections you make on your journey.
Dive To The Heart
“Dive to the Heart” is the tutorial stage. This area is where Sora goes through a dream sequence of learning how to use a weapon, fight his future enemies, as well as other skills. Sora stands upon a “Heart Station” with the image of Snow White. A disembodied voice speaks to Sora stating, “So much to do, so little time… Take your time. Don’t be afraid. The door is still shut.” It’s been speculated who speaks to Sora here after more games had been released but in an interview, Nomura stated it was King Mickey guiding Sora. “So much to do, so little time” displays the urgency that is needed for our hero to become a hero, but “Take your time. Don’t be afraid” also tells of the necessity for him to be ready and willing to become a hero.
Sora goes through four different stages in this sequence. After choosing his weapon on the Snow White station, it shatters and sends him to the Cinderella station where he first encounters the Heartless, specifically a Shadow. These are “Pureblood” Heartless born of pure darkness. After Sora defeats these Heartless, he sinks into a pool of darkness that envelops the Station and Sora. Sora comes out onto another Station upon which there is a translucent door. Once he is able to enter through the door (this isn’t the door the King was referring to), he comes upon an area that looks like his home island. Here are three friends: Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka. They each ask Sora a question about his goals. After Sora answers, he is sent to Aurora’s station and defeats a few more Heartless. He then follows a stained-glass path to the final station: Belle.
King Mickey says “The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes” as Sora approaches a beam of light. He looks back and his shadow rises from the ground and grows into a large pureblood Heartless called Darkside. King Mickey reassures Sora, “Don’t be afraid. And don’t forget…” At which point the battle begins and Sora must face Darkside. After the battle ends, the station and himself are engulfed in its darkness. Mickey repeats one last time, “-But don’t be afraid. You hold the mightiest weapon of all. So don’t forget: You are the one who will open the door.”
This isn’t the last time Sora will face Darkside. As is implied by the name, Darkside is the darkness that is in Sora’s heart. Sora stopping but not defeating Darkside shows that he can’t get rid of the darkness in his heart, but he can keep it from consuming him. Mickey claims, “You hold the mightiest weapon of all,” this could very well be Sora’s heart, a weapon that stays with him at all times. There is a question of the significance of the stations here. It’s not merely a matter of including imagery of the most iconic Disney characters. This is about connections. We are in the “Heart Stations”, this is Sora’s heart and we are given images of four princesses that are somehow connected to Sora.
Destiny Islands
Destiny Islands is the first world in the game. We are introduced to Kairi, Sora’s childhood friend who came to the islands as a young girl. She comes off as cheerful and playful as she teases Sora after finding him sleeping on the beach. We are also introduced to Riku, another childhood friend. He is established as the reliable and more mature one of the trio, seeing as how he is the only one working on their raft. We spend some time getting to know the friends, or the “Destiny Trio” as the fanbase so affectionately calls them. After gathering supplies to make their raft, they reconvene at sunset to discuss their plans for getting off the island. Riku especially is the most outward-thinking and contemplative of the group. He questions their place on their island, why they ended up on their world instead of any others, and the possibility of their world being a part of something much greater.
Sora, although he doesn’t give the impression, has also thought similarly about the existence of their small world, as implied in the opening lines of the game. After the discussion, we learn that Sora has feelings for Kairi, of which only Riku is aware of and seems to actively be encouraging. He hands Sora a star-shaped paopu fruit. It is rumored that if two people share one, their destinies become intertwined and they will remain a part of each other’s lives, no matter what. The paopu fruit becomes a symbol of enduring connections, of friends being able to find their way back to each other no matter how far apart they are.
The next day, the trio is looking for food supplies. Sora, looking for a mushroom, is in a cave with a mysterious door hidden behind a waterfall. This is the Secret Place where the trio came when they were younger to play and draw on the cave walls. Sora reminisces about the time he and Kairi drew each other’s faces on the wall as children. He makes an addition to the image: him holding a paopu fruit out to Kairi. While there, Sora is confronted by a mysterious robed figure. He claims that the world has been “tied to the darkness” and will soon be “eclipsed.” Sora deduces that the stranger comes from another world.
The stranger only responds by saying Sora has much to learn and understands little, then soon disapears. Sora is left confused but he now knows that there are in fact other worlds beside his own. If people like Kairi and the mysterious man can come to his world then surely he can travel to others. After collecting the materials, Sora and Kairi meet on the dock at sunset. Kairi mentions that Riku changed from when they were children. Although, she is unsure in which ways he has changed. She states she was afraid at first to leave but is now ready because she is sure that no matter where she goes, she can always return to the Islands. Kairi seems to be very aware of other people.
Although she doesn’t know in what way Riku has changed, she just knows he has. This could be foreshadowing when and why Riku leaves later.
The King’s Letter
We are briefly taken to Disney Castle, another world. We are introduced to Donald Duck, the king’s Royal Magician. He discovers that the King has gone missing, leaving behind a mysterious letter with his dog, Pluto. He races off to find Goofy, captain of the Royal Knights for the King’s Court. Upon finding him we are also introduced to Queen Minnie and Daisy. As it turns out, the King has set off to deal with “trouble” that is stirring in the worlds. Stars (the hearts of worlds) are going out. The King tells Donald and Goofy to set out and search for someone with a “key.”
They must stay with this person because the “key” is crucial to their survival. He instructs them to head to Traverse Town, another world, and find a person named Leon who can help them. With these new directions, Queen Minnie puts her faith in the King and sends Donald and Goofy off with Jimminy Cricket, who will chronicle their journey.
Night Of Fate
That evening, back on the Islands, a storm appears. Sora, concerned for the raft, rushes off from the mainland to check on it. When he reaches the Island, he notices a large, ominous dark orb in the sky. Upon noticing Riku and Kairi’s boat, he goes off to find them, all the while trying to avoid the Shadows that have appeared on the Island. He finds Riku and Riku declares, “The door has opened” and that they can now go to the outside world. Riku is willing and ready to step through “the door”, declaring he is not afraid of the darkness. He reaches his hand out to Sora, just as he did in the opening cinematic, only this time he is being engulfed in darkness. Sora tries to reach out to him as the darkness tries to consume him as well, but he can’t reach his friend.
When it seems the darkness has completely taken over, a spark of light appears and Sora is freed and in his hand, he holds the Keyblade. But Riku is missing. Darkness has separated them but has it severed their connection? With Shadows closing in around him, Sora rushes off to look for Kairi. He finds her in the Secret Place before the door but she doesn’t look well. Suddenly, the door opens behind her and a gust of dark wind pushes her towards Sora. He opens his arms to catch her but as soon as she reaches him, she disappears in his embrace. The wind pushes Sora out of the cave and he lands out on the sands of a now broken Destiny Islands. Sora has no time to think now that Darkside has returned. After Sora stops him, the dark orb in the sky sucks away both Darkside and Sora along with the remnants of Destiny Islands.
Traverse Town
Traverse Town: a refugee-like world where people who have survived the destruction of their worlds end up. Donald and Goofy have arrived and they witness a star’s light go out in the night sky, this light being Destiny Islands. They get to work trying to find Leon and the “Key.”
Sora awakens in a back alley and wanders the streets, confused. He’s unsure of how he ended up in Traverse Town but he starts looking for his friends. He meets Cid, a shopkeeper who gives him some tips for searching the town. Eventually, he even meets Leon and another person named Yuffie. Meanwhile Riku wakes up in a mysterious place with waterfalls flowing in reverse. He calls out to Sora and Kairi but the only person there is a mysterious woman in black.
Back in Traverse Town, Donald and Goofy are found by a woman named Aerith who also takes them back to the Hotel. Yuffie enlightens Sora to the fact that the Heartless are after the Keyblade and his heart because he is the Keyblade wielder. Aerith, Leon, and Yuffie explain to Sora, Donald, and Goofy that the worlds, up until then, had been a secret from each other because they had never been connected before. The Heartless are what changed everything. Them consuming worlds has broken the barrier between worlds. The darkness in people’s hearts is what attracts them and there is darkness in every heart.
A man named Ansem was studying the Heartless and recorded his findings in a detailed report, the pages of which were scattered amongst the worlds. Finally, the Heartless fear the Keyblade and the Keyblade chooses its master, in this case, Sora. Sora tracks the leader of this world’s Heartless to the Third District. There he meets Donald and Goofy who have come to help fight. A large Emblem Heartless appears called Guard Armor. The trio fights and defeats Guard Armor. Afterwards, Sora, Donald, and Goofy (SDG) formally acquaint themselves.
Donald and Goofy explain that they’ve been looking for Sora’s “key” and invite him to join them in traveling to other worlds as they look for the King. Sora agrees to come along if it means he can look for his friends. Meanwhile, in a secret location in another world, the game’s main villains have gathered to watch SDG fight Guard Armor. While they bicker amongst each other on what steps to take to handle SDG, Maleficent appears as the leader of this group. She can see the potential of using Sora to achieve their goals.
In this brand new world, Sora has been able to form new connections with people who want to help him. It’s also the gateway to new paths to other worlds and more people to meet along the way. While Sora may be far from Riku and Kairi, he has hope that he’ll be able to see them again.
Wonderland
SDG head out from Traverse Town and travel to their first set of worlds, one of which is Wonderland. When they arrive they stumble upon the trial of Alice, as she is accused by the Queen of Hearts of attempting to take her heart. Sora wants to help her but Donald and Goofy are opposed to the idea of meddling in other worlds’ affairs. Sora steps in regardless and is tasked with finding proof of Alice’s innocence. After finding the evidence, the Queen has them present them along with hers. Not wanting to look through each one, she has Sora decide which evidence to use and the verdict will be decided on that.
Whether or not he chooses favorable evidence is irrelevant since the Queen will ultimately call an attack on the trio anyways. After fighting their way through the Card Soldiers, everyone discovers that Alice has gone missing. The trio sets out to find her and the Cheshire Cat hints that the Heartless may have taken her. Sora heads to the Bizarre Room. There they encounter an Emblem Heartless called the Trickster. After defeating the Trickster, the talking Doorknob awakes from his nap to reveal a glowing keyhole inside him.
The Keyblade reacts to the keyhole, causing a light to shoot out from it towards the keyhole. There is a locking sound; Wonderland’s keyhole has been locked. Unfortunately, Alice is nowhere to be found and seems to have been taken from Wonderland all together.
Olympus Coliseum
What makes someone a hero? Well SDG are about to find out. Upon their arrival at the Herculean world, they have their bubbles burst by the hero trainer, Phil. While SDG were under the impression that because Sora was chosen by the Keyblade that automatically made him a hero, Phil says otherwise. Strength and weapon does not a hero make. After going through training, Phil still won’t recognize them as heroes, but he does acknowledge their skill.
Since only heroes or those with a pass are allowed to enter the Coliseum games, SDG are left out. That is until Hades, lord of the Underworld, so graciously gives them a pass. SDG is doing well in the games but Hades has something planned; he’s made a deal with one of the participants, Cloud, to beat Hercules for him, but in order to get to Hercules he needs to beat SDG. After a fierce battle, Sora manages to beat Cloud. Unfortunately, Hades doesn’t take losing so well and he unleashes Cerberus out onto the arena.
Everyone except Cloud and Hercules make it out. However, this doesn’t sit right with Sora, and he, Donald, and Goofy charge back in to help Hercules. With SDG distracting Cerberus, Hercules manages to get Cloud to safety. After defeating the three-headed beast, Phil dubs the trio “Junior Heroes” for their heroic efforts. Donald, however, takes issue with this title. Surely after defeating Cerberus and saving everyone, they deserve the title “Hero”, right? Phil disagrees, in fact as far he’s concerned, the three still don’t fully understand what it takes to be heroes.
On their way out of Olympus Coliseum, the trio meets Cloud who’s recovering from his loss. There are no hard feelings between the two parties and Cloud explains that he’d been manipulated by Hades, given false promises in the hope of finding someone. Cloud allowed himself to fall into darkness as he tried to manipulate it for his own gain and in the end, it backfired on him.
He was unable to find the light, but Sora promises that he’ll find it again just as he is doing now. While the group didn’t manage to gain the title of “Heroes” they made valuable friendships in this world and saved someone from falling deeper into the darkness. This is still the beginning of their journey, there is plenty of time to learn what it takes to be a true hero.
Deep Jungle
Even when working towards the same goal, any group with clashing personalities is bound to have problems. That’s exactly what SDG have to face even before landing on this world as Sora and Donald argue over whether they should land at all. Donald opposes, believing the King would never be in such a place while Sora still wants to check for Riku and Kairi. The two fight over the controls and crash into the Jungle, getting separated.
Sora lands in a treehouse and immediately has to deal with a jaguar named Sabor coming after him. Luckily, he’s helped by a human named Tarzan. Sora inquires about his friends. He also at this moment sees an image of Kairi behind Tarzan but she disappears. Tarzan says he knows where to find them and guides Sora back to camp. Meanwhile, Donald and Goofy have found themselves in the middle of a bamboo grove and run into a human named Clayton who also brings them back to the camp. The trio have a not so cheerful reunion at camp, but they are willing to work together since they both have reason to believe that the King, Riku and Kairi are there. A woman named Jane offers to help Sora find his friends by showing Tarzan some slides that might help decipher a word Sora couldn’t understand. One of the slides reveals a large castle-like structure and Sora feels that it’s familiar despite never being off the island.
This doesn’t help so instead Tarzan guides SDG to see Kerchak, the leader of the gorillas. This plan also doesn’t work since Kerchak refuses to help the humans because he doesn’t trust them. Afterward, the group makes their way back to the treehouse where they find Clayton attempting to shoot a gorilla. Clayton leaves the encampment to hunt for the gorillas himself. SDG find him cornering a pack of gorillas but Tarzan warns that it’s not truly Clayton. After defeating Clayton and the Heartless, Stealth Sneak, Kerchak appears and “guides” (throws) Sora to the gorillas’ home.
The group enters the waterfall caverns and make their way to an area with a large tree. Tarzan explains that this is home and explains where to find “friends.” Jane understands and explains that he means you will find friends in your heart. Tarzan explains that friends share the same heart; Clayton had lost his heart and without a heart, you can’t see your friends. Sora and Donald realize how silly they’ve been and make up. Sora then proceeds to seal the keyhole of this world.
Meanwhile, back with the villains, Jafar expresses concern for Sora having found a few keyholes now. Maleficent is not worried about this, especially since he is unaware of their other plan having to deal with “the princesses.” They’re gathering them and one of the princesses just so happens to be Alice. Sora and Donald realize the importance of working together, not just for the sake of having a common goal but also because they’ve become friends. As friends, they should want to help each other.
Back To Traverse Town
The group had found a “gummi block,” a part for their gummi ship (the type of ship they use to travel between worlds), and decide to go back to Traverse Town and ask Cid about it. They meet up with Leon and company to discuss their adventure so far. Leon explains that every world has a keyhole that leads to the heart of that world. The Heartless are able to enter through the keyholes and affect the world’s core. Ultimately, the world disappears. Sora now has the responsibility of sealing the keyholes.
After meeting up with Cid, who agrees to install the gummi block to their ship, SDG are tasked with delivering an old book to a man in town. They discover an old rundown house in Third District. Sora suddenly sees a very vivid image of Kairi and she speaks to Sora, reminiscing of the Secret Place back on the island. But she can’t really be there, right? No, she isn’t, Sora is the only one to see or hear her. At that moment, an old man named Merlin arrives; he is the owner of the house and the one to whom the book belongs to. He magically transforms the place, revealing himself to be a wizard who has been asked by the King to help Sora.
Merlin explains that he doesn’t know what the book is about because the pages are missing and tasks Sora with finding them along his travels. After delivering the book, SDG run into, of all people, Riku. He promptly defeats some Heartless that had appeared and greets Sora. Sora is delighted to see his friend again and Riku shares that he had been looking for him. He reassures Sora that they’ll find Kairi soon enough, so long as they follow his lead. But Sora shows Riku that he’s not the same kid he was on the Island.
Goofy explains that Sora is the Keyblade wielder but Riku doesn’t seem all that impressed. Sora asks Riku to join them in traveling worlds to find Kairi, which triggers an argument with Donald. In the midst of this, Riku leaves. Sora is surprised but glad that at least Riku is alright. SDG then heads to Cid’s house where they learn about Maleficent. She’s a witch who has been using the Heartless to do her bidding for years. And it turns out she’s in town.
Because of her, a swarm of Heartless took over Leon and company’s world nine years ago. They also reveal that Ansem was the leader of their world and his missing report should say how to get rid of the Heartless. Meanwhile, watching the group from outside is Maleficent with Riku. She twists Riku’s understanding of the situation and claims that Sora had actually replaced him with Donald and Goofy. She asks Riku to join her and forget about Sora; she’ll help him find what he’s looking for. Evidently, Riku agrees.
To More Worlds
Up until this point, “Kingdom Hearts” (2002) story has been fairly light-hearted. Sora may have been thrust into this position as the Keyblade wielder and lost his home, but it’s his optimism and hopes that he’ll reunite with his friends that keeps the tone light. Sora is getting his bearings; he’s discovering new worlds, making friends, and taking everything in stride.
However, with Riku coming back into the picture and his association with Maleficent, the latter half of this story could prove to be tenser. There’s a new set of worlds to explore and we’ll have to see what trials they bring.
